Feast of St Lucy and the 6th Day in the Octave of the Immaculate Conception

 

Tota pulchra es, Maria, et macula originalis non est in te!

Thou are all beautiful, Mary, 

and the original stain (of sin) is not in thee. 

Thou are the glory of Jerusalem, 

Thou art the joy of Israel,

Thou givest honour to our people. 

Thou art an advocate of sinners. 

O Mary, Virgin most intelligent, 

Mother most merciful. 

Pray for us, 

Plead for us, 

To the Lord Jesus Christ. 

St Lucy, pray for us!

Our Lady of Guadalupe and the 5th Day in the Octave of the Immaculate Conception

 

A great sign appeared in the heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, 

with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.  

~ Revelation 12:1

Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas, pray for us!

Pope St. Damasus I and the 4th Day in the Octave of the Immaculate Conception

 

                       Our Lady appeared to St Bernadette Soubirous in 1858; when she asked the Lady 

                                her name on March 25, she replied “I am the Immaculate Conception.”

                                             Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us!

3rd Day in the Octave of the Immaculate Conception

 

Our Lady appeared to St. Catherine Laboure in 1830 and gave her the Miraculous Medal. 

Its proper name is the Medal of the Immaculate Conception with the prayer "O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee" inscribed on it. 

Mother Most Pure, pray for us!

                

2nd Day in the Octave of the Immaculate Conception

Pope Innocent XII raised it to a feast of the 2nd Class with a Common Octave in 1693.  

This was about 150 years BEFORE Pope Pius IX solemnly defined it as a dogma of the faith in 1844.  

Later Pope Leo XIII raised it to a feast of the 1st Class with a Vigil in 1879.  

Virgin Most Pure, pray for us!

Feast of the Immaculate Conception with a Common Octave

 

The feast of the Immaculate Conception has a Common Octave!

This means the feast gives way to any other feast that occurs during it.  

Since this is Advent there are many lovely feasts, only Dec 9, 10 and the Octave Day on Dec 15 will be the Mass of the Immaculate Conception with the commemoration of Advent. 

 On the other feast days of St Damasus I, Our Lady of Guadalupe, and St Lucy, both the Immaculate Conception and Advent are commemorated.  

The Immaculate Conception would also be commemorated on Gaudete Sunday!

Ways to celebrate the Octave at home through Dec 15:  

Display a picture of the Immaculate Conception for the entire Octave

Read the entry in The Liturgical Year by Dom Gueranger for each day

Pray a Hail Mary slowly and thoughtfully while pondering the phrase “full of grace”.

Pray the Litany of Loreto 

Pray a Rosary or a Decade of the Rosary (Annunciation)

Sing Immaculate Mary, Tota Pulchra Es or any Marian hymn 

Read the Collect, Secret and Postcommunion of the Immaculate Conception at Mass every day or privately in your home 

Eat a “white” dinner to symbolize Our Lady’s purity and immaculate soul---i.e. Chicken breasts, fettucine alfredo, cauliflower, Creamy basil chicken, etc

Turn on white lights of some Advent decorations, such as the mantlepiece or doorway

O Mary, conceived without sin, 

pray for us who have recourse to thee.

Transferred Feast of St Andrew

 

Since the feast of St. Andrew fell on a Sunday this year, his feast is transferred to the next day, Dec 1 in the pre-1955 Missal.  His vigil would still be held on Sat, Nov 29 as usual. 

If you are following the 1962 Missal, his feast disappears this year because the 1st Sunday of Advent outranks his feast.  Also notice that on the 1962 Calendar, Dec 1 is a feria day.  Once again they did away with a great feast and replaced it with a feria.  How does this make the calendar richer?  How does this show honor to one of the 12 Apostles?

This is a unique year in that 8 of the 12 Apostles' feasts fall on a Sunday.  Except for the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul on June 29, all the other Apostles were skipped this year if you followed the 1962 Missal.  In the pre-1955 Missal, their feasts would have trumped the Sunday (except St Andrew as explained above and St. Thomas who falls on the 4th Sunday of Advent), but the Sundays would have been commemorated along with the Proper Last Gospel of the Sunday. 

St. Andrew, pray for us!