How to Commemorate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception

6 December 2021

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It is common knowledge that the entire month of December is a festive season of Christmas, the birth of Christ. But in addition to this, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception is also observed in this month, a major Catholic doctrine.

The Feast of the Immaculate Concepcion has celebrated annually every 8th of December. It is also considered a special non-working holiday in the country. In Catholicism, Mary's conception is seen as 'immaculate' since God intervened, removing her from the original sin of Adam and Eve.

Now that you have a short background about Mary and how the Feast of the Immaculate Conception started, it's time for us to think of ways on how to honor the Holy Mother on this special day.

Ways to Celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception

Honoring the Blessed Mother doesn't require grandeur as it is mostly about strengthening our Faith and Spirit. Below are some of the ways on how you can commemorate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception:

1. Attend a Holy Mass

Celebrate the feast day by attending Mass! Have your older children and teens pay attention to the readings and the homily, but also the priest's prayers during the Eucharist, for references to the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception.

2. Do something beautiful in honor of Mary

Be creative in celebration of the Immaculate Conception and come up with a unique approach to honor Mary! To put it another way, you can devise a special approach to commemorate her. There are many ways to honor her by creating a piece of art such as a painting, poetry, or song. If you are a business owner, you can also commemorate her by making a donation to a charity in her name.

But you can also create something simple like making a Mary candle. You'll need a white pillar candle that is at least six inches tall. White lace or cloth might be used to cover it up during the remaining months of Advent. The white cloth depicts Mary, and the candle represents Jesus Christ.

Another idea that you may come up with a tribute to her in her honor is by preparing a white dish. Try searching for your favorite white-colored dishes. For example, you may use blue food coloring to write the letter M on top of a white cake.

3. Clean up your soul

Go to confession, help those in need, and conduct acts of kindness this month as a way of "cleaning up" your soul in preparation for eternity with God. December is a great time to think about how you'd want to accomplish your goal as it is also the Season of Giving and Sharing.

4. Clear your heart and mind

Consider what you watch on television, what you read, and what you look at to purify your mind and heart so that they may more closely resemble our Blessed Mother and become real temples of the Holy Spirit. You can even use the readings from Philippians 4:8 that says, "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, anything is worthy of praise, think on these things." You can start this by listening to Gregorian Chant and watching Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life while looking at Renaissance holy paintings.

5. Help in cleaning the environment

In celebration of the Immaculate Mary, why not clean as a means to cultivate humility, give your hands important work, and be reminded of Mary's purity while doing so. There's still enough time to prepare for Christmas, so try to clean your house, workplace, or even your Church. It is possible to honor Our Blessed Lady by doing this simple and humble act of devotion.

It is true that there are sentiments of affection and safety associated with celebrating the Immaculate Conception, which honors Christ's mother. Genuinely, this is the best time to prepare ourselves for the coming of Christ our Savior this Christmas. Since we love the holidays, let it allow us to spend time with our loved ones and express our gratitude for all that we have.

Read different ways on how to celebrate these events:

Brief History

For a long time, the Catholic Church preached the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception until December 8, 1854, when Pope Pius IX formally declared that the Blessed Virgin Mary "in the first instance of her conception, by a singular privilege and grace granted by God, because of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the human race, was preserved exempt from all stain of original sin," as the Church had long held.

As a matter of faith in the Catholic Church, Pope Pius IX defined it as a fundamental principle. According to a published declaration referred to as Ineffabilis Deus, the Immaculate Conception is an important divine concept of the Catholic Church.

Mary's Immaculate Conception doctrine states that she was free from the stain of original sin from the time of her conception. As a matter of fact, the definition of immaculate is "pure" or "without imperfection."

Although, it is vital to remember that Mary was not "immaculate" because of her own worth, because of the rescuing mercy of Jesus Christ, her Savior. At their baptism, young children received the same grace that cleansed them of the guilt of their parents' original sin. Mary, on the other hand, has been preserved from the taint of original sin because of Jesus Christ's sacrificial love. She was born with the same initial purity, holiness, and justice as Adam and Eve had before they disobeyed God. As angel Gabriel said to her, she was "full of grace."

Mary as the foundation of the Church

Mary was also made pure so that she might serve as a symbol of the birth of the Church, which she did by becoming a worthy mother for Jesus Christ. Because she was the first person to be saved by the blood of her Son, Jesus Christ, we might claim that she is the origin of the Christian Church. "New creation" is a type of a "sneak peek" or "foreshadowing" of what the faithful will become in Christ, and she is its first fruit. As Catholics believe that all of the great things we say about Mary are really a prediction of our own future.