Prayers 


Hail Mary

Hail Mary, full of Grace,
The Lord is with Thee,
Blessed art thou
among women,
And Blessed is the fruit
of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God,
Pray for us sinners
Now and at the hour
of our death. 
Amen
 

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O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee. 
(say three times)

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The Canticle of Mary.
(The Magnificat)

And Mary said:

“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;

my spirit rejoices
in God my savior.

For he has looked upon his handmaid’s lowliness;

behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed.

The Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.

His mercy is from age to age
to those who fear him.

He has shown might
with his arm,

dispersed the arrogant of mind and heart.

He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones
but lifted up the lowly. 

(Luke 1 46:55)

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O Immaculate Heart of Mary,
refuge of sinners,
I beg of you by the infinite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus,
and by the graces God has granted to you since your Immaculate Conception,
the grace of never going astray again.

Mother, keep me, a sinner,
constantly bathed in the light of your Immaculate Heart.
Amen.

The Feast of the Immaculate Conception

The Feast of the Immaculate Conception
is normally celebrated on December 8.

 
The Immaculate Conception does not refer to the conception and birth of Christ.  Nor does it refer to Mary being conceived “by the power of the Holy Spirit.”  The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception celebrates the conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the womb of her mother, Saint Anne. 
 
When the angel Gabrielle addressed Mary, he said “Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you.”(Luke 1:28).  God endowed Mary the grace of being born without Original Sin in anticipation that she was to bear the Son of God.  This conception of Mary is called "immaculate" because Mary was conceived without Original Sin.

The Blessed Mother appeared to Catherine Laboure and Bernadette Soubirous with the message that she is the Immaculate Conception:
 
During the apparitions to Catherine Laboure, on November 27th, 1830, the Blessed Mother appeared to Catherine and asked her to have a medal made.  In Catherine’s words: "As I was busy contemplating Her, the Blessed Virgin fixed Her eyes upon me, and a voice said in the depths of my heart: ' This globe which you see represents the whole world, especially France, and each person in particular.'
 
"There now formed around the Blessed Virgin a frame rather oval in shape on which were written in letters of gold these words: ' O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee.' Then a voice said to me: ' Have a medal struck upon this model. All those who wear it, when it is blessed, will receive great graces especially if they wear it round the neck. Those who repeat this prayer with devotion will be in a special manner under the protection of the Mother of God. Graces will be abundantly bestowed upon those who have confidence.'

"At the same instant, the oval frame seemed to turn around. Then I saw on the back of it the letter 'M', surmounted by a cross, with a crossbar beneath it, and under the monogram of the name of Mary, the Holy Hearts of Jesus and of His Mother; the first surrounded by a crown of thorns and the second transpierced by a sword. I was anxious to know what words must be placed on the reverse side of the medal and after many prayers, one day in meditation I seemed to hear a voice which said to me: ' The 'M' with the Cross and the two Hearts tell enough.' "



During the apparitions at Lourdes, on March 25^th,1858, the day of the sixteenth apparition, Bernadette Soubirous asked the “Lady” her name. The “Lady” replied in the local dialect: “Que soy era Immaculada Counceptiou”, which means “I am the Immaculate Conception”.
 
 


In 1854, Pope Pius IX proclaimed this dogma infallibly: that is, in his role as supreme teacher of the Church, he declared that this doctrine is divinely revealed and must be accepted with faith by the entire Church. (United States Catholic Catechism for Adults, 142-143)
 
The Feast of the Immaculate Conception is normally celebrated on December 8, exactly nine months before the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (September 8). However, because the celebration of the Immaculate Conception falls during Advent every year, the feast is transferred to December 9 when December 8 falls on a Sunday, as it does this year.  While the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception is a Holy Day of Obligation (even when December 8 falls on a Saturday or Monday), the obligation is removed when the celebration of the feast is transferred to December 9. 
 
Even though the obligation is removed, Mother Mary would be very pleased, if you could find the time to attend Mass on December 9^th, in her honor.