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marian
anniversaries december
December 8
Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Roman Catholic Church
 On December 8, 1854, Pope Pius IX defined the doctrine of
the Immaculate Conception in the document Ineffabilis Deus:
"... the Blessed Virgin Mary, at the first instant of her conception,
by a singular privilege and grace of the Omnipotent God, in virtue of the
merits of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of mankind, was preserved immaculate
from all stain of original sin ..." Belief in this doctrine had evolved
gradually in Catholicism. St. Augustine (d. 430) was one of the first to
stress the concept of original sin, defined by the Catechism of the
Catholic Church like this: "Adam and Eve transmitted to their
descendants human nature wounded by their own first sin and hence deprived
of original holiness and justice; this deprivation is called 'original
sin.' ... By Baptism all sins are forgiven, original sin and all personal
sins ..." As faith in Mary's power and goodness increased in the
middle ages, it became increasingly difficult to imagine that God would
have sent his Son into the womb of a woman deprived of holiness. Since
before Christ there was no Christian baptism to remove the stain of
original sin, the belief evolved that God, having chosen Mary for her role
before she was even conceived, exempted her from that deprivation from the
beginning, a unique blessing among all humanity. This is the blessing the
Catholic Church celebrates at the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
on December 8, nine months before the older Feast
of the Nativity of Mary on September 8. The earliest documentation of
the feast comes from an English calendar of around 1030. By the 1400s, it
was celebrated throughout the Church. Meeting in Baltimore in 1846, before
the Pope defined the dogma, Catholic bishops chose "the Blessed
Virgin Mary, conceived without sin, as the Patroness of the United States
of America," so December 8 is the country's patronal feast. It is not
celebrated by other Christian churches. (Information from en.wikipedia.org
and other sources.)
Bartolome Esteban Murillo, Inmaculada del Escorial,
1678. Prado Museum, Madrid (image from Hermanos Maristas, www.champagnat.org)
Also commemorated this date:
 | Inmaculada Madre del Divino Corazón Eucarístico de Jesús, Salta, Salta, Argentina (Immaculate Mother of the Divine Eucharistic Heart of Jesus).
Fiesta on nearest Saturday. |
| Virgen Desatanudos, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Agronomía district (Virgin Who Unties Knots).
Painting arrived, 1996. Fireworks, masses, procession. |
| Mamita, Cotoca, Andrés Ibáñez, Bolivia. Fiesta: mass, procession,
feathered costumes. |
| Nossa Senhora das Graças, Maceió, Alagoas, Brazil. Fiesta, street
procession in Levada district. |
| Virgen de Lourdes del Cerro Ñielol, Temuco, Cautín, Araucanía, Chile.
Pilgrimage to grotto. |
| Marilandia, Chipaque, Cundinamarca, Colombia. Pilgrimage to apparition
site. |
| Panna Maria, Jaromer, Hradec Králové, Czech Republic (Virgin Mary).
Column dedicated, 1727. |
| Notre Dame des Malades, Paris, France (Our Lady of the Sick). Fête of
confraternity at Church of St. Laurence. |
| Notre-Dame de Lourdes, La Barre-de-Monts, Vendée, Pays de la Loire,
France. Annual pilgrimage to chapel. |
| Notre-Dame de la Prière, l'Ile Bouchard, Indre-et-Loire, Centre, France (Our
Lady of Prayer). Apparitions to four girls, Dec. 8-14, 1947. |
| Notre-Dame de Triors, Châtillon-Saint-Jean, Drôme, Rhône-Alpes,
France. Feast day of Benedictine abbey. |
| Notre Dame de la Résurrection, Basse Terre, Guadeloupe. First mass
celebrated at Carmelite convent, 1953. |
| Immacolata dei Miracoli, Ivrea, Turin, Piedmont, Italy. Image of Mary
remained intact when attacked with ax and fire, 1859. |
| Madonna degli Angeli, Turin, Torino, Piedmont, Italy. Statue
crowned, 1934. |
| Santa Maria del Popolo, Carpineto Romano, Roma, Latium, Italy. Festa,
vowed during plague of 1657, which ended at once. |
| Salus Populi Romani, Rome, Italy (Health of the Roman People).
Ancient icon in church of Santa Maria Maggiore. |
| Maria Santissima di Valleluogo, Ariano Irpino, Avellino, Campania,
Italy |
| Maria Santissima del Granato, Capaccio Antica, Salerno, Campania,
Italy (St. Mary of the Pomegranate). Statue crowned, 2000. |
| Santa Maria a Mare, Marina Palmense, Ascoli Piceno, Marche, Italy
(St. Mary by the Sea) |
| Virgen de Salud, Patzcuaro, Michoacan, Mexico (Our Lady of Health) |
| Virgen de Juquila, Santa Catalina Juquila, Oaxaca, Mexico |
| Nuestra Señora de Izamal, Izamal, Yucatán, Mexico |
| Notre-Dame de Lourdes, Easo, Lifou, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia.
Annual procession. |
| Virgen de los Milagros, Caacupé, Cordillera, Paraguay |
| Virgen de la Regla, Lapu-Lapu, Mactan Island, Cebu, Philippines (Our Lady of the
Rule) |
| Virgen del Castillo, Yecla, Murcia, Spain |
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