(Vatican Radio) On the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception it is tradition for Popes to pay homage to Mary by the statue of Our Lady near the Spanish steps in the heart of Rome. This year Pope Francis will keep to the tradition but has added something to the day by donating a statue of Our Lady with child to his Cathedral of Saint John Lateran.
The Feast of the Immaculate Conception is one which highlights Mary’s sinless perfection, a great sign of hope for the Church and for the world.
One which falls each year on the 8th of December, a couple of weeks ahead of Christmas and which refers to a dogma proclaimed by Pius IX in 1854 by the title of ‘Ineffabilis Deus’, which defines the belief that Mary, by special divine favour, was without sin from the moment she was conceived.
An idea that came as a result of a complex theological debate over the centuries in part because some theology felt it might contradict a major tenet of the Catholic faith: the universality of Redemption
However as we know when Pius IX proclaimed the dogma he quoted from Saint Luke’s account of the Annunciation and the Angel Gabriel’s ” Hail Mary, full of grace”. Understood as a recognition that Mary must always have been free of sin …
Benedictine Abbot Timothy Wright gives us a more in depth explanation:
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Before the recitation of the Angelus in St Peter’s Square on Monday, Pope Francis devoted his address to the Virgin Mary on the feast of the Immaculate Conception. He said that this feast can be summed up in these words: everything is a grace, everything is a gift given freely by God, because of His love for us.
Listen to Lydia O’Kane’s report
The Holy Father explained that the Angel Gabriel calls Mary “full of grace” because in her there is no room for sin. God, he said, had always chosen her to be the mother of Jesus, and had preserved her from original sin.
The Pope went on to say that Mary responds to this grace and abandons herself saying to the angel : “Let it be done to me according to your word”.
Pope Francis underlined that “we too are asked to listen to God speaking to us and to welcome his will.
He also noted that the attitude of Mary of Nazareth shows us that being comes before doing, and that we must leave it to God to truly be what He wants us to be.
Mary, said Pope Francis is receptive, but not passive. On a physical level, she receives the power of the Holy Spirit but then gives flesh and blood to the Son of God that is formed in her, so that, on a spiritual level, she welcomes the grace and corresponds to it with faith.
Speaking to the crowds present in St Peter’s Square, the Holy Father stressed that as we have received for free, so we are called to give freely in imitation of Mary, who, immediately after welcoming the announcement from the Angel Gabriel, goes to share this gift with her cousin Elizabeth. Because, said the Pope, if everything is given to us, everything must be given back, this means, by letting the Holy Spirit make us a gift for others; that makes us become instruments of acceptance, reconciliation and forgiveness.
The Pope also stressed, in off the cuff remarks, that no one can buy salvation. Salvation is a gift given freely by God who comes to us and lives in us.
Following the recitation of the Marian Prayer, Pope Francis reminded the faithful that he would be going to Spanish Steps in the centre of Rome on Monday afternoon to renew the traditional act of homage and prayer at the foot of the monument to the Immaculate.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) With the touch of a button and using a tablet, Pope Francis on Sunday evening switched on a giant Christmas tree designed in lights on a hillside above the Umbrian town of Gubbio in Italy. The lighting ceremony came after he delivered a message via video link up from the Vatican.
The Pope was following in the footsteps of Pope Benedict in 2011 and Italian President Giorgio Napolitano.
The tree created in one thousand coloured lights was recorded in the Guinness Book of Records in 1991 as being the largest Christmas tree in the world, measuring about 750 metres tall by 450 metres wide.
See below an English language translation of the Pope’s message.
Good evening, I wish you a happy and holy Christmas.
In switching on the light of the Nativity scene, we wish for the light of Christ to be in us. A Christmas without light is not Christmas. Let there be light in the soul, in the heart; let there be forgiveness to others; let there be no hostilities, which are dark. Let there be the beautiful light of Jesus. This is my wish for all of you, when you turn on the light of the crib. Many thanks for your gift, it is beautiful. Also I give to you my warmest wishes, peace and happiness. If you have something dark in your soul, ask the Lord for forgiveness. Christmas is a great opportunity to cleanse the soul, eh! Do not fear, the priest is merciful, forgiving all in the name of God, because God forgives everything. let light be in your hearts, in your families, in your cities. And now, with this wish, turn on the light.
Blessed be God Almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Merry Christmas and pray for me.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) With the touch of a button and using a tablet, Pope Francis on Sunday evening switched on a giant Christmas tree designed in lights on a hillside above the Umbrian town of Gubbio in Italy. The lighting ceremony came after he delivered a message via video link up from the Vatican. The Pope…
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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis during the Angelus from the window of his studio above St Peter’s Square recalled the second Sunday of Advent saying that it was a wonderful time “that awakens in us the expectation of Christ’s return and the memory of his historic coming.”
Listen to Lydia O’Kane’s report
Focusing on the day’s liturgy the Holy Father said that it presents us with a hopeful message. Quoting from the Book of Isaiah “Comfort, give comfort to my people, the Pope explained this reading is about a time of joyful liberation and salvation, and a time of looking ahead with confidence to the future
He went on to say that Isaiah refers to people who went through a dark period, but now the time for comfort has come.
Sadness and fear give way to joy, said Pope Francis because the Lord himself leads his people to the path of liberation and salvation.
But, the Pope also underlined that we cannot be messengers of God’s comfort if we do not experience the joy of being comforted and loved by Him.
This, he said, is especially the case when we listen to the Gospel, that people, the Holy Father stressed, need to carry in their pocket.
Pope Francis noted that Isaiah’s message of comfort, that resounds on this second Sunday of Advent, is a balm on our wounds and an incentive to diligently prepare the way of the Lord.
Many situations, said the Pope, require our comforting witness. “I am thinking about those who are oppressed by suffering, injustice and oppression, about those who are slaves to money, power, success, and worldliness. We are all called to console our brothers, testifying that only God can eliminate the causes of existential and spiritual dramas.”
This prophet, he continued, speaks to our hearts today to tell us that God forgets our sins and comforts us if we entrust ourselves to Him a with humble and repentant heart. God, said Pope Francis,”will bring down the walls of evil, will fill the holes of our omissions, will flatten the bumps of pride and vanity, and will pave the way for our meeting with him.”
(from Vatican Radio)…