Exiit qui seminat
Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, a Holy Day of Obligation
This week on Thursday, December the 8th, the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, a Holy Day of Obligation. It's even more important in the Diocese of Camden and the United States, both of which have Our Lady under the title of the Immaculate Conception as our patron (that's why our cathedral in the heart of the city of Camden is called the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception and the most important church for Catholics in the United States is the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC on the campus of Catholic University). It's a day where we recall that Mary was conceived in her mother's
womb (St. Ann) without the stain of the Original Sin of Adam and Eve. While the feast day has been a Holy Day of Obligation since the early 1700's, the concept of the Immaculate Conception as a dogma of the Catholic Church wasn't until 1854 by Pope Blessed Pius IX. Mary's immaculate conception was held by many of the faithful as well as early Church Fathers like St. Ireneus. So Blessed Pius IX's predecessor, Pope Gregory XVI, wrote all the bishops of the Church asking their opinion about whether this belief, held by so many Catholics, should be officially codified. In many ways, December 8th is the peoples' feast because its origin came from the sensus fidelium (literally 'the sense of the faithful'), the ability of the People of God as a part of the Universal Church to know, hold and believe truths and dogmas just by earnestly living out the life of faith. While Holy Days of Obligation (and even Sunday Mass) often lose their import in the lives of people, I encourage you to come and pray with us on Wednesday night at 7 PM or on Thursday at 8:15 AM, 12:15 PM or 7 PM to not only honor the Blessed Virgin Mary but also to celebrate YOUR feast day, the Feast of Mary's Immaculate Conception. Mary, under the title of the Immaculate Conception, pray for us!
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Fr. Rob Sinatra
