The Immaculate Conception

St. Ann with the Blessed Virgin

The feast of the Immaculate Conception will be celebrated on December 9th this year. All around us, holiday "madness" has begun. Don't fret; rather, keep a quiet Advent in your heart.

"With the Immaculate Conception the story of the human race is begun again; all is clear once more. It is from that perfectly pure and docile matter that the new Adam will be fashioned. So, too, will it be with us if we allow ourselves to be born again....Open your eyes, then, and your heart, in an undisturbed solitude with God alone. Be still, and see what he is offering you, what he is to you. Our courage, like our patience, can only be unshakeable when it proceeds from a deep joy." (The Prayer of Love and Silence by "A Carthusian," 1951)