Divine Office
Online Eucharistic Adoration
May 17, 2010
Thanks to Karinann over at Blessings for The Day for informing her readers about online Eucharistic adoration. Of course we can pray to Jesus anytime. He is always with us. But for us Catholics, adoration is very special. Under the appearance of bread He is present personally – Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. The King of creation wills to be with us and wills us to be with Him so that He can continue to nourish us as He did in the Eucharistic celebration on Sunday. It is by faith we know this to be true.
So many of us are unable to get out much because of our infirmities or other aspects of our life situation. The site, Savior.org is a wonderful way to spend time with Jesus much more often. Our Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament is presented live via webcam from the Chapel of Divine Love in Philadelphia (the City of Brotherly Love – how apropos), PA – a source of perpetual Eucharistic adoration by the Holy Spirit Adoration Sisters since 1916.
This is an answer to prayer. I have wanted to be able to spend time in adoration and been frustrated by a number of practical factors. When I read about fellow bloggers who have stopped for a short visit with Jesus at a chapel, I felt happy for them and sad for me. Now I can say the Divine Office in His presence, do spiritual reading, or just pray.
Click on the picture above or on the link and it will take you to the live feed. This site has much to offer, too. Here are some paragraphs from their “About online adoration” section:
A Powerful Channel for the Aged, Lonely and Suffering
The favorite of Our Savior, the aging, lonely and suffering are those in greatest need of His Love. The on-line access available through Savior.org, provides new hope for these individuals stemming from the electronic access they can now have to the Living Presence of Our Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament. The suffering will have new opportunities to unite their pain with the passion of Our Lord, yielding merits for their souls and the souls of others. The aged, free from the distractions of their earlier years, can now spend increasing hours in the presence of Our Lord strengthening their bond to Him during the twilight of their lives. And the lonely will benefit from the abundance of love and hope poured forth from this Most Faithful of Friends.
Technology is a wonderful thing if used to do God’s will. Join us at Savior.org in ‘taking back the Internet for Christ’.
Suggestions on How to Utilize Savior.org
On-line Adoration - Be with Our Lord, centered on Him wholly and completely. Sit in silence with Him – The Sacred Doctor of human hearts. Utilize some of the many on-line devotional aides to structure a Holy Hour with Him. Or pray your own favorite adoration prayers and meditations.
Liturgy of the Hours and Other Daily Prayers - Enrich your daily recitation of the liturgy of the hours and other daily prayer routines by conducting them in the presence of a live electronic image of Our Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament.
Invite Our Lord into your day – In your office or at home conducting your daily activities, offer your work as a prayer to Our Lord. We offer a low-bandwidth feed for those who wish to maintain the live feed over an extended period of time, as well as a static image for those who cannot maintain a persistent connection (dialup users).
Family Rosaries - Say your family rosary in the Presence of the Blessed Sacrament on-line.
Saying Goodnight – Our children have quickly adopted a routine of wanting to ’say goodnight to Jesus’ on-line. Before they go to bed, they will ask us to bring up the Blessed Sacrament online, then they will say their evening prayers and say ‘goodnight’ to Jesus as the last act before they climb into bed.
For only $10 you can purchase flowers for the altar and everyone participating will pray for your intentions for that week. I encourage my readers to take advantage of this opportunity to spend more time with Jesus. Prayer is an important part of wellness.
Sabbath Moments
May 1, 2010
Sabbath moments are the moments we rest in God, when we take time to just Be with God rather than Do. Sabbath moments are those times when we live in the moment and find the holy in the ordinary. Visit Colleen at Thoughts on Grace to read about the Sabbath moments others have had this week.
Keeping Life in Perspective
Throughout Paschaltide a Chapter reading at Lauds in the Divine Office causes me to stop and think about our destination in the next world. It is St. Paul’s letter to the Colossians, 3:1-2:
If you have risen with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Mind the things that are above, not the things that are on earth.
Nearly every morning this week after I finished praying my Rosary, I contemplated his words for awhile as the fresh breezes of late April blew through my window and the birds twittered happily about their morning business. To me, St. Paul is urging us to keep our minds on heavenly things and not get caught up in earthly concerns as an end in themselves. His words encourage us to “do all things in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4: 13). If we follow them we practice the virtue of detachment, we keep our lives simple, and we go about our daily duties without being obsessed with power, approbation, wealth and possessions.
Christ in Glory, 1597-98, oil on canvas, Annibale Carracci (b.1560, Bologna, d. 1609, Roma), Galleria Palatina (Palazzo Pitti), Florence
St. Paul is saying to keep everything in perspective as if we were somehow seeing through God’s eyes. He is not telling us to neglect our daily duties nor turn aside from the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. We are in this world because God created us and we work out our salvation through this world, but always as St. Paul urges, with the Grand Prize (Acts 17: 11) of heaven in mind. Moreover, his words say that God is always in charge and imply the necessity to do our best while trusting Him in everything. For myself, I’ll know that I have perfect trust in God when I quit worrying about “the things that are on earth.”
Eleventh Station: Jesus is Nailed to the Cross
March 20, 2010
Crucifixion, 1524, Breu, Jorg the Elder, b. 1475/76, Augsburg, d. 1537, Augsburg, Wood, Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest
Jesus is Nailed to the Cross
V. We adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee.
R. Because by Thy holy cross Thou hast redeemed the world.
And when they were come to the place which is called Calvary, they crucified Him there, and with Him two thieves, one on the right and the other on the left, and Jesus in the midst. My people, what have I done to thee? I have exalted thee with great power, and thou hast hanged Me on the gibbet of the cross.1
V. They have pierced my hands and my feet.
R. They have numbered all my bones.2
Let Us Pray
O God, who by the passion of Thine only-begotten Son, / and by the five wounds from which His blood was poured, / didst repair the evil wrought by sin in our human nature: / grant, we beseech Thee, / that we who here on earth revere the wounds which He received, / may be worthy to obtain in Heaven, the fruit of His most precious blood. / Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.3
Hymn: Let me to my latest breath, in my body bear the death of that dying Son of thine.
1 Lk. 23: 33, Jn. 19: 18 and Reproaches of Good Friday. 2 Ps. 21: 17-18. 3 Collect of the Feast of Five Wounds.
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Feast of the Five Wounds: The Church and all the great saints have from time immemorial encouraged us to meditate on the Passion of Our Lord. Sts. Bernard and Francis of Assisi spread the devotion to the Five Wounds in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries and by the 14th century a Mass, known as the Golden Mass, was included in the Roman Missal. The Passionists spread devotion to the Five Wounds and in 1831 a feast was assigned to the Friday after the third Sunday in Lent. The Divine Office for the feast dates back to the Middle Ages.
The entire Church does not celebrate this feast, and indeed I could not find it in either of my two 1962 missals, but according to the 1913 edition of the Catholic Encyclopedia it is placed in the appendix of some Breviaries and Missals. If anyone can find the Divine Office and Mass for this feast, please leave a comment here so I can update this post. I suspect it can be found in Franciscan, Dominican, or Passionist Breviaries and Missals based on the history of the devotion.
Sixth Station: Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus
March 15, 2010
Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus
V. We adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee.
R. Because by Thy holy cross Thou hast redeemed the world.
Lo, we have seen Him and there is no beauty in Him nor comeliness; He is despised and the most abject of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with infirmity. His countenance is, as it were, hidden, whereupon we esteemed Him not. His appearance is inglorious among men, and His form among children of men. And yet, He is the beautiful one above all the sons of men, and by His bruises we are healed.1
V. Turn not Thy face away from us.
R. And withdraw not from Thy servants in Thine anger.2
Let Us Pray
O God, who dost renew us to Thine image / by the precious blood of Jesus Christ Thy Son: / lead our footsteps in Thy paths, / so that we may truly obtain the gift of Thy divine charity. / Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.3
Hymn: Make me feel as thou hast felt; make my soul to glow and melt with love of Christ my Lord.
1 Third Responsory, Tenebrae of Holy Thursday, Is. 53: 3, 52: 14, Ps. 44: 3. 2 Ps. 26: 9. 3 Secret, “For Charity”.
Tenebrae, meaning “darkness”, is the name given to the liturgy of the Divine Office – Matins and Lauds – on the last three days of Holy Week. It is sung around 3 p.m. on the eve of the day to which it belongs. During this service, the lights are gradually put out, a practice dating from the fifth century. On Holy Saturday the church is in darkness from the beginning to the end of the service except for a single candle near the lectern to read by. These three days commemorate the death of Jesus and the time of His entombment with the liturgy conducted in a spirit and demonstration of mourning. Tenebrae is a lengthy service observed in monasteries and in a few parish churches or oratorios where the public may take part.
Prayer from Prime II
February 23, 2010
Cometary knots in the Helix Nebula
Another prayer from the Hour of Prime prayed daily by those keeping the 1962 liturgical books…
I manipulated the Hubble image at the left by saturating the colors, rotating it, and rendering it as an oil painting with none of the detail of the original. Then I laid down the script to make another prayer card which you may copy if you wish. I love the colors and wish this photo would inspire a textile designer to create a woven or print fabric for a long dress! (Sorry, guys – maybe a shirt?)
The following information from APOD tells the context of the cometary knots. If you click on “Helix Nebula” you will see the very famous telescope photo called “The Eye of God”.
The Helix Nebula is the closest example of a planetary nebula created at the end of the life of a Sun-like star. The Helix Nebula, given a technical designation of NGC 7293, lies about 700 light-years away towards the constellation of Aquarius.
Praise the Lord from the heavens, praise Him in the heights;
Praise Him, all you His angels, praise him, all you His hosts.
Praise Him, sun and moon; praise Him, all you shining stars. (Psalm 148: 1-3)
Sunday Snippets – A Catholic Carnival
February 21, 2010
Welcome to Sunday Snippets where Catholic bloggers link to their favorite posts of the week. Anyone is welcome to join in the fun.
This week I didn’t post much, even though I had good intentions. I just got overtaken with duties and only so much energy to accomplish them. Nevertheless, I’ve managed to keep to my 1/2 hour of spiritual reading every day but one. This Lent my book is Romano Guardini’s The Art of Praying: The Principles and Methods of Christian Prayer
This week I was determined to conquer one aspect of the digital art program I use. It resulted in my post on a prayer from the Divine Office of Prime superimposed on a Hubble photograph of Pismus 24. I hope to create more of these as time goes on.
I researched and wrote an article on the history of Ash Wednesday which is here. The clip art was black and white, but I used my digital art program to add color.
This week I read The Last Train from Hiroshima: The Survivors Look Back (John MacRae Books)
Today I add one more Kseniya Simonova sand art piece. Although I can’t read Russian, I got it that she had a friend whose baby died. What a memorial! God bless everyone, stay safe, and pray for the conversion of hearts to God.
Prayer from Prime
February 17, 2010
The hour of Prime from the Divine Office is my favorite. It was suppressed after Vatican II when a totally new breviary came out, but those who stay with the 1962 liturgical books pray it every day. This is one of two beautiful prayers which I superimposed over a star shot from NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day. I adjusted the color intensity and made some changes to accommodate the need for script visibility. You can print it out and use it for a prayer card.
Pismus 24 is one of my favorite images taken by the Hubble telescope. Originally astronomers thought it was one star, but the excellent pictures taken by Hubble show that Pismus derives its luminosity from not one but at least 3 stars. Toward the bottom of the image, stars are still forming in the associated emission nebula NGC 6357.
“The heavens are telling the glory of God…” (Ps 19: 1)
Frost and Cold Bless the Lord
February 3, 2010
Hoar frost on viburnam
This morning when I woke up, what did my wondering eyes behold but spectacular hoar frost on everything. This phenomena occurs every now and then in the Ozarks and thanks to my very nice husband, I have some photos to share with you.
On clear, frosty nights, God works His wonders, readying winter beauty to greet the dawn. If vegetation or objects have been chilled below freezing by radiation cooling, ice crystals form and the fragile pointy thorns create a fantasy world we glimpse only until the sun melts them with its warmth. Radiation cooling is the process by which a body loses its heat by radiation and that’s enough science for today.
Gods gift this morning reminded me of the canticle of Daniel in the Divine Office hour of Sunday Lauds (praise). The third chapter, verse 69 calls out:
Frost and cold, bless the Lord; praise and exalt Him above all forever.
- Head of Medusa on a fence post, sepia toned
Through Daniel we find ourselves realizing that our poor efforts at praise need the help of all creation. Beginning with verse 57 through verse 90 we call upon the heavens, the earth, the angels, spirits of the just and men to praise and bless the Lord, ending with joyful thanks for deliverance from the powers of hell and death through the salvation Jesus brings.
The fence post is cropped from a larger photo and colored sepia. the hoary tentacles reminded me of the head of Medusa, hence the title of the picture.
Hoar frost on fence with honeysuckle behind.
This image makes a brilliant graphic statement. Roger has a real eye for this kind of thing.
Greenbridge
Frosty trees set off a country bridge near home. Locals call it “Greenbridge”. You can see the river underneath on the right.
Forming a perfect background for the hoary branches, still water mirrors the trees on the river bank at the city park. Cropped from a larger image.
Branch over the river
Lastly, a view from the bridge upriver. The trees appear to be embracing all the sky. Cropped image from a larger composition.
On the river bank
These images are copyrighted, but if you want to use them you may as long as you credit Barb Schoeneberger and Roger Prai and if you would, please donate a little to this site.
Friday Lauds and God’s Snowy Blessing
January 29, 2010
Snow-covered honeysuckle in our back yard
Friday’s hour of Lauds, meaning “praise”, in the Divine Office celebrates deliverance from the Babylonian captivity in Psalm 147 (147 B) and Jerusalem’s God-given privilege. In a short verse from Romans following the psalms we receive an instruction about how to live in this deliverance.
As I looked out the window watching the snow falling, I thought that although it is cold and gray outside, how perfect is this time to praise with the psalmist the power and glory of God. So after I finished morning prayers I stumbled out into the gently falling snow and took a few pictures to share along with this psalm.
Psalm 147
Glorify the Lord, O Jerusalem; praise your God, O Sion.
For He has strengthened the bars of your gates; He has blessed your children within you.
He has granted peace in your borders; with the best of wheat He fills you. He sends forth his command to the earth; swiftly runs His word!
He spreads snow like wool; frost He strews like ashes.
He scatters His hail like crumbs; before His cold the waters freeze.
He sends His word and melts them; He lets His breeze blow and the waters run. He has proclaimed His word to Jacob, His statutes and His ordinances to Israel.
He has not done thus for any other nation; His ordinances He has not made known to them. Alleluia.
"He spreads snow like wool..."
Looking at the allegorical meaning of these scriptures, after the winter of sin comes the springtime of salvation. Beneath the snow lies the promise of new life – Redemption. The all-powerful Father sends His Word to melt the cold of our hearts, bringing us the warmth of spiritual peace, joy and prosperity. He fills us with the best of wheat – the Holy Eucharist and the graces It brings.
With His commandments and His blessings (the Beatitudes), He strengthens the bars of the gates of our hearts against Satan and the world. He shows us how to live as people redeemed, laying aside the works of darkness and putting on the armor of light, walking becomingly as in the day (Rom. 13:12-13). We are a privileged people (“praise your God, O Sion…He has not done thus for any other nation”) with an obligation of lighting the way for those still in winter who do not yet know him or who have fallen away.
O Emmanuel
December 23, 2009
O Emmanuel, Rex et Legifer noster, exspectatio gentium, et salvator earum; veni ad salvandum nos, Domine Deus noster.
O Emmanuel, our King and Lawgiver, the Expectation and Savior of the nations, come and save us, O Lord our God.
Isaiah 7:14: Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son and his name shall be called Emmanuel.
Isaiah: 33: 22: For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king: he will save us.
Emmanuel means “God with us”. Jesus promised He would be with us until the end of time. We find him in the Holy Eucharist. We receive Him into our hearts at Holy Communion. We ask him to come and rule over our hearts, to help us to live according to His laws. We await His coming with great expectation.
And how will we know He has come? We see him in the arms of Mary, the virgin of virgins, the most holy and perfect virgin. She presents Emmanuel to us to bow down before and adore.
O Rex Gentium
December 22, 2009
O Rex gentium, et desideratus earum, lapisque angularis, qui facis utraque unum; veni, et salva hominem quem de limo formasti.
O King of nations, and their desired One, and the cornerstone that makest both one; come and save man whom Thou formed out of clay.
Isaiah 9:7: His empire shall be multiplied, and there shall be no end of peace: he shall sit upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom; to establish it and strengthen it with judgment and with justice, from henceforth and for ever: the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
Haggai 2: 7-9: And I will move all nations: and the Desired of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory: saith the Lord of hosts. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of hosts. Great shall be the glory of this last house more than of the first, saith the Lord of hosts: and in this place I will give peace, saith the Lord of hosts.
Eph. 2: 14-16: For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and breaking down the middle wall of partition, the enmities in his flesh: Making void the law of commandments contained in decrees; that he might make the two in himself into one new man, making peace; And might reconcile both to God in one body by the cross…
Eph. 2: 19-20: Now therefore you are no more strangers and foreigners; but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and the domestics of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone…
Gen. 2: 7: And the Lord God formed man of the clay of the earth: and breathed into his face the breath of life, and man became a living soul.
Jesus comes to unite all Israel and the Gentiles into one body by the Cross of salvation. He is the cornerstone upon which the family of God is built. In today’s antiphon, we ask Him to save us – to reshape us, reform us, take away our sins, to change us into what He wants us to be, we who were formed out of clay.
O Clavis David
December 20, 2009
O Clavis David et aceptrum domus Israel, qui aperis, et nemo claudit; claudis, et nemo aperit; veni et educ vinctum de domo carceris, sedentem in tenebris, et umbra mortis.
O Key of David, and scepter of the house of Israel Who openist and no man shutteth: Who shuttest, and no man openeth; come, and lead the captive from prison, sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death.
Isaiah 22:22: And I will lay the key of the house of David upon his shoulder: and he shall open, and none shall shut: and he shall shut, and none shall open.
Isaiah 9:6: For a child is born to us, and a son is given to us, and the government is upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, God the Mighty, the Father of the world to come, the Prince of Peace.
Ps 106:13-14: Then they cried to the Lord in their need and he rescued them from their distress. He led them forth from darkness and gloom and broke their chains to pieces.
Jesus is the key who opens the door to the prison where we have been chained because of our sins. The darkness of our intellect gets us into trouble again and again. But the Key of David can unlock our hearts if we let Him, and we can flee the darkness and shadow of death to choose eternal life. If we let Him – it is the meaning of free will – the right to choose without any constraint that which is good. Jesus never forsakes us when we cry for mercy, when we open our hearts to Him. Say “yes” to Love.
O Sapientia
December 17, 2009
O Sapientia, quae ex ore Altissimi prodiisti, attingens a fine usque ad finem fortiter, suaviterque disponens omnia; veni ad docendum nos viam prudentiae.
O Wisdom, that proceedest from the mouth of the Most High, reaching from end to end mightily, and disposing all things sweetly, come and teach us the way of prudence.
Isaiah spoke of the Messiah:
Isaiah 11:2-3: And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him: the spirit of wisdom, and of understanding, the spirit of counsel, and of fortitude, the spirit of knowledge, and of godliness. And he shall be filled with the spirit of the fear of the Lord, He shall not judge according to the sight of the eyes, nor reprove according to the hearing of the ears.
Isaiah 28:29: This also is come forth from the Lord God of hosts, to make his counsel wonderful, and magnify justice.
God disposes sweetly through Caesar Augustus who issued a decree ordering the enrollment of the whole world in the city of their birth. And so it was that the prophesy of Micah 5:2 was fulfilled:
And thou, Bethlehem Ephrata, art a little one among the thousands of Juda: out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be the ruler in Israel: and his going forth is from the beginning, from the days of eternity.
The Virgin and her dear husband Joseph journeyed to the little town of Bethlehem, the house of Bread, to obey Caesar, and so the prophecy was fulfilled. God’s wisdom is unbounded. He does not judge by our eyes or ears, but by His infinite wisdom.
“…teach us the way of prudence”, one of the four cardinal virtues on which all other virtues hinge. Wisdom is knowledge of the Divine. If our purpose on earth is to know God, to love and serve Him in this world so that we may be happy with Him in the next, then wisdom, a gift of the Holy Spirit, is something we must not only spend a lifetime seeking, it is necessary for the development of prudence.
St. Thomas Acquinas tells us that prudence is of the intellect. The more deeply we know God the more our intellects can apprehend what is prudent in the eyes of God and the more likely we are to exercise our will in union with His. Acting in union with God brings peace and joy, certainty to the heart. The Church cries out for us all, “O Wisdom…come…”.
Celebrating the Golden Nights of Advent
December 16, 2009
Now is a busy time for many. In the midst of the Christmas preparations, we mustn’t forget Who is coming, Whom we are getting ready for. In all the rushing around this season, what are we doing to prepare to receive Him? I found three beautiful traditions, one liturgical, any one of which adopted or varied helps to keep our eyes on Jesus.
Thanks to the Catholics of Central Europe, we have the beautiful tradition of the “Golden Nights” of Advent, so called because the festivities took place after dark or before sunrise. From the Alps comes the custom of carrying an image or statue of the Blessed Virgin from house to house on the nine evenings before Christmas Eve. It is placed on a table between candles and flowers with families gathered around singing hymns of honor to Our Lady the Expectant Mother.
In Central and South America, the Novena of the Holy Child is celebrated in churches around the Christmas crib which is empty until Jesus arrives at midnight, Christmas. People sing hymns and carols and say prayers.(Francis X. Weisner, “Handbook of Christian Feasts and Customs.” New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1958, p. 56-57)
Vespers is the hour of the Divine Office the Church has chosen to celebrate the solemn supplication to the Divine Redeemer through the “O Antiphons”, yet another way of bringing the Golden Nights alive every Advent. Dom Gueranger tells us in his The Liturgical Year
This is a time when some who are sick and suffering can do what others cannot because of pressing responsibilities: pray the Divine Office, one of the official liturgies of the Church. It is also a time when a great kindness can be done for those who cannot help themselves, or who are especially lonely or sad during the Christmas season. Finding a way to make the Golden Nights come alive for others is a way to bring Jesus into their hearts and perhaps help them look forward to His birthday with more joy. It can lighten the load of a troubled heart. We are only limited by our creativity.
I will post the “O Antiphon” of the day each day at this site, along with related scripture and comments.
Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary
December 8, 2009
Today the Church celebrates with joy the advent of our Savior, Jesus Christ, through the Immaculate Conception of His mother, Mary, in the womb of her mother, St. Anne. We celebrate the sublime privilege by which Mary was preserved from Original Sin from the beginning of her conception by the power of God.
Immaculate Conception c.1626, Peter Pauwel Reubens, oil on canvas, Museo del Prado, Madrid
A Painting for this Feast
This beautiful painting of Our Lady under the title of “Immaculate Conception” portrays Mary as the woman of Revelations 12:1. She is the one promised by God in Genesis 3:15. It is one of my favorites because of the rendition of colors and technique and because of the rich symbolism Reubens included. Great religious art is always meant to convey the truth of the revealed Word of God, and can be a great aid to prayer. Reubens accomplished this for me as it fills my heart with joy to contemplate what God has done for us in the Blessed Virgin.
Mary in Today’s Liturgy
Mary was not only the daughter of God, she was Mother of the Son and bride of the Holy Spirit. For this reason she could not be permitted to suffer the impurity of Original Sin, but was instead filled with grace (Lk. 1:28) from the very beginning of her conception (Cant. 4: 7). Without Original Sin, she lacked the concupiscence we all inherit from Adam and Eve and thus remained sinless throughout her life.
At Vespers of the Divine Office today the Church chants the Magnificat antiphon:
All generations shall call me blessed, because He that is mighty hath done great things for me, alleluia.
The prayer at Mass and at the end of each hour of the Divine Office is:
O God, Who by the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin didst prepare a worthy dwelling-place for Thy divine Son; grant, we beseech thee, that, as by the foreseen merits of the death of this, Thy Son, Thou didst preserve her from every stain of sin, we also may, through her intercession, be cleansed from our sins and united with Thee. Through the same Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end. Amen.
History of the Celebration
The early Fathers of the Church taught this dogma which they inherited from the Apostles. Dom Prosper Guerenger, the great Benedictine monastic and liturgical reformer of the 19th century, tells us in his first volume on the Liturgical Year that
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by the 500s, the feast was celebrated in the Eastern Church,
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by the 700s in Spain,
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by the 800s in Naples,
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by the time of Charlemagne in France,
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by 1066 in England,
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by 1049 in Germany,
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by 1142 in Belgium.
History shows that it was Pope Sixtus IV who published the decree for the celebration of Our Lady’s Conception in Rome in 1476. Pope St. Pius V included the feast in the universal edition of the Roman breviary in 1568.
A Celebration of God’s Omnipotence and Mercy
This great and joyful feast is a celebration of God’s love and glory, His omnipotence and mercy towards man. He knows how weak we are, and has taken pity on us. Not only did the Father send us His Son to free us from our slavery to sin through the Immaculate Virgin, He gave us in her a loving Mother (Jn 19: 26-27) whose example of purity and fidelity to God’s will shows us the way to turn our feet.
We who were not conceived without sin have a Brother who is God and a Mother who was without any stain of sin and is perfectly united to Him. She is, moreover, a human being who experienced the same kinds of pain and suffering we suffer as human beings, save sin. She knows our plight. Whatever God the Father asks of us, no matter how difficult it seems, we can find joy and peace following the example of Mary, the human being who most closely imitated His Son, Jesus. It pleases Him that we honor this most beautiful of His creations. We are truly blessed.
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