Tomorrow, December 8, is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. Here’s what the celebration is all about, according to About.com Catholicism:
Few doctrines of the Catholic Church are as misunderstood as the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. Many people, including many Catholics, think that it refers to the conception of Christ through the action of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary. That event, though, is celebrated at the feast of the Annunciation of the Lord (March 25, nine months before Christmas).
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| Image of St. Anne with Mama Mary in her womb from Thinking Love, No Twaddle. |
The Immaculate Conception refers to the condition that the Blessed Virgin Mary was free fromOriginal Sin from the very moment of her conception in the womb of her mother, Saint Anne. We celebrate the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary on September 8; nine months before is December 8, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.
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| Image from CatholicTradition.Org |
Since we’ve decided to include more meaningful activities and traditions for Advent this year, like expanding our St. Nicholas day list of activities, we will also be “doing more stuff than usual” tomorrow. Today, the memorial of St. Ambrose, we will just be decorating our Christ candle (for the very first time — a new tradition for our family!)
As part of our preparations for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, I discovered a couple of sites that had great freebies connected to tomorrow’s feast. I hope you’ll be able to find them useful.
- Catholic Icing has the following resources for the Immaculate Conception:
- Paper Dali has an uber cute FREE coloring page of St. Joachim, with the pregnant St. Anne, daydreaming of Mama Mary (as a baby). 🙂
- Loyola Press has a section called “Saints Stories For All Ages,” which have brief descriptions of different Catholic saints. You can read the one of the Immaculate Conception here.
- On YouTube, there’s a short clip of “Bernadette: The Princess of Lourdes” cartoon, where Mary reveals herself to St. Bernadette as the Immaculate Conception. You can watch it — we will surely do this tomorrow! 🙂
- St. Anne’s Helper has a FREE downloadable Hail Mary copywork sheet — perfect for practicing handwriting AND learning (or, in Tim’s case, reviewing) the Hail Mary prayer. (I think I’ll have to give him a “reward” after he finishes this though, heehee!)
- A simple search on Google can help you find images of St. Anne with Mary as a child or infant — these will help you explain what the Immaculate Conception is to your kids. You may click here if you like. (I’ve done the searching for you, hehe!)
May all of us have a meaningful time tomorrow, honoring Our Blessed Mother, and at the same time, preparing our hearts even more for her Son’s birth! 🙂
