Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary - Solemnity

Book of Genesis

The LORD God called to the Adam and asked him, “Where are you?”
He answered, "I heard you in the garden; but I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid myself."
Then he asked, "Who told you that you were naked? You have eaten, then, from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat!"
The man replied, "The woman whom you put here with me--she gave me fruit from the tree, so I ate it."
The LORD God then asked the woman, "Why did you do such a thing?" The woman answered, "The serpent tricked me into it, so I ate it."
Then the LORD God said to the serpent: "Because you have done this, you shall be banned from all the animals and from all the wild creatures; On your belly shall you crawl, and dirt shall you eat all the days of your life.
I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel."
The man called his wife Eve, because she became the mother of all the living.

Psalms

Sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done wondrous deeds;
His right hand has won victory for him,
his holy arm.
The LORD has made his salvation known:
in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice.
He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness
toward the house of Israel.
toward the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
break into song; sing praise.

Letter to the Ephesians

Brothers and sisters: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens,
as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him. In love
he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ, in accord with the favor of his will,
for the praise of the glory of his grace that he granted us in the beloved.
In him we were also chosen, destined in accord with the purpose of the one who accomplishes all things according to the intention of his will,
so that we might exist for the praise of his glory, we who first hoped in Christ.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke

In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth,
to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary.
And coming to her, he said, "Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you."
But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus.
He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father,
and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end."
But Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?"
And the angel said to her in reply, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.
And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren;
for nothing will be impossible for God."
Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word." Then the angel departed from her.

St. Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin((1474-1548))

Saint Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin (1474-1548) Little is known about Juan Diego before his conversion. However, "El Nican Mopohua" (written in Náhuatl with Latin characters in 1556 by the Indigenous writer Antonio Valeriano), gives some information on his life and the apparitions.Juan Diego was born in Cuautlitlán, which is today a part of Mexico City. He was given the name "Cuauhtlatoatzin" ("the talking eagle"). He was a gifted member of the Chichimeca, the most culturally advanced group in the Anáhuac Valley. At 50 years old, Juan Diego was baptized by a Franciscan priest, Fr. Peter da Gand. On December 9, 1531, on his way to morning Mass, the Blessed Mother appeared to Juan Diego on Tepeyac Hill, on the outskirts of what is now Mexico City. She asked him to tell the bishop to build a shrine there in her name, and promised to pour out her grace upon those who invoked her. The bishop did not believe Juan Diego and asked for a sign. On December 12, Juan Diego returned to Tepeyac. There, the Blessed Mother told him to climb the hill and pick the flowers in bloom. He obeyed, and although it was winter time, he found roses blooming. He gathered the roses and took them to Our Lady, who carefully placed them in his mantle and told him to take them to the bishop. When Juan Diego opened his mantle, the roses fell to the ground, and there remained impressed an image of the Blessed Mother. With the bishop's permission, Juan Diego lived near the chapel where the miraculous image was placed for veneration. He cared for the church and the first pilgrims who came to pray to the Mother of God. Much deeper than the exterior grace of having been chosen as Our Lady's messenger, Juan Diego received the grace of interior enlightenment. From that moment, he began a life dedicated to prayer, virtue and love of God and neighbor. He passed away in 1548 and was buried in the first chapel dedicated to the Virgin of Guadalupe. He was beatified on May 6, 1990, by Pope John Paul II in the Basilica of Santa Maria di Guadalupe, Mexico City, and canonized on July 31, 2002. The miraculous image, which is preserved in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, shows a woman of mixed native and European heritage. She is supported by an angel whose wings are reminiscent of one of the major gods of the traditional religion of that area. The black girdle about her waist signifies that she is pregnant. Thus, the image depicts that Christ is to be born again among the people of the New World. Laser scanning and scientific instruments determined that the Virgin's eyes had rested upon those present at the Cloak's first unveiling. The representation of native traditions in colors and symbols, and the image's preservation from accidental destruction, confirms that the Blessed Virgin is alive and is the Mediatrix of the human race.

St. Leocadia(Virgin and Martyr († c. 304))

SAINT LEOCADIAVirgin and Martyr( c. 304) St. Leocadia was a native of Toledo. In 304, she was arrested on Governor Dacian's order. Leocadia had heard of St. Eulalia's martyrdom and prayed to Jesus for courage. Soon after, she was martyred in prison. Three famous churches in Toledo are named after St. Leocadia. Most of the councils of Toledo were held in one of her churches. She is honored as the city's principal patroness. St. Leocadia's relics were kept in the Toledo Church until the Moorish incursions. Hence, they were conveyed to Oviedo. They were transferred some years afterward to the abbey of St. Guislain, near Mons in Hainault. On April 26, 1589, they were placed in the Toledo Cathedral.

St. Peter Fourier()

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