The importance of this day is easily seen in that it is only one of seven holy days throughout the year designated as a Holy Day of Obligation by the American Bishops. On December 8, the whole Church celebrates the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. We hold to the early Church's teachings that Mary was, from the very moment of her conception, conceive without the stain of Original Sin, in order to prepare her as a pure vessel in which to bring salvation to the world

Prayer of the Day

Father, you prepared the Virgin Mary to be the worthy mother of your Son.

You let her share beforehand in the salvation Christ would bring by his death, and kept her sinless from the first moment of her conception.Help us by her prayers to live in your presence without sin.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.