Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
Massimo Palombella
The Immaculate Conception of Mary is a Dogma of faith proclaimed by Pope Pius IX on 8 December 1854 with the bull ‘Innefabilis Deus‘, according to which the Virgin Mary was preserved free from original sin from the first moment of her conception. Celebrating today’s Solemnity leads us to become aware of the ongoing battle that each of us must face within ourselves with what Christian tradition calls “original sin”. A battle that is already won by the One who was born, died and rose again for us. A victory in which we can only participate through the daily exercise of our freedom through which we can graft ourselves into the ‘life in abundance’ that has been given to us.
“Original sin” is encoded in the burdens we have to bear that we did not choose or even deserve, in that weakness that every day, if we are able to be in touch with ourselves, we experience, that same weakness assumed by Jesus for our salvation: “Everything was assumed because everything was redeemed” (cf. Leo I, Tomus ad Flavianum, in Schwarts E. – J. Straub (edd.), Acta Conciliorum Oecumenicorum II, II/1 (De Gruyter, Berlin 2011), 24.15 – 33.10)
The Communion antiphon for today’s celebration is taken from Psalm 86 (Ps. 86, 3) with the following text:
“Gloriosa dicta sunt de te, Maria, quia fecit magna qui potens est.”
(Glorious things have been proclaimed concerning you, O Mary; for the Almighty has done marvelous things on your behalf).
The attached music, in Gregorian Chant, is taken from the Graduale Triplex published in Solesmes in 1979. The music can be found on the web where there is no indication of interpretation.
A blessed solemnity and heartfelt greetings.
