Advent – Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception

Today being the Feast of the Immaculate Conception (and the 40th anniversary of the close of the Second Vatican Council), it seems like a good time to look into the various Advent-related activities that also tie into this glorious feast day. To quote the Rev. Edward Sutfin once again:

It is true, of course, that in origin and in principle this great feast does not have any relationship with the time of Advent. It was fixed on December 8 in order to separate the feast by nine months from the date of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin on September 8. However, in celebrating this feast we may easily enter into the spirit of Christmastide, for the feast is like the dawn of the Sun of Christmas.

Certainly it is a day of special prayers, such as the Angelus. At least in the US, Mass is obligatory. Because the Immaculate Conception is also the Patroness of the United States, the feast also makes a nice springboard for discussions of the state of our country. Baking rears its head again, with the potential for making Moravian Spritz. Ordinarily these gingerbread cookies are made for the vigil of the Immaculate Conception since Mary, too, “gave forth sweet smell like cinnamon and aromatic balm and yielded a sweet odor like the best myrrh.” It also seems like a good day to unveil the Mary Candle, which will be discussed in another post, later. Finally, singing some special hymns at dinner might also be a way to commemorate the occasion.

The singing of hymns, though, is a delicate matter. The Church having abandoned the singing of good hymns for the Haugen-Haas fru-fru, we have no idea what tunes accompany the lyrics we find on the internet. We could make them up, but that would just send my son reeling for the aforementioned Haugen-Haas slop. Some of the listed hymns for the day include (follow the links to sources of the tunes also):

* Ave, Maris Stella
* Maria Mater Gratia
* Immaculate Mary
* O Most Holy One
* Inviolata
* Tota Pulchra Es

Other Advent-related (not Christmas!) hymns will be listed elsewhere.