Happy Feast of the Immaculate Conception

Boy there are a lot of celebrations in December (I think it’s because Europe is the birthplace of the church and unlike here in Florida, it gets really cold in Europe in December and you have to do something  to fight of the depression of the freezing cold).

If you’re like me you find yourself thinking, “How could Christ be conceived on December 7th and born on the 25th?”

I know I’m a bad Catholic, because the Immaculate Conception celebrates the conception of Mary.  This should be obvious.  It’s the  Immaculate Conception because we celebrate that Mary was conceived without sin (Christ was too, but we really celebrate that he was God and chose to be conceived as man).

There actually isn’t an elaborate tradition for the feast of the Immaculate Conception (which seems weird now that I think of it), but it is a Holy Day of Obligation, which means as a Catholic you are required to attend Mass.  This is great, because, aside from the joys and glories of going to Mass, you also get a “Get out of School Free” card since it’s a required religious observance.