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Monday, December 8, 2014
Monday, December 8th is the feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, the mother of God. Since Mary was the mother of the Son of God, she was granted a special privilege no other human has received-she was conceived without original sin. It is a holyday of obligation. Because this is the patroness feast of the United States it is always a holyday of obligation-even when it is on a Saturday or a Monday.
The Immaculate Conception was declared a dogma of the Catholic Church in 1854. It quickly became a favorite name who wished to honor Mary. Before that time the most popular name was St. Mary’s. that is one of the reasons why our church has two names. Our official name, according to church and civil law, is Immaculate Conception. So why do most people use the other name? Our street name is St. Mary’s; our former school was St. Mary’s, our cemetery is St. Mary’s, and our parish hall is St. Mary’s. The confusion came about because our first pastor called the new parish, “St. Mary’s”, in January of 1848 but when the official documents were written later in the year it said the parish could also be called “Immaculate Conception”. This later name became the official name in 1878 when Fr. Charles Corley became pastor. It was a question of timing. Between 1848 and 1878 the “Immaculate Conception” had been declared an infallible dogma of the church.
Still “St. Mary’s” remains the popular name. Why? Probably because it is easier to pronounce. If you want more information, go to www.icmary.com and read chapters 4&7 of our history.
Masses on December 8th are celebrated at 8:15,12:05 and 7:30pm. There is no 5:00pm Vigil Mass on Sunday.