The feast day of 8 December is not one of the oldest Marian feasts recorded in the history of the liturgy: it originated in the East only around the 8th century and under a different name: Feast of the Conception of Saint Anne, and was set on 9 December in relation to 8 September, the day on which the birth of the Virgin Mary is commemorated. Now, this Eastern feast, as its original title suggests, did not focus on Mary’s exemption from original sin, something that is obvious and natural to us in the West, but rather on the miraculous event narrated in the apocryphal gospels, according to which Joachim and Anne, who were barren and now elderly, had, after the announcement of an angel, the Virgin Mary as their long-awaited daughter.
In the West, this feast, brought forward by one day to 8 December, spread even later, after the 11th century, and moreover with some difficulty and resistance. It was not until 1 March 1476 that this Marian feast was first approved by a pope, Sixtus IV, while on 8 December 1661 Pope Alexander VII declared in a bull, even without a dogmatic definition, that the object of this feast was the preservation of Mary from original sin from the first moment of her conception. Finally, in 1854, Blessed Pope Pius IX defined this truth as a dogma of faith, and the feast, now deeply felt in popular piety, was elevated in liturgical rank: it became a solemnity and was counted among the days of precept.
Celebrating this solemnity means celebrating the love of God, which is stronger than anything else and cannot be upset by anything or anyone.
Mary is the sign of the Church and of every Christian who listens to the word of God, meditates on it in their heart, and puts it into practice. She is the model for those whom Jesus considered his true relatives: because they observed the will of the Father, that is, the reason for which he became incarnate.
In fact, Jesus became incarnate to make people aware that God is the father of all, not only of the Jewish people, but of all men whom he loves freely as his children. Mary is also an example that the Father calls everyone and does not look at rank, fame, or family, but rather prefers the humble, the little ones, those who do not enjoy a good reputation: Mary, the daughter of an ordinary couple who lived in the infamous region of Galilee, in the worst village: Nazareth, betrothed to the village carpenter… anything but famous! This is what Jesus did: he chose to be born and live with this couple in Nazareth… to surround himself with those who were little esteemed: shepherds, fishermen, tax collectors, etc., in order to fulfil the Father’s will, and Mary reminds us of all this. And what about us? Are we seekers of fame, or are we among those who listen to the Word, meditate on it and put it into practice like Mary in the silence of everyday life?

Have a good Advent.
Fr. Giorgio Bontempi, C.M.