Immaculate Conception of the B.V. Mary, solemnity
- Bl. Paul Yun Ji-chung and 123 companions martyrs († 1791/1888)
- Bl. Alojzy (Louis) Liguda priest and martyr (1898-1942)
- Saint of the Day
First Reading
I will put enmity between your offspring and the offspring of the woman.
From the Book of Gènesis
Gen 3:9-15, 20
[After the man had eaten of the fruit of the tree,] the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” He replied, “I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.” Then he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent tricked me, and I ate.”
Then the Lord God said to the serpent:
“Because you have done this,
cursed are you among all animals
and among all wild creatures!
On your belly you shall go,
and dust you shall eat
all the days of your life.
I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he will strike your head,
and you will strike his heel.”
The man named his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all living.
The Word of the Lord.
Responsorial Psalm
From Psalm 97 (98)
R. Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things.
Sing to the Lord a new song,
for he has done marvelous things.
His right hand and his holy arm
have gotten him victory. R.
The Lord has made known his victory;
he has revealed his vindication in the sight of the nations.
He has remembered his steadfast love
and faithfulness to the house of Israel. R.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the victory of our God.
Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth;
break forth into joyous song and sing praises! R.
Second Reading
In Christ, God chose us before the foundation of the world.
From the Letter of Saint Paul to the Ephesians
Eph 1:3-6.11-12
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,
just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world
to be holy and blameless before him in love.
He destined us for adoption as his children
through Jesus Christ,
according to the good pleasure of his will,
to the praise of his glorious grace
that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.
In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance,
having been destined according to the purpose of him
who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will,
so that we who were the first to set our hope on Christ
might live for the praise of his glory.
The Word of the Lord.
Gospel Acclamation
Alleluia, alleluia.
Rejoice, full of grace,
the Lord is with you,
blessed are you among women. (Cf. Lk 1:28, 42)
Alleluia.
The Gospel of the day, December 8, 2025
“Rejoice, full of grace: the Lord is with you.”
From the Gospel according to Luke
Lk 1:26-38
In that time, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.”
But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus.
He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.”
Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.
The Gospel of the Lord.
The Creed is recited.
Saint Faustina Kowalska (1905-1938)
religious sister
Diary, § 1746
Thanks to an Immaculate Virgin, Your mercy has reached us
Be adored, merciful God,
For You have deigned to descend from heaven to earth.
We praise You in great humility,
For having raised up all of humanity.
Unfathomable and inconceivable in Your mercy,
You took a body for love of us,
From an Immaculate Virgin, never touched by sin,
Because You preferred her from all ages.
The Holy Virgin, that snow-white lily,
First adores the omnipotence of Your mercy.
For the coming of the Word, Her pure Heart opens with love,
She believes the words of the divine Messenger and is strengthened in trust.
Heaven was astonished that God became man,
That there was a heart on earth worthy of Himself.
Why do You not unite Yourself to a Seraphim, but to a sinner?
Oh! It is a mystery of Your mercy,
Despite the purity of the virginal heart.
Oh mystery of divine mercy, oh God of pity,
You abandoned the heavenly throne,
And lowered Yourself to our wretchedness, to human weakness,
For mercy is needed not by angels, but by humans.
To worthily express the mercy of the Lord,
We unite ourselves with Your Immaculate Mother,
Thus our hymn will be more pleasing to You,
For among angels and men She was chosen.
Through Her, like pure crystal,
Your mercy has reached us,
Through Her man became pleasing to God,
Through Her torrents of every grace flow down upon us.
THE WORDS OF THE POPES
“Nothing is impossible with God…” (Lk 1:37)”. Only with the infinite power of love can the fact that God-Word, God-Son became man be explained. Only with the inscrutable power of God’s love can the fact that the Virgin – daughter of human parents – becomes the Mother of God be explained. Yet this fact was incomprehensible to her very self: “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” (Lk 1:34). However, “nothing is impossible with God”! Given that the omnipotence of the Eternal Father and the infinite power of love operating through the force of the Holy Spirit cause the Son of God to become man in the womb of the Virgin of Nazareth, then the same power, in consideration of the Redeemer’s merits, preserves his Mother from the inheritance of original sin. “Nothing is impossible with God”! Let us reflect on the mystery of the Immaculate Conception. Listening to the Word of the living God, which speaks to us from the depth of the first Advent, let us go forth to meet all that the time of man and the world can bring us. Let us go forth united with the Woman par excellence, with Mary. (Saint John Paul II – Homily of the Holy Mass on December 8, 1981)
