By Patti Armstrong, EWTN News - No one has ever been better prepared for Christmas than the Blessed Mother. Despite the stress of needing to travel by donkey from Nazareth to Bethlehem, a four- to six-day journey over rough terrain with no place to stay at the end, Mary was spiritually ready to give birth to our Savior. God’s plan is always perfect. He wanted his Son to be born of a woman free of sin in a humble place—a manger, among animals… The feast of the Immaculate Conception is celebrated during Advent, on Dec. 8. It is a beautiful time to ask for Mary’s intercession to help us prepare for the birth of Jesus.