Today’s Saint

By Gretchen Filz, The Catholic Company - December 12th  is the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of the Americas, unborn children, and the New Evangelization... Our Lady of Guadalupe is unlike any other apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary. First, it is the only apparition where Our Lady left a miraculous image of herself unmade by human hands.  Second, it is the only universally venerated Madonna and Child image where Our Lady appears pregnant instead of holding the Infant Jesus.

The Story of the Immaculate Conception of Mary - A feast called the Conception of Mary arose in the Eastern Church in the seventh century. It came to the West in the eighth century. In the 11th century it received its present name, the Immaculate Conception. In the 18th century it became a feast of the universal Church. It is now recognized as a solemnity.