Feast of the Immaculate Conception

On December 8, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, we celebrate the conception of Mary the Mother of God. According to our church tradition, Mary was conceived without original sin and she remained sinless throughout her life. A popular misconception is that this feast refers to Jesus’ conception. Jesus’ conception is referred to as the Virginal Conception or the Annunciation.

The Feast of the Immaculate Conception is a big feast day in my IHM congregation. (In fact I just got a call from one of my nuns in Monroe to wish me a happy feast … at 6:40 a.m.!) Since our foundation in 1845, our congregation has been under the patronage of the Immaculate Conception. I think it was due to the influence of the Redemptorists — Louis Gillet, CSsR, and Theresa Maxis were our founders and our spirituality and way of life has a Redemptorist flavor. 

Gillet had come to the US from Belgium with Fr. Poilvache to do missionary work in 1843. They set up in Monroe, Michigan, and worked at St. Anthony Parish. Eventually they changed the name of the parish to St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception. In 1844, Gillet met Theresa Maxis, a member of the Oblate Sisters of Providence in Baltimore. He convinced her of the great needs of the children in Michigan. In November 1845, she left the Oblates and, with Father Gillet, founded the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (see the web page on our founders by the Immaculata IHMs). For more on our founding see my post IHM Founders Day.

Towards the end of November, Theresa and Louis along with the first sisters, began preparing for the new community to receive their habit (which apparently was designed by Louis himself in the style of the Redemptorist habit). This is how the story goes:

By November 30, the first Sunday of Advent, all was in readiness. The founder had given a three-day retreat in preparation for the ceremony. The investiture of Mother Theresa and Sister Ann, held privately, was followed immediately by their profession according to the new rule. After giving each the ring, Father GIllet placed the rule and the bishop’s letter of approval in the hands of Mother Theresa. Since at the time the feast of the Immaculate Conception was not a holyday of obligation [It would become so on December 8, 1854 when it became a dogma of the Church under Pope Pius IX.] it was solemnized on the following Sunday when it fell on a weekday. On December 14, therefore, instead of December 8, the two Sisters renewed their vows in the hands of the vicar-general whom the bishop had sent to receive them. On the same SUnday, at High Mass, Theresa Renauld received the “blessed dress,” as the habit was designated, and the name, Mary Celestine. Father Gillet preached on this occasion “upon the dignity of the religious state, on which he spoke with his usual eloquence.”

The rest, as we say, is history. Check out this homily on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception by a Scranton IHM.

HAPPY FEAST DAY!