Today’s proper preface for the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception is a synthesis of this mystery:

For you preserved the most Blessed Virgin Mary

from all stain of original sin,

so that in her, endowed with the rich fullness of your grace,

you might prepare a worthy Mother for your Son

and signify the beginning of the Church,

his beautiful Bride without spot or wrinkle.

She, the most pure Virgin, was to bring forth a Son,

the innocent Lamb who would wipe away our offenses;

you placed her above all others

to be for your people an advocate of grace

and a model of holiness.

And so, in company with the choirs of Angels,

we praise you, and with joy we proclaim: Holy….

A meditation on trust in God, preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai at Lyncroft Centre, Toronto, on the eve of the solemnity of the Immaculate conception.

Music: J. S. Bach, Prelude (Cello Suite No. 3, BWV 1009) on Museopen.org.

Thumbnail: Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Immaculate Conception, 1767, Prado, Madrid.