As we prepare for the feast of the Immaculate Conception and the close the Year of St. Joseph, we place in the loving protection of both Mary and Joseph, in this time of preparation for Christ’s birth, all the many worries and preoccupations that weigh upon us.
We entrust to her the coming year, asking her to guide us in and through it, that each day of 2022 will bring us closer to her Son.
Reflection
The Doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of Mary expresses the certainty of faith that God’s promises have been fulfilled and that his Covenant does not fail but has produced a holy root from which came forth the blessed Fruit of the whole universe, Jesus the Saviour.
The Immaculate Virgin shows that Grace can give rise to a response, that God’s fidelity can bring forth a true and good faith.
Let us follow the example of the Mother of God, so that in us too the Lord’s grace may find an answer in genuine and fruitful faith.
Prayer
This is the oldest recorded Marian prayer, outside of the texts from the Gospels:
We fly to Thy protection, O Holy Mother of God. Do not despise our petitions in our necessities, but deliver us always from all dangers, O Glorious and Blessed Virgin.
