Immaculate Conception Ramsho

December 8
IMMACULATE CONCEPTION
Ramsho

INTRODUCTION

DOXOLOGY

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as we begin and until we conclude.
May mercy and compassion be poured forth upon us
in this world and the next.
O Lord, our God, to you be glory for ever.
Amen.
OPENING PRAYER
Eternal God,
your power is astonishing and your signs are marvelous.
In your wisdom you created the world and adorned the
heavens with stars;
you gave Anne a daughter, who from the moment of her
conception, was preserved from the original sin of Adam.
Help us now to praise and glorify you
and to sing of your chaste and pure Mother,
now and for ever. Amen.
GREETING
Peace be with the Church and her children.
PRAISE OF THE ANGELS
Glory to God in the highest,
and peace on earth and good will to all.
Praise the Lord all you nations,
glorify him all you peoples,
for steadfast is his mercy toward us,
and the truth of the Lord endures for ever.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
now and for ever.
and peace on earth and good will to all.

PSALMODY
FIRST PRAYER
Lord, have mercy on us and save us.
Lord,
hear our prayers on this holy day when we commemorate the
Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary.
Free us from oppressing temptations and from eternal perdition through the prayers of your grandparents, Joachim and
Anne, and your pure Mother, Mary.
We will glorify you,
now and for ever. Amen.
PSALM OF THE DAY
Antiphon: Taste and see how good the Lord is.
Psalm 34: 1-9
I will bless the Lord at all times;
his praise shall be ever in my mouth.
Let my soul glory in the Lord;
the lowly will hear me and be glad.
Glorify the Lord with me,
let us together extol his name.
I sought the Lord, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.
Look to him that you may be radiant with joy,
and your faces may not blush with shame.
When the afflicted man called out, the Lord heard,
and from all his distress he saved him.
The angel of the Lord encamps
around those who fear him, and delivers them.

Taste and see how good the Lord is;
happy the man who takes refuge in him.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and for ever. Amen.
SECOND PRAYER
Lord, have mercy on us and save us.
O pure Mary,
God wished you to be without sin from the first moment of
your life.
You crushed the head of the serpent who led our human race
astray.
Ask the One who was born of you and saved humanity,
to free us from the passions that taint soul and body
and protect his Church from all divisions.
We will glorify him,
now and for ever. Amen.
EVENING PSALMS
Psalm 141:1-4
O Lord, to you I call; hasten to me;
harken to my voice when I call upon you.
Let my prayer come like incense before you;
the lifting up of my hands, like the evening sacrifice.
O Lord, set a watch before my mouth,
a guard at the door of my lips.
Let not my heart incline to the evil
of engaging in deeds of wickedness
With men who are evildoers;
and let me not partake of their dainties.

Psalm 142
With aloud voice I cry out to the Lord;
with a loud voice I beseech the Lord.
My complaint I pour out before him;
before him I lay bare my distress.
When my spirit is faint within me,
you know my path.
In the way along which I walk
they have hid a trap for me.
I look to the right to see,
but there is no one who pays me heed.
I have lost all means of escape;
there is no one who cares for my life.
I cry out to you, O Lord:
I say, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land
of the living.”
Attend to my cry,
for I am brought low indeed.
Rescue me from my persecutors,
for they are too strong for me.
Lead me forth from prison,
that I may give thanks to your name.
The just shall gather around me
when you have been good to me.
Psalm 119: 105-112
A lamp to my feet is your word,
a light to my path.
I resolve and swear
to keep your just ordinances.
I am very much afflicted;
O Lord, give me life according to your word.

Accept, O Lord, the free homage of my mouth,
and teach me your decrees.
Though constantly I take my life in my hands,
yet I forget not your law.
The wicked have laid a snare for me,
but from your precepts I have not strayed.
Your decrees are my inheritance forever;
the joy of my heart they are.
I intend in my heart to fulfill you statutes
always to the letter.
Psalm 117
Praise the Lord, all you nations;
glorify him, all you peoples!
For steadfast is his mercy toward us,
and the truth of the Lord endures for ever.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
now and for ever. Amen.
Alleluia.

HOOSOYO
PROEMION
Praise, glory and honor to the Light begotten of the Father
before all ages. He was born in time of the Virgin Mary,
and is the fulfillment of our promised redemption.
To the holy One who wished to sanctify his Mother,
from the first moment of her existence in the womb,
is due glory and honor this evening,
and all the days of our lives,
now and for ever. Amen.

SEDRO
O God,
how wonderful is the mystery of your plan of salvation!
When our first parents fell into sin,
evil reigned over the land, and the gates of paradise were closed.
God the Father wished to draw humanity out of the ruins,
so he sent his only Son to save and redeem us.
He chose Mary as his Mother and selected her from among all women.
He sanctified her by a special grace while she was being formed in the womb,
and adorned her soul with every beauty and virtue.
We who celebrate his holy feast today, say to her:
Mary, all blessed, do not turn your face from us, but intercede for us;
may we obtain purity of heart, soul and deeds.
Now, as at the hour of our death, be our Mother who prays for us.
May we and our dead come to be where you are,
and with you we will glorify the Son, his Father and his Holy Spirit, now and for ever. Amen.
QOLO
Glory to the Father and Lord,
who made a little Virgin great in order to crush the hand of the devil and put to flight the enemies of the Church.
Honor to the Son, Word and splendor of the Father, who revealed in his Mother the treasures of grace and made her blessed among women.
Thanksgiving to the Holy Spirit who by his grace remained in her and arrayed her with all his gifts and presents.
May God show us mercy through the prayer of blessed Mary and
through her intercession protect us from the snares of the enemy, now and for ever. Amen.

ETRO
Citadel of the Church and glory of the universe,
intercede for us with your Son who offered his life on the cross to redeem us.
May he accept the offering of our incense and prayers in memory of your Immaculate Conception.
May he forgive our sins and pour out his grace upon us;
and we will glorify the Trinity who sanctified you from the first moment of your life,
now and for ever. Amen.
READINGS
MAZMOORO
Blessed are you, Virgin and Mother, sanctified from your conception.
Blessed is the Virgin, conceived without sin, who fulfilled the ancient promise to break the head of the enemy.
O God, accept the prayer of the parents of Mary, and protect us from all evil.
SYNAXARION
For some time, there have been many ambiguities surrounding the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. Some have confused this doctrine with that of the virginal conception, the conception of Jesus in the womb of Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit. However, today’s feast commemorates the conception of Mary in the womb of Ann. Mary was given the exclusive privilege of being conceived in a state of perfect holiness. In preserving Mary immaculate, the Word of God prepared a dwelling place for himself. Jesus could not permit the forces of evil to have had even for one instant a grip on his mother; therefore, in Mary, there is no stain of sin.
The truth of the Immaculate Conception in intimately connected with the fall of Adam. Because of Adam, all of humanity was tainted (Romans 12:18 and Ephesians 2:3). Mary was conceived in a state of holiness that belonged to Adam and Eve before their disobedience. In anticipation of the salvation which Christ was to give to humanity. Mary was exempted from the contamination brought in the world by Adam. Thus, she was the first of the redeemed.

From the fourth century, the Aramaic Fathers, such as Ephrem, clearly described thee Immaculate Conception. Ephrem in his Carmina Nisibine proclaims: “There is in you, Lord, no stain, nor any spot in your mother.” “You Jesus and your mother are the only ones who are beautiful in all aspects. Because in you, O Lord, there is no deformation, and in your mother, there is no stain.”
After the Council of Ephesus (431) where Mary was declared the Mother of God, Saint Proclus (✛466), the Patriarch of Constantinople, wrote that God made Mary without stain for himself.
From the eighth century in the East and the ninth century in the West, the Feast of the Conception of Mary was established and celebrated. Theologians than began to question why the feast was established and the meaning behind the celebration. They slowly came to the conclusion that the reason behind the feast is the Immaculate Conception of Mary.
Some great men, such as Bernard of Clairvaux and Thomas Aquinas, have asserted that Mary was conceived with original sin like any other human being, but was later sanctified in the womb of her mother. They were opposed, however, by the Franciscan, Duns Scotus.
During the twelfth century in the West — and even earlier in the East—the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception began to be asserted. The Dominicans declared themselves against the notion of the Immaculate Conception. The Franciscans subsequent to Duns Scotus defended that notion. They were later followed by the Carmelites, Augustinians, and the University of Paris.
In , Pope Sixtus IV encouraged the celebration of the feast and forbade the censure of anyone who declared Mary immaculate. The Council of Trent, while treating the university of original sin, declared expressly that it did not intend to include the Mother of God in this assertion. The Council Fathers were thus implying that Mary was the only exception to this universal law, the only one conceived without original sin.
Pius V condemned Baius, who denied this privilege of Mary and defended the notion by instituting the Feast of the Immaculate Conception in . In , Alexander VII described Mary’s exemption from sin in a way that prepared for the declaration of Pius IX in .
Pius IX, in Ineffabilis Deus, on December 8, , made the following dogmatic statement: “In the first instant of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God in consideration of the

merits of Jesus Christ, savior of the human race, the Blessed Virgin Mary was preserved from all stain of original sin. This doctrine has been revealed by God and must therefore, be believed by all the faithful.”
The basis of the dogma is to be found in Sacred Scripture and the tradition described above.
Just as Jesus is described as the New Adam, Mary is the New Eve. Ephrem wrote: “The two women were pure and simple, Mary and Eve. One of them, however, became the cause of our death and the other, the cause of our life. Eve, by hearing the word of the serpent conceived evil and brought death. Mary, by hearing the Word of God, conceived Jesus and brought life.”
This dogma is prefigured in the Old Testament by the Ark of Noah floating above the waters which brought death and carrying life and the Word of mankind.
Both Jesus and Mary were promised at the fall, that they would triumph over evil and open a new paradise for mankind. “Then the Lord God said to the serpent’. . . I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel.’” (Genesis 3: 14-15) In the gospel accounts, Mary is greeted as “highly favored,” “The Lord is with you,” “blessed among women.” (Luke 1: 28) “You have found favor with God.” (Luke 1:30). These texts demonstrate that while the truth of the dogma existed in the scripture itself, a certain evolution and unveiling of the dogma took place. Through the centuries the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, seen by many Fathers of the Church as a ray of sunlight through the clouds, was not clearly perceived by many because of our solidarity with Adam.
The Immaculate Conception is a sign of glory for Mary, the Mother of God. She calls us to struggle against the consequence of original sin and she is most compassionate towards us.
God, who was able to choose and fashion his mother according to his will, did not exempt her from poverty, humiliation, fatigue, suffering, or even death. Therefore, tin the eyes of God, the only true evil is sin. God considers grace to be more important than riches, honor, and any other ambitious desires of the human heart. He does not give these “false goods” to his mother, but the state of grace. God finds this state of grace to be so attractive that he comes to abide in the womb of Mary as in his sanctuary and Paradise itself. We must reflect upon the importance of grace in our life and the true evil of sin which threatens us. We must always seek the grace of God in our lives and preserve it.

We know that Mary was an ocean of grace and beauty and that this ocean continually increased because of her love for God the Father, God her Son, and God, her Spouse, the Holy Spirit. It is through this ocean that the salvific waters continue to be poured out upon us. Let he who is thirsty go and drink. The honor of the children comes from the nobility and dignity of the parents— what a privilege for us to have such a Mother!
SCRIPTURE READING
A Reading from the Book of Judges
Judges 6: 34-40
The spirit of the LORD enveloped Gideon; he blew the horn that summoned Abiezer to follow him. He sent messengers, too, throughout Manasseh, which also obeyed his summons; through Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali, likewise, he sent messengers and these tribes advanced to meet the others. Gideon said to God, “If indeed you are going to save Israel through me, as you promised, I am putting this woolen fleece on the threshing floor. If dew comes on the fleece alone, while all the ground is dry, I shall know that you will save Israel through me, as you promised.” That is what took place. Early the next morning he wrung the dew from the fleece, squeezing out of it a bowlful of water. Gideon then said to God, “Do not be angry with me if I speak once more. Let me make just one more test with the fleece. Let the fleece alone be dry, but let there be dew on all the ground.” That night God did so; the fleece alone was dry, but there was dew on all the ground.
SUPPLICATION
May your prayer accompany us, O Mother of the Lord,
may your prayer accompany us.
May the Lord hear your prayer and forgive us.
Eve, our mother, planted the seed of evil in paradise,
where God had prepared all things beautiful.
The Virgin Mother planted in the earth goodness and
blessings. As John said, the sun surrounds her and the
moon is under her feet, she is pure, chaste and immaculate.
In his mercy, the Lord created her without blemish.
Blessed is the holy One who sanctified her and chose her to
be without guilt.

The Canticle of Canticles says: “My beloved is a lily among
thorns.” Blessed are you, Joachim, for your daughter is
the dwelling place of the holy One.
Blessed are you, Anne, for the fruit of your womb is the
purest of all creatures.
Come, children of earth and heaven, let us rejoice on the
feast of the pure an the Immaculate One.
Let us thank God who raised her higher than angels and
men.
May the peace of the Spirit be upon you, Virgin Mary.
May the peace of the Spirit be upon you, O Spouse of the
Spirit.
Your children, the children of the Church, sing hymns to
you, O Morning Star.
They proclaim you blessed because you have given them
Light and Life.
Blessed are you, merciful Son, who made her the only pure
one among all creatures.
Glory to the Father who chose the Virgin for his daughter;
adoration to the Son who made her his Mother; thanksgiving
to the Spirit, who sanctified her. Praise to the Trinity who
made her his Temple and dwelling place.
Through the prayers of the one who bore you for nine
months, Son of God, do not be angry with us or chastise us.
HOOTOMO
Let us thank, adore, and praise the holy and glorious Trinity: Father, Son, ✛Holy Spirit. Amen.
TRISAGION
Lord, have mercy
Lord, have mercy
Lord, have mercy
Holy are you, O God;
Holy are you, O Strong One;
Holy are you, O Immortal One;
have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Lord, forgive us and have mercy on us.
Lord, hear us and have mercy on us.
Lord, accept our worship and our prayers.
Lord, come to our assistance and have mercy on us.

LORD’S PRAYER
Our Father, who are in heaven;
hallowed be your name;
your kingdom come;
your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil,
For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours,
now and for ever.
Amen.
O Lord, the night and the day are yours;
you uphold the light and the sun.
Through your power you direct the sequence of the seasons.
O Lord,
you have brought the day to its close and called forth the night; be for us that great Day that never ends.
In the evening let your light shine in our hearts,
and in the darkness of the night
enlighten us with the knowledge of your truth.
And so, through all the days of our lives,
we shall praise you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
To you be glory and may your mercy rest upon us,
now and for ever.
Amen.
EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE
Let us thank God for all the graces he has bestowed on us
this day which has passed in calm and peace.
Let us recall our failings against the commandments of God
and the Church in thought, word, deed and omission
We ask for God’s pardon as we pray:
“Forgive us, Jesus!”
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Glory be to you, O Lord.
Glory be to you, O Lord.
Glory be to you, O Lord.

God,
Father in heaven,
by your living and holy name,
keep us from evil an lead us not into temptation;
for we call upon you, O Lord, our God, our constant hope,
glory to you for ever.
O Lord, our Lord,
may our humble worship be pleasing to you;
may our prayers come before you and our actions give
you honor.
Let you mercy, kindness, help, graces and divine love
be poured abundantly upon us poor sinners,
both in heaven and on the earth
which you have created in your goodness.
O Lord, our God, to you be glory for ever.
Amen.
DISMISSAL
Peace be with you.
And also with you.
O God,
through the prayers of your Mother and the saints who have
believed in you;
through the prayers of the prophets, apostles, martyrs and
confessors;
through the prayers of the just, the priests, the holy fathers, pastors and teachers of the truth faith;
and through the prayers of N., Pope of Rome, N., our Patriarch, and N., our Bishop,
forgive your people and have mercy on your flock.
May God bless, forgive, sanctify, purify, and keep each of the faithful united with us in this spiritual office.
May mercy and compassion be upon us and all the faithful who
dwell here.
May peaceful rest be granted to those who have died in the faith.
May the faithful who live here experience the protection of
Christ’s victorious cross.
May we and all his servants, who adore him with bowed heads,
receive the mercy of the holy and glorious Trinity
Father, Son, ✛ Holy Spirit, to whom be glory now and for ever.
Amen.

May God forgive your sins,
pardon your failings,
and deliver you from the power of the enemy.
May he grant you the remission of your offenses.
Go in peace, and pray to Christ for me.