The Feast Of The Immaculate Conception.

This beautiful feast to Our Lady shines out in the darkness of winter. Mary was predestined from all eternity to be the mother of God. For this reason Our Lady receives more graces than all the angels and saints joined together. It is because of this that she occupies a unique position among all peoples. It was not of her own doing but through the saving power of her son Jesus Christ that she was kept
free from any desire to sin. She felt no attraction towards sin or any of the temptations that the tempter would use. From the very beginning God prepared with infinite love the one who was to become the Mother of his Son. 
Mary is "full of grace and blessed among all women" because of this singular act of God. No other human being had or has been preserved in this way. I find it amazing to think that God knows us all so well that he already had our salvation planned out before the beginning of time. He knew he was going to need to create a pure vessel for him to be born into, if you were God why would you not! We inherit our humanity from our parents it's only logical that God would not want to inherit a fallen
nature from his Mother so to preserve her from the stain of original sin he gave her this divine gift.
You can see that when the Archangel Gabriel greets Mary he is aware of the extent of her participation of grace and virtue, he knows her goodness!

Down through the ages the Holy Spirit has taught countless Generations of Christians that the quickest, surest path to the heart of Jesus is through his Mother, who else in all of history knows him as well as she does. A mother has a unique privilege in the life of her children, Mary was no different,  she knew every facet and nuance of her Son because she had nurtured and raised Him from that tiny seed that grew within her to those hidden years in Nazareth. She wants nothing more than to lead all her children to Son, she is our "shortcut"to God. So on this feast day lets us praise God for his beautiful Mother and with the Archangel Gabriel say "Hail Mary full of Grace..."

 To celebrate this feast in the family why not go to mass ." Always a good thing! Or gather around a statue or picture of Our Lady and pray a decade or two or five together. Another beautiful tradition I came across on the internet via Catholic Culture is to decorate a candle with a white cloth tied together with a ribbon. The candle is then placed before an image, statue or ikon of our Lady before which the family prays to the Mother of God.  The covered candleholder represents the rod out of the root of Jesse, Our Lady, from whose womb will come the Saviour of the world. The candle represents Christ, the Light of the World, who shall come to dispel all darkness and stain of sin.

Another tradition is to bake gingerbread. I don't quite see the connection myself, however gingerbread never goes amiss in my house so I give you our simple recipe to fill your home with those lovely scents of Christmas

250g/10oz Plain Flour
3x5ml/3 tsp ground ginger
3x5ml/3tsp bicarbonate of soda
3x15ml/3x tablespoon  golden syrup
75g/3oz butter/margarine 
125g/5oz dark brown sugar
1 egg beaten
Pinch of salt.
To Decorate
Icing pens
Chocolate chips
Silver colored balls.


Sieve flour, ground ginger, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a bowl.
Warm syrup, butter and sugar until all is melted.
Mix into dry ingredients.
Stir in egg. Mix into a dough ( if to soft add a bit more flour)
Wrap in aplastic bag and place in fridge for 15-30 mins.
Dust work surface with extra flour and roll out dough. Cut with gingerbread cookie cutters and place on greased baking trays. Place in the oven at 180c and bake for 10-15 minutes or lightly golden brown. Leave for a few minutes on the tray and then transfer to wire wrack to cool. When cold decorate with icing and chocolate chips.
Enjoy!