The Patron Saints of Advent

The two patron saints of Advent, I like to say, are the Blessed Mother and St. John the Baptist.  Why is this so?

Perhaps you have heard of the little prayer called The Divine Praises.  If you grew up Catholic, you will remember praying The Divine Praises at the end of Eucharistic Adoration and Benediction.  It begins “Blessed be God.  Blessed be his holy name…”  Jesus Christ is praised the most in this short prayer, since He is the one who came to earth and became a man (the Incarnation) to save us from our sins.   He is the God-man Savior.  Towards the end of the Divine Praises, after God has been praised and adored in each of the Three Divine Persons, there are a few lines honoring the Blessed Virgin Mary.  One of the lines is “Blessed be her Holy and Immaculate Conception.”

Today is Dec 8^th, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception.  But since Dec 8^th falls on a Sunday this year, the 2^nd Sunday of Advent takes precedent.  The Immaculate Conception is a universal Holy Day of Obligation so it is moved to tomorrow, Monday Dec 9^th and remains a Holy Day of Obligation, when all Catholics should attend Mass.  

Why is the Immaculate Conception so important and what exactly does it mean?   Mary was conceived in the ordinary way by her parents St. Joachim and St. Anne.  However, at the very moment of her conception, by an extraordinary grace of God through Jesus Christ, Mary was conceived without the stain (im-macula means “without stain”) of original sin.  She was in a State of Grace from the first instant of life in her mother St. Anne’s womb.  State of Grace means filled with God.  

Why would God give her this extraordinary grace?  First of all, Mary was an extraordinary woman.  She alone of all women was chosen by God to be the mother of the God-man, Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world.  Yes, like all of us, Mary was saved by Jesus.  She herself says, “My soul rejoices in God my Savior.”   This is mysterious because Jesus was not yet born “in time,” and yet He (God) always exists.  Jesus is the Savior of every person including Mary.  And that is why God gave her this extraordinary gift of Sanctifying Grace from the beginning of her existence.  She, from whose body comes the Body of Christ, was always without sin.  

The rest of us, every other human person, are born with the stain of original sin.  This is why we have to be baptized.  The word sin, in Latin sine, technically means “without.”  It does not so much mean that there is a mark, a dirty spot so to speak, but there is an emptiness in our souls at conception.  Every human person, before the original sin (which is only Adam and Eve), were also “immaculately conceived.”  They were created already filled with God and in union with God.  

The second patron saint of Advent is St. John the Baptist, because he prepared the way of the Lord, and he modeled the sacrament of Baptism.  He baptized for the forgiveness of sins, even though he knew that the true baptism would not happen until after Jesus rose from the dead and gave his apostles this power.  Today and next Sunday, St. John the Baptist and his ministry takes a strong place in the Sunday Gospels of Advent. 

Sanctifying Grace is real!  The indwelling of the Most Holy Trinity in your soul because of Baptism is an essential teaching (dogma) of the Catholic Faith.  If a person has committed a serious sin, a mortal sin, until they go to the Sacrament of Confession, that pre-baptismal emptiness has returned.  Let’s all be sure to get to the Sacrament of Penance during the Advent season.  Jesus is so merciful.  He always forgives us when we ask to be forgiven…but we do have to ask.  

I want to recommend The Divine Praises to you to pray daily during this season of Advent.   It is on page 432 in the Missalette.   

Blessed be God.
 Blessed be His Holy Name.
 Blessed be Jesus Christ, true God and true Man.
 Blessed be the Name of Jesus.
 Blessed be His Most Sacred Heart.
 Blessed be His Most Precious Blood.
 Blessed be Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.
 Blessed be the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete.
 Blessed be the great Mother of God, Mary most Holy.
 Blessed be her Holy and Immaculate Conception.
 Blessed be her Glorious Assumption.
 Blessed be the name of Mary, Virgin and Mother.
 Blessed be St. Joseph, her most chaste spouse.
 Blessed be God in His Angels and in His Saints. Amen.