December 7, 2023
Dear Friends,
We will celebrate the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception tomorrow, Friday, December 8, at St. Joseph Chapel (400 South Blvd. West, Pontiac, MI 49341) with the following schedule:
- (10:30 am) Doors Open & Exposition
- (11:00 am) Confessions
- (11:30 am) Rosary
- (12:00 pm) Holy Mass
- (1:10 pm) Rosary, followed by a light reception
Come and gather under the mantle of Mary, who will help us follow Jesus faithfully while crushing Satan under our feet.
The only two always-obligatory Holy Days of Obligation are the Immaculate Conception and Christmas. The other Holy Days of Obligation become optional when they fall on a Monday or Saturday. Holy Days are to be observed like Sundays: “the faithful are to refrain from engaging in work or activities that hinder the worship owed to God, the joy proper to the Lord’s Day, the performance of the works of mercy, and the appropriate relaxation of mind and body.” (Catechism, 2185) Do we do this? The Holy Day of Obligation of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary is extra special for us Americans because it is our National Patronal Feastday. We are under the mantle of the Immaculata. Satan has no power over her and fears her. Shouldn’t we go to her continually to let her lead us into our spiritual battles? To let her form Christ in our souls? YES! Her Immaculate Conception was for her Divine Maternity of Jesus, but also to be “mater” (Mother) to us so as to form Jesus in us as we become saints.
The Immaculate Conception is the glory of the Franciscan Order. We can say with St. Maximiliam Maria Kolbe, Ad maximam Dei gloriam per Immaculatam. (“For the greatest glory of God through the Immaculata”). Through the theological acumen of 13th-century Franciscan theologian, Blessed John Duns Scotus, the way was paved for the infallible dogmatic declaration ex cathedra (“from the chair” of the Pope) of the Immaculate Conception in 1854 by Pope Pius IX.
Pope Francis has made a Plenary Indulgence available for the Catholic faithful if they pray before a Nativity scene IN A FRANCISCAN CHURCH (while also fulfilling the other conditions for a Plenary Indulgence). This is to commemorate the 800th anniversary of the first Christmas crèche—a living one by St. Francis in the context of Mass in Grecchio, Italy, in 1223. As a Franciscan shrine, we will have TWO Nativity scenes—at the entrance of St. Joseph Chapel and in the room next to the Shrine-Grotto. “O come, let us adore Him!”
To communicate with me, please DO NOT RESPOND TO THIS EMAIL but email me directly at [email protected] or call/text me at (313) 727-9784. Blessed Virgin Mary, the Immaculate Conception, pray for us and for the United States!
In Jesus, Mary & Joseph,
Fr. Alex Kratz, OFM
Spiritual Director of Terra Sancta Ministries