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Commentary on the Gospel – December 20, 2025
On December 8th, we celebrated the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary. The text from Luke proclaimed today—the story of Gabriel’s announcement to Mary—is key to the definition of this Dogma. Under the title of “Immaculate,” she is the Patroness of Spain, of several Latin American countries, and traditionally even of the Infantry and pharmacists…
The Dogma of the Immaculate Conception was officially proclaimed by Pope Pius IX in 1854, but the Church’s faith in this Marian privilege goes back much further, perhaps as early as the 3rd century. Christian art, especially in 16th-century painting, depicts Mary as the Woman of Revelation, wearing a crown of twelve stars. Liturgical music and various prayers also allude to this deep conviction: Mary was free from sin from the very moment she was conceived.
It is likely that Spain is the country where devotion to La Purísima (the Most Pure) has the deepest roots. Perhaps this devotion seems excessive to some; indeed, some other Christian denominations criticize Catholics for an “exaggerated cult” that supposedly distracts from the centrality of Jesus Christ, the sole Redeemer.
I believe that this misunderstanding—which is what I consider it to be—would disappear if they gave the Rosary a try. I am not kidding. This devotion has an undeniable biblical foundation because it consists of the repetition of the Our Father and the Hail Mary. Jesus taught His disciples the Our Father. The Hail Mary is taken directly from the Gospel of Luke: Gabriel greets her calling her “full of grace,” and Elizabeth, her cousin, says of her, “Blessed are you among women.”
Furthermore, each group of Our Fathers and Hail Marys flows through a “Mystery.” These Mysteries of the Rosary are, quite simply, a journey through the life of Jesus, from the Incarnation to the Resurrection. Praying the Rosary is not just the plea: “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners.” It is the prayer of the simple of heart who use a simple exercise to know, contemplate, and deepen, little by little, the mystery of Christ’s Redemption. Naturally, it is also a way to ask the Lord’s Mother to present our petitions to Him.
In his Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae, published in 2002, John Paul II affirmed that the Rosary is not a devotion centered on Mary, but on Christ. It is a meditation on the life of Jesus through the eyes of His Mother, a “compendium” of the Gospel.
In the opening prayer of today’s liturgy, we ask the Lord that, following the example of the Blessed Virgin, we may humbly accept His will. May our life be a permanent “let it be done” like hers.