Two Marian feast days will be celebrated by the Church in the coming days.
The Feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8 commemorates that Mary, from the first moment of her conception was preserved immune from Original Sin. This also means that from the first moment of her existence Mary was full of grace, that is, free of any alienation from God caused by Original Sin.
The Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe on December 12 marks the appearance of the Blessed Virgin Mary to St. Juan Diego in 1531 in Mexico City. Mary’s appearance was instrumental in the conversion of thousands of Native Americans.
Working individually or in small groups, have the students create presentations on one of these two feast days related to what they unearth for understanding about Mary. Allow time for two sessions for sharing their findings. Have the students use the following questions as the basis of their presentations:
- How did the special date associated with this doctrine arise?
- Is there a scriptural reference associated with this doctrine?
- What are particular Church documents that explain this doctrine?
- What does this doctrine teach us about Mary?
- What does this doctrine teach us about Jesus?
- What does this doctrine mean to the Church today?
- What are some particular ways the Church celebrates this doctrine?
- What is one additional interesting piece of information you discovered about this doctrine or about how the feast day is celebrated?
