The Feast of the Immaculate Conception

Today, December 8, is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.  This day marks the conception of Mary, the Mother of God and our Blessed Mother, given to us to be our Mother by Christ himself as he hung dying on the cross. 

From Wikipedia:

"The proclaimed Roman Catholic dogma states "that the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instance of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin".[1] Being always free from original sin, she was from the start filled with the sanctifying grace that would normally come with baptism after birth. Although widely-held since at least Late Antiquity, the doctrine was not formally proclaimed until Pope Pius IX did so in 1854 in Ineffabilis Deus."

Four years later, in 1858, our Blessed Mother appeared to a young but poor and illiterate girl named Bernadette who lived in Lourdes, France.  When Bernadette asked her name, Mary answered "I am the Immaculate Conception", thus confirming the proclamation by Pope Pius IX.

Celebrate this day with great joy.  Mary is the greatest of all of God's creation, greater than all of the rest of creation combined because she was created in perfection, without sin or spot.  Mary's will is completely at one with the will of the Trinity. St. Louis Marie de Montfort explained in "True Devotion To Mary" exactly why it was so necessary that Mary be conceived without sin:

Mary alone was given the most sublime grace that God could give to any mere human creature. Because God chose her to be the mother of his only begotten Son, the Eternal Word at time of his Incarnation, God infused her soul with every grace possible. She required every grace imaginable to be a worthy vessel to conceive, to sustain, and to bear within her body the Eternal Son of God in the divine person of Jesus Christ. The primary reason for of the creation of the whole universe itself, began within the womb of Mary. "All things were created for him." (Col. 1:16) Through Mary, and in Mary, God accomplished the greatest, most sublime work of his entire creation. The greatest work of God came into existence in Jesus Christ himself. Christ alone glorifies, and loves, almighty God to the greatest extent possible for any created being.

The most direct way to Christ is through our Blessed Mother.  Her will is and has always been completely at one with the Trinity, she who is the daughter of the Father, the spouse of the Holy Spirit, and the mother of Jesus.  As St. Louis de Montfort wote:

The Church says of Mary: "You alone have destroyed every heresy in the whole world." This means that when souls fully accept Mary as their own mother, and as the Mother of Grace, and as the Mother of the Church, every other heresy which may have contaminated their souls is destroyed.

Below is a video which goes into further explanation of this most beautiful feast day.