December 8 - Celebrating The Immaculate Conception

Our community decided to try a new way of celebrating the the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary this year. Inspired by a custom in Lyon, France, of placing candles in house windows to thank Mary for delivering the city from the plague in the 17th century, we decided to celebrate the solemnity with a little festival of light. And, because the Immaculate Conception was on Saturday, and supper on Saturday night is a supper celebrating the Resurrection, why not a supper of light celebrating both the Holy Mother of God and Jesus, the “ light of all peoples”? We finished off the celebration of the Immaculate Conception, and continued the celebration of the Resurrection, with sparklers at recreation (discovered by a sister in a hunt for all those candles)!