[Rank]
De VII die Infra Octavam Concept. Immac. Beatae Mariae Virginis;;Semiduplex;;2.5;;vide Sancti/12-08

[Rule]
vide Sancti/12-08;
9 lectiones;
Doxology=Nat
No secunda Vespera

[Lectio4]
!From the Dogmatic Bull of Pope Pius IX. 
It is known to all men, with what care this doctrine of the sinlessness of the conception of the Mother of God hath been handed down, set forth, and defended by the most distinguished Religious Orders, Theologians, Universities, and Doctors skilled in the things of God. All men know likewise how carefully Christian Bishops, even in their public teaching, have professed the doctrine that through the merits of Christ our Lord and Saviour, foreknown by God, the Holy Virgin Mary, Mother of God, was delivered from ever being the victim of original sin, but, on the contrary, had the fruits of redemption applied to her at the very moment of her Conception, and was therefore redeemed in a nobler way than others. But the weightiest fact of all is that the most holy Council of Trent, when, in accordance with the Holy Scriptures, as interpreted by the holy Fathers and the approved Councils, it decreed that all men are conceived in sin, expressly added that it did not mean thereby to say that the blessed and stainless Mary, Mother of God, did not form an exception to the rule. From this declaration of the Fathers of Trent it can clearly be drawn that there is nothing in the Bible, nothing in tradition, and nothing in the Fathers which can rightly be adduced against this prerogative of the most Blessed Virgin; nay, as far as circumstances demanded, they as much as declared her free from the original stain.

[Lectio5]
In truth, this doctrine upon the Conception of the most Blessed Virgin is day by day more earnestly set forth by the graver thought of the Church, by her teaching, by her care, by her learning, and by her wisdom. It is explained, taught, confirmed, and wonderfully spread among all peoples and nations of the Catholic world. The Church hath received it from the Fathers, as a part of the original faith, attested strongly by the most ancient and venerable monuments of both the Eastern and Western Churches. Indeed, the Fathers and Ecclesiastical writers, learned in Holy Scripture, are marked by no more earnest feature than that in all their books and Scriptural Commentaries, written for the confirmation of doctrine, and the edification of the faithful, they do all in diverse ways preach and teach the excelling holiness of this Virgin, her dignity, her freedom from any stain of sin, and the glory of her victory over the dark enemy of our race.

[Lectio6]
All Commentators on the Book of Genesis remark that passage where God at the very time of the Fall speaketh of the Atonement, to the confusion of the lying serpent, and the comfortable hope of man, and saith I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed, and all the ancients teach that by this passage is meant the most merciful Saviour of mankind, namely, our Lord Jesus Christ, the OnlyBegotten Son of God and His most blessed Mother the Virgin Mary, as if the enmity which both He and she felt against the devil was, in a sense, of a kind common to them Both. Christ took our nature upon Him, and is become the Mediator between God and man, ( Tim. ii. 5,) blotting out the handwriting that was against us, nailing it to His Cross, (Col. ii. 14,) and the most Holy Virgin, by that subtle, close, and abiding tie which bindeth mother to Child, feeleth along with Him His truceless enmity to the serpent, and He, through His merits, hath granted to her that moment of victory wherein her stainless foot bruised the serpent's head.

[Lectio7]
From the Holy Gospel according to Luke
!Luke 1:26-28
In that time the angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee, called Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And so on.
_
Homily by St. Sophronius, Patriarch (of Jerusalem.)
!On the Annunciation.
Blessed indeed art thou among women, for thou hast turned the curse of Eve into a blessing; thou hast even brought a blessing upon Adam, when he lay smitten by the first sentence of death. Blessed indeed art thou among women, for thou art the mean whereby the Father's blessing hath come upon man, and delivered him from the old curse. Blessed indeed art thou among women, for by thee thy fathers have found salvation; the salutation of the Angel telleth thee that thou art about to bear them a Deliverer. Blessed indeed art thou among women, for thou, not knowing a man, conceivest a Son through Whom the whole earth shall be blessed, and bring forth thorns and thistles no more. Blessed indeed art thou among women, for thou remainest thyself no more than a woman, and yet art made Mother of God. If That holy Thing Which shall be born of thee be truly God made Man, then art thou truly Mother of God, for God is made thine Offspring.

[Lectio8]
Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God abiding grace. Thou hast found grace with God exceeding grace. Thou hast found grace with God all desirable grace. Thou hast found grace with God - greater grace than any other. Thou hast found grace with God unfailing grace. Thou hast found grace with God saving grace. Thou hast found grace with God immoveable grace. Thou hast found grace with God invincible grace. Thou hast found grace with God everlasting grace. Before thee there have been others, many others, made wonderful in holiness, but to none hath it been given, as to thee, to be full of grace; to none hath it been given, as to thee, to attain to such divine riches; to none, as to thee, to be prevented by purifying grace; to none, as to thee, to shine from the dayspring with light from heaven; to none, as to thee, to be exalted above all things before created.

[Lectio9]
And justly; for none hath ever drawn so near to God as thou hast; none hath ever been gifted by God with good gifts as thou hast; none hath ever received of God's grace as thou hast. Thou art mightier than all things which are called mighty among men; thou hast received more than the goodness of God hath conferred on any other. It is indeed because God made His home in thee that thou thus aboundest. There hath never been any save thee that hath comprehended the Incomprehensible; none save thee that hath enjoyed His presence so much; none that He hath made so ready therefor; none on whom the uncreated light hath shone so clearly; and therefore none who hath, like thee, sheltered the Lord God, the Maker and Lord of all, conceived Him in thy womb, and brought Him into the world, to redeem men lying under the Father's sentence, and to offer to them everlasting salvation. Wherefore, O Lady, I have already cried unto thee with the Angel, and full of grace, the Lord is with thee! Blessed art thou among women!
&teDeum