Miracles and Blessings of December 8th

The Lord is working miracles continuously but there are only three hundred and sixty-five days in the year. Therefore, every date on the calendar can be associated with countless divine wonders. December 8^th is one of the special ones, however, because it commemorates the day when the Lord prepared his incarnation by creating the Blessed Virgin Mary and preserving her free from original sin. It should come as no surprise that this date in particular should be linked to many signs and blessings over the years.

On December 8^th, 1854, Pope Pius IX defined the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady. It was a momentous day, the culmination of a long process during which the theology of the doctrine was developed and clarified. A great gathering of cardinals and bishops was present in Rome for the event. While they were there, the pope made use of the opportunity to rededicate the Basilica of St Paul’s Outside the Walls after the horrendous fire of the 1820s. Far away from these momentous events in Rome, however, other great things were happening on that same day, but these would not become widely known for a long time; not, in fact, until the people involved in these hidden events were themselves canonised.

Swiss mystic and stigmatist

Marguerite Bays was born on September 8^th, 1815 – the birthday of the Blessed Virgin Mary – to a peasant family in western Switzerland. She made her living as a seamstress but was well-known in the village as honest, devout, and cheerful. Her devotion to St Francis prompted her to join the secular Franciscan order. Her piety from a young age was quite remarkable. This included early morning prayer in front of a statue of Mary and a long trek to daily Mass in all kinds of weather. At the age of 35, she contracted intestinal cancer. She asked the Lord not to take her affliction away, but to transform it into a form of suffering that would conform her closer to him.

On December 8^th, 1854, the very day that the pope defined the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, she was completely healed of her cancer. This powerful miracle did not bring her suffering to an end, however, for the Lord had heard her plea. From that time on, she entered into a mystical union with the passion of Christ every Friday for the remainder of her life. She also manifested the wounds of the stigmata visibly. Both the Friday ecstasies and the stigmata were investigated by her local diocese and declared authentic. Jesus gave her the privilege of resembling him, not only in his passion but also in the timing of her death. She passed away at 3 pm on Friday, June 27^th, 1879. Her canonisation took place on October 13^th, 2019, the same day as that of Cardinal Newman.

Dominic Savio’s devotion to the Immaculate Conception

In October 1854, at the age of twelve, Dominic Savio went to live in the oratory of Don Bosco in Turin. An exceptionally pious boy, he soon impressed everyone with his devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, his kindness to others, his obedience, and his diligence at school. At this time, the Catholic world was preparing for the pope to define the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. Dominic entered into these preparations with great zeal and devotion to Our Lady. On December 8^th, the day the pope defined the dogma, Dominic spontaneously renewed his First Communion promises at the altar of the Madonna in the oratory. Don Bosco was so impressed by his holiness on this occasion that he began to keep a record of his behaviour.

When Dominic tragically died from an illness in 1859, Don Bosco was profoundly grieved. He was convinced that God intended great good to come from the short life of this wonderful boy. This prompted him to write a simple and accurate biography of his student. The little book went on to become an international bestseller. In the early twentieth century, when the case for the canonisation was opened, hundreds of bishops and priests testified that this biography had exerted a profound influence on their vocation, so inspired were they by the life of Dominic Savio. Dominic’s own desire to become a priest was never fulfilled, but his story shows us how fruitful our lives can be, no matter how short, when we give them completely to God. It was a magnificent occasion in Rome on December 8^th,1854 with the powerful and great present, but we can imagine how pleased Our Lady was by Dominic’s fervent prayers at her simple altar in Turin that same morning.

Maria Esperanza and the December 8^th miracle

The apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Betania in Cúa, Venezuela, are relatively unknown even though they received formal approval from the local bishop, Pio Bello Ricardo, on November 21, 1987. The principal visionary was a lady named Maria Esperanza, a mystic and stigmatist who died in 2004. On January 31, 2010, the cause for her beatification was opened, which permits her the title of Servant of God.

A priest at the Betania shrine was celebrating Mass on December 8, 1991, when a Eucharistic miracle occurred. After the consecration, he noticed the host begin to bleed. The priest conserved the host and it was submitted by diocesan authorities for scientific study. The results confirmed that the blood was human blood of type AB positive. This matches that found on the Shroud of Turin and in the Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano (as well as the blood later discovered on the Eucharistic Miracle of Buenos Aires in 1996).

The Betania host was enshrined in a convent in Los Teques and left exposed for pilgrims to venerate each year. A pilgrim from New Jersey named Daniel Sanford visited the convent in 1998. After Mass, the priest opened the door of the tabernacle which contained the miraculous host. With astonishment, Daniel saw that the host seemed to be in flames, with a pulsating heart at its centre. He managed to film part of this miracle with a video camera. The video was sent to the local bishop, who encouraged its dissemination as an aid to faith in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. The host is still on view in the convent in Los Teques and the blood is still as fresh as when the miracle first occurred.

It is fitting that the original miracle should have taken place on December 8^th, the feast of the Immaculate Conception. Mary is the one who was preserved free from sin so that the second person of the Trinity could assume our flesh. He who first united himself to humanity in her immaculate womb now unites himself with us through the daily miracle of the Eucharist.

The canonisation of Bernadette Soubirous

When Bernadette Soubirous began to see a mysterious woman in the grotto of Massabielle, many people in Lourdes did not believe her. Some thought that this was a teenage girl looking for attention. Others pointed to the wretched economic situation of her family and suggested that this was a desperate attempt to escape from destitution. The parish priest, Fr Peyramale, also had serious doubts. He demanded that Bernadette ask the lady to reveal her name. After numerous failed attempts to learn the identity of the beautiful vision, Our Lady finally spoke on March 25^th,1858. She said to Bernadette in her native dialect, “I am the Immaculate Conception”.

Bernadette was not a good student at school and had missed many days because of ill health. She was virtually illiterate at this time and only knew the basics of the catechism. It is implausible that such an uneducated girl could have fabricated this story. Interestingly, the apparitions occurred just three and a half years after the pope had defined the Immaculate Conception. Many people had criticized the definition and claimed it was an obstacle to unity with other Christians. In the face of such grumbling, the announcement by Our Lady of her name at Lourdes seemed a clear sign of heavenly approval for the Church’s decision to formalize the dogma.

Bernadette went on to live a short and holy life, displaying heroic sanctity during her painful last illness. When her body was exhumed thirty years after her death, it was found perfectly preserved and remains so to this day. Her canonisation took place in the special jubilee year called in 1933 (in commemoration of the 1900^th anniversary of the traditional year of Jesus’ death and resurrection). Which day in 1933 was chosen for this great event? December 8^th, Feast of the Immaculate Conception, of course! It was the perfect conclusion to Bernadette’s journey to sainthood. On the feast of the Annunciation, March 25^th, Our Lady had revealed to Bernadette that she was the Immaculate Conception. This revelation on that feast in March was entirely appropriate because Mary had been preserved free from sin for one reason only, to be a fitting receptacle for the coming of Christ among us, the event that happened at the Annunciation. Now, on the feast of the Immaculate Conception – the profound title of Our Lady that will be forever linked to this simple little French girl – the Church was declaring infallibly that Bernadette Soubirous was already in heaven.

The Year of St Joseph

Right now, we ourselves are journeying between two important instances of the feast of the Immaculate Conception, which, of course, is also the patronal feast of the United States. On December 8^th,2020, Pope Francis inaugurated the Year of St Joseph, which will end on December 8^th this year. In a world in which fatherhood and masculinity have never been under such threat, men need to rediscover the qualities of St Joseph and seek his intercession.

Why does the Year of St Joseph begin and end with the Feast of the Immaculate Conception? That feast celebrates the mystery of how God preserved Mary free from sin so that she would be a fitting mother to the all-holy Son of God. Thus it is an event that commemorates the identity of Mary and the identity of Jesus. Joseph’s entire existence was directed towards his vocation as the spouse of Mary and guardian of Jesus. It is fitting that his year should begin and end with this feast.

Edward Benet blogs at www.immaculatemother.org/blog