December 8 is a feast day for Mama Mary. The official name is that of the Immaculate conception, but that fancy name confuses people: Mary was conceived normally, but without the stain of original sin.
Original sin is Catholic lingo for human beings innate weakness that make us prone to sins (not just sexual, but sins of pride, gluttony, envy, anger, etc.). Calvin insisted men were born bad, but Catholics just say we are born good but with an inborn flaw and call that flaw original sin, having it's origin in Adam's rejection of God.
Like most of the beliefs about Mary, this idea is not so much about Mary but about Jesus.
The Arc of the Covenant was made of gold and precious wood because it contained the presence of God. So early Christians believed since Mary was to give Birth to Jesus, you can't have a baby who is God (or holy) spend his first nine months in a sinful environment.
The actual intellectual formulation of what this means was done of course by the Catholic theologians who love to parse trivial, but a similar idea about Mary being holy is believed by Eastern Christians, and even in Islam,
Mary of course is the antidote to the bible thumpers who threaten us with hell.
Yes there are proud narcissists who sin with glee (been there, done that, but repented).
But most people sin out of weakness, and try their best. So how do we get to heaven? Well, Mary ordered her son to make wine for a party, so we figure Jesus will listen to her when we ask her to pray to her son to give us a break and forgive our sin: or as the prayer goes:
Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.
This is one good thing about Pope Francis, that he stresses mercy for sinners.
Well anyway, small shrines to Mama Mary are common here in the Philippines: and this includes the statue of our Lady of Peace, that commemorates the Peaceful People Power revolution against Marcos, where a million Filipinos led by the Cardinal carrying a statue of Mama Mary and singing hymns marched down the main street in Manila to protest Marcos trying to steal the election, and to block Marcos troops from arresting General Ramos (a Protestant by the way), and the demonstration was the reason Marcos (with a little push from Reagan) decided to flee to Hawaii and let Tita Cory take office.
So they erected a Madonna in front of a shrine on the EDSA highway: albeit not without opposition from other political parties. (indeed, Marcos Junior is trying to eliminate the holiday to commemorate the protests, but that is another story altogether).
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| Bishop Gabriel Reyes & Archt. Francisco Mañosa EDSA Shrine: God’s Gift, Our Mission |
Small shrines to Mary are not just found in the Philippines, but in the USA. As I mentioned before: Our next door neighbor in Pennsylvania, a disable coal miner with five coal mining sons, had one in his garden, as thanks to not being killed in a mine accident.
Such shrines are not limited to the back yards. If you go through Montana, you might see high up in the mountains a shrine of Our Lady of the Rockies.
Erected, not with taxpayer money, but by donations of money and donations of work by locals.
one more piece of trivia:
In the US, Pearl Harbor day was Sunday, December 7, and many people were at church when that attack happened.
But here in the Philippines, the attack happened on December 8, and many Filipinos were at church because it is a feast day.
And VJ day? That was August 15, which also just happens to be a feast day for Mama Mary.
Coincidence? Or a subtle message that even though terrible things would happen, that ultimately God is in control and will wipe our tears away.
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