OBLATES CELEBRATE 150th ANNIVERSARY OF IMMACULATE CONCEPTION DOGMA

On December 8, 1854, Blessed Pope Pius IX solemnly defined the Catholic belief  that Mary, the Mother of Jesus Christ, from the first moment of her conception in the womb of her mother, was preserved from all original and actual sin through the foreseen merits of her Son, Jesus Christ.

Present to witness this solemn definition of the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception was Bishop Eugene de Mazenod, OMI, Bishop of Marseilles and founder of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate.

The spiritual sons of St. Eugene de Mazenod continue to bear proudly their family name: Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate.

To give special solemnity to this year's 150th anniversary of that event, some of the United States Oblates were able to take part in a commemorative Mass on Sunday, December 5, 2004, at the National Basilica and Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC.

The Oblate Superior General, Fr. Wilhelm Steckling, OMI, traveled from Rome to preside at the Eucharist.  Joining him were the three U.S. Oblates who shepherd dioceses in the United States: His Eminence, Francis Cardinal George, OMI, of Chicago; Archbishop Roger Schwietz, OMI, of Anchorage, AK;  and Bishop Michael Pfeifer, OMI, of San Angelo, TX.   As a tribute to the Oblates' long history of ministry at the National Shrine, the Archbishop of Washington, DC, His Eminence Theodore Cardinal McCarrick also joined the celebration.  Also present was the new General Councilor for the Canada-U.S. Oblate Region, Fr. Marcel Dumais, OMI.

The entire provincial council of the United States Oblates concelebrated at the Eucharist, as did the incoming provincial administration and other Oblates who are members of the D.C. Oblate community.  Cardinal George delivered the homily based on the readings of the second Sunday of Advent.  CLICK HERE TO READ HOMILY.