Saturday Highlights and Spiritual Insights

Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception

Old Calendar: The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Today's Mass Readings


On This Day in Catholic History

1854 Pope Pius IX (1792–1878) issued his encyclical letter
Ineffabilis Deus declaring the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

1864 Pope Pius IX issued an encyclical letter, Quanta Cura, in which he denounced modern heresies and errors and stated that the purpose of civil government was “to protect the Church” and to resist any encroachment on its liberty.

1869 The First Vatican Council began.

1962 The first session of the Second Vatican Council closed.

Birthdays

1765 - Eli Whitney, American inventor (d. 1825)

1861 - William C. Durant, American automobile pioneer (d. 1947)

1894 - James Thurber, American writer (d. 1961)

1911 - Lee J. Cobb, American actor, The Song of Bernadette (1943), The Miracle of the Bells (1948), (d. 1976)

1930 - Maximillian Schell, Austrian-born Swiss actor, film director, and author

1933 - Flip Wilson, American comedian (d. 1998)

1949 - Mary Catherine Gordon, American writer

1968 - Mike Mussina, American baseball player
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