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Read this article. If you cannot see Jesuit-speak written all over it, then you are already a product of the seduction towards Rome and do not know it. It is only a matter of time when Mary statues will be in Rick Warren style churches to make those from a Catholic background feel welcome.
 
 
December 8 -  Should Protestants Pay More Attention To Mary? And What's The Immaculate Conception Anyway?

Article: Roman Catholic Church And The Last Days

On September 8 I was strolling out of Westminster Cathedral having been to vespers. I was attending an event nearby and had decided to go into the mother church of the Catholic community of England and Wales. I hadn't realized that it was a Marian feast day, but sure enough, it was – the Cathedral was marking the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary – the celebration of Mary's birth. This meant that the hymns, prayers and other aspects of the service had a flavour of Mary in all of them.

The last few years have seen some remarkable moves towards unity between different branches of Christianity. Pope Francis has not only reached out to Lutherans on the eve of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. He's also spoken warmly to Pentecostals in an almost unprecedented move. The Archbishop of Canterbury has reached out to Eastern (and Oriental) Orthodox leaders, even as the strain shows between the political leaders of Russia, and the West.

In the USA, divisions between Protestant and Catholic which would have been considered unbridgeable a century ago now seem much less serious. Yes, there are still big differences on doctrine, but America no longer has to ask if a Catholic can run for president. It's just assumed that it's OK.

 
Today's feast is tricky, though. I'll admit I come with all sorts of Protestant biases, but I don't quite understand the celebration or even the importance of the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception. The basic idea is that for Jesus to be perfect and sinless, Mary needed to be without original sin. As this helpful guide in the Telegraph puts it, "From as early as the sixth century, western and eastern Christian traditions celebrated the birth of Mary – daughter of Joachim and Anna, and mother of Jesus. Over time, the date settled at 8 September." Nine calendar months before that is, of course, today – when Mary was conceived, according to Catholic doctrine formalised in 1854 by Pope Pius IX, entirely free of original sin.


 
 

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