On this great solemnity, Fr. Chris reflects on the mystery at the heart of the Marian Fathers’ charism: the Immaculate Conception—God’s greatest act of mercy ever given to a creature. Despite the grief of losing his father just days earlier, he reminds us that Our Lady’s purity is the blueprint for our own path to holiness. Long before the dogma was defined in 1854, the Church cherished this truth in Scripture and Sacred Tradition, seen in Gabriel’s greeting, “Hail, full of grace,” revealing Mary as wholly transformed by divine life.

Fr. Chris Alar explains the importance of the Ascension of Jesus, the difference from the Assumption of Mary, and what the Holy Days of Obligation are all about.

Fr. Chris Alar, MIC Talks on Mary and Divine Mercy and Fatima at the 2017 Divine Mercy Weekend Conference at the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy Stockbridge, Massachusetts.