Expectation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/98/Virgen_de_la_Expectaci%C3%B3n%2C_Museo_de_Santa_Cruz_%28Toledo%29.jpg/250px-Virgen_de_la_Expectaci%C3%B3n%2C_Museo_de_Santa_Cruz_%28Toledo%29.jpg)
The Feast of the Expectation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Spanish: Nuestra Señora de la Expectación) was a Catholic Feast that was originally celebrated in Spain, but started to be celebrated in other Catholic countries.[1] It is not on the universal calendar, but is still commemorated on December 18 in some places such as Spain, Portugal, Italy and Poland as well as in a few religious orders. The Dominicans honor Mary under the title of "Our Lady of the Expectation".[2]
History[]
The feast owes its origin to the bishops of the tenth Council of Toledo, in 656.[3] The accompanying of the expectant mother of Jesus became a prominent theme that spread throughout the Iberian Peninsula and Italy during the Middle Ages.[4] A High Mass was sung at a very early hour each morning during the octave, and it became customary that all who were with child would attend, that they might honor Our Lady's Maternity, and seek a blessing upon themselves.[5] "The feast heightens the anticipation of Christmas and makes the last few days of Advent unique opportunities to meditate on what Mary must have been pondering in her heart."[6] It is sometimes joined with a novena beginning on December 16 and ending on Christmas Eve.
See also[]
- Annunciation
- Rorate Mass
References[]
- ^
Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Feast of the Expectation of the Blessed Virgin Mary". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
- ^ Davenport, O.P., Thomas. "Our Lady of the Expectation", Dominicana, December 18, 2015
- ^ "Expectation of the Blessed Virgin Mary", Silverstream Priory
- ^ Manalo, Ricky. "Deepening Advent, Widening the Circle: Celebrating Las Posadas and Simbang Gabi", Pastoral Liturgy
- ^ Guéranger, O.S.B., Prosper Louis Paschal. The Liturgical Year, Vol. 1, Advent. (Trans. by Dom Laurence Shepherd, O.S.B.), Westminster, MD: The Newman Press, 1948, pp. 488-90
- ^ Kosloski, Philip. "A feast that ponders what Mary felt in the final days before Christ’s birth", Aleteia, December 17, 2017
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Feast of the Expectation of the Blessed Virgin Mary". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
External links[]
- Catholic holy days
- December observances