Feast of the Immaculate Conception
8 December 2026 — May the light of the twelve stars shine upon your home.
On 8 December the Catholic Church celebrates the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. It expresses the belief that Mary was preserved from original sin from the very beginning of her existence. It is often confused with the Annunciation, but it is a different feast. Pope Pius IX proclaimed the dogma in 1854. The date falls exactly nine months before 8 September, when Catholics mark Mary's birth. In Italy it is a public holiday. In Rome, firefighters traditionally lay a wreath of flowers on the statue of Mary that stands atop a tall column in Piazza di Spagna, reaching it with a fire-engine ladder. In many homes the Christmas tree and the nativity scene (presepe) are put up from this day. The feast comes in early December, when nights are among the longest of the year and the starry sky stays with us longer than in any other season. That is why we show it with symbols: a wreath of twelve stars and a white rose, quietly crossing the sky.
Flying across the sky: An ethereal, bluish-silver figure made of luminous dots and thin lines, like a constellation: a wreath of twelve small stars slowly drifting across the night sky, with a single white rose glowing at its center
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