Immaculate Conception

When Adam had eaten from the fruit of the tree,
the Lord God called out to him and said:
"Where are you?"
The man replied:
"I heard your voice in the garden,
I was afraid because I was naked,
and I hid myself."
The Lord responded:
"Who told you that you were naked?
Did you eat from the tree
from which I commanded you not to eat?"
The man answered:
"The woman whom you put here with me—
she gave me fruit from the tree,
and I ate it."
The Lord God said to the woman:
"What have you done?"
The woman replied:
"The serpent deceived me,
and I ate."
Then the Lord God said to the serpent:
"Because you have done this,
you are cursed among all animals
and all wild beasts of the field.
You will crawl on your belly and eat dust
all the days of your life.
I will put enmity between you and the woman,
between your offspring and hers:
she will strike at your head,
and you will strike at her heel."
The man named his wife Eve (which means: the living one),
because she was the mother of all the living.

    – The word of the Lord.

Sing a new song to the Lord,
for he has done wonderful things;
by his mighty arm, by his powerful hand,
he has won the victory.

The Lord has made known his victory
and revealed his righteousness to the nations;
he has remembered his faithfulness, his love,
in favor of the house of Israel.

All the ends of the earth have seen
the victory of our God.
Shout to the Lord, all the earth,
ring out your joy, sing, play music!

Blessed be God, the Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ!

He has blessed us and filled us
with every spiritual blessing,
in heaven, in Christ.

He chose us, in Christ,
before the foundation of the world,
that we might be holy, blameless
in his presence, in love.

He destined us
to be, for him, adopted sons and daughters
through Jesus Christ.

Such was his goodness,
to the praise and glory of his grace,
the grace he gives us
in the beloved Son.

In him, we have become
God's own possession,
we have been predestined for this
according to the plan of him who accomplishes all that he has decided:
he willed that we should live
to the praise of his glory,
we who have already hoped in Christ.

– The word of the Lord.

At that time,
the angel Gabriel was sent by God
to a town in Galilee called Nazareth,
to a young virgin,
engaged to a man of the house of David,
whose name was Joseph;
and the name of the young woman was Mary.
The angel came to her and said:
"Hail, Full of Grace,
the Lord is with you."
At these words she was deeply troubled,
and wondered what this greeting could mean.
The angel said to her:
"Do not be afraid, Mary,
for you have found favor with God.
Behold, you will conceive and bear a son;
you shall name him Jesus.
He will be great,
he will be called Son of the Most High;
the Lord God
will give him the throne of David his father;
he will reign over the house of Jacob forever,
and his kingdom will have no end."
Mary said to the angel:
"How will this be,
since I do not know a man?"
The angel answered her:
"The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High
will overshadow you;
therefore the one who will be born will be holy,
he will be called Son of God.
And now, Elizabeth your relative, in her old age,
has also conceived a son,
and she is in her sixth month,
she who was called barren.
For nothing is impossible to God."
Mary said then:
"Here is the handmaid of the Lord;
let it be done to me according to your word."

Then the angel left her.

     – Let us acclaim the Word of God.