(Photo © Amy J. Richert)

Last week's Wordless Wednesday seems to have stumped many readers. Only Sukhmandir Kaur, the About.com Guide to Sikhism, and "mochridh" hazarded guesses. Sukhmandir correctly identified some of the symbols in the stained-glass window of Saint Andrew, but "mochridh" takes top honors for pointing out what those symbols represent. You can read the answers in the comments to last week's post.

This week's contest is very simple: The prize will go to the first commenter who explains what the post's title has to do with the picture.

Perhaps the most common misconception about the Immaculate Conception is that it refers to the conception of Christ, rather than the conception of His mother, Mary. It should be a simple mistake to avoid: After all, we celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8 and Christmas, the Nativity of Christ, only 17 days later.

The Gospel reading for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception may have something to do with this misconception. Luke 1:26-38 is the story of the Annunciation, when the angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she had been chosen to be the Mother of Our Lord. That sounds more tied to the Christmas story than to the circumstances of Mary's own conception, doesn't it? Read more...

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, and in honor of the feast, I have chosen as our novena for the week a prayer To the Virgin Immaculate. It's a particularly appropriate prayer during December, the Month of the Immaculate Conception, and for Advent. We ask the assistance of the Mother of God to help us overcome sin, as we prepare our souls for the coming of Christ at Christmas.

December 6 is the feast day of Saint Nicholas of Myra, a fourth-century bishop best known today as the real-life model for Santa Claus. Unlike the jolly old elf, however, Saint Nicholas was known for his zeal for Christian orthodoxy. Tradition says that Saint Nicholas not only attended the Council of Nicaea (325), which affirmed the divinity of Christ and gave us the Nicene Creed, but also slapped the arch-heretic Arius at one particularly heated moment in the proceedings.

As bishop of Myra, Saint Nicholas was known for his gentle kindness toward his flock, and, after his death, for his miracles of healing. It's little wonder, then, that Christians have for centuries taken Saint Nicholas as their patron saint and turned to him in such prayers as an Invocation to Saint Nicholas and a Prayer of Impetration to Saint Nicholas.

Saint Nicholas, Confessor of Christ and defender of the oppressed, pray for us!