“Come, they told me …” Like the Little Drummer Boy, we may feel we have little to offer our infant Savior. This year’s hardships and isolation may have left many people feeling too beaten down to march to the manger with much of a joyful heart. If that’s you, allow AMM’s Christmas Novena to help lift your heart and soul to heaven! When you present your prayers of adoration, repentance, thanksgiving, and intercession for others to Jesus through Mary, it is a sign of your love and devotion to our Lord and Redeemer! From December 16-24, your petitions will bring you spiritually present to the foot of the manger here at the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, where you’ll share in our members’ hope-filled anticipation of the Savior’s coming. Request a Votive Light in this same spirit of praise and supplication. May our Lord shower your heart with joy this Christmas!

From the moment she was conceived, our Lady was granted the divine grace of being preserved from the stain of original sin. Mary’s purity was necessary as she was to become the living Temple of the Son of God. Appearing to Saint Catherine Labouré in 1830, our Blessed Mother called upon all people to invoke her as “conceived without sin.” You are invited to join us in a prayerful, eight-day celebration--the December 8 Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. First, take a moment to entrust your intentions to our Lady. They will be placed near Mary’s Shrine Altar and remembered throughout the Octave of Masses beginning December 8. Then, recite this prayer daily from December 8-15. You may also wish to request a Votive Light to burn as one more sign of your love for Mary — God’s pure and holy Queen through whom every grace and favor flows to us!