Summary: On today's show I interview Dale Ahlquist, Chesterton expert and author of the new book, The Complete Thinker (also available as an e-book). Today is December 8th, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception which is in a way really too bad for St. Romaric whose feast shares this day. Why is this a problem? Have you ever heard of St. Romaric? Obviously, saints are supposed to be humble so he probably doesn't mind but wouldn't it be nice to at least get a mention at Mass? St. Romaric was a Merovingian nobleman who lived in the 7th century. Queen Brunehilda had Romeric's father killed and Romeric became a homeless wanderer for a time. St. Amatus converted Romaric who then became a monk and founded a monastery called Remiremontin 620. St. Amatus was the first abbot but Romaric soon took his place and served for thirty years. He died in 653. Okay, now that we've given due recognition to St. Romaric we can talk about the reason you're going to Mass today. Don't forget – you have to go to Mass today, it's a holy day of obligation. And for those of you who think you can be sneaky by going to an evening Mass and make it count for both, your wrong. According to Canon Lawyer Edward Peters, you have to go to two Masses to satisfy two obligations to attend Mass. You aren't required to attend a Mass celebrated specifically for the feast but you do have to go to Mass on the specific day. The feast of the Immaculate Conception actually originated long before the dogma was proclaimed in 1854. For several hundred years there was a feast celebrating Mary's conception and in the Eastern churches the feast is still called the Child-begetting of the Holy Anne, mother of the Mother of God. The feast was first celebrated in monasteries before spreading to the general church. On December 8th, 1854, Pope Pius IX promulgated the dogma of Mary's Immaculate Conception which stated that Mary was granted a unique grace from God to be free from the stain of original sin. Mary confirmed the title when she appeared to St. Bernadette in 1858. The devotion to the Immaculate Conception is especially strong in the United States. The council of Baltimore – of catechism fame – declared Mary under the title of the Immaculate Conception the patroness of the United States in 1846 – 8 years before the dogma was officially declared. Back when I was in high school we lived near Washington DC for a year while my dad completed a tour at the Pentagon. One of the most incredible places to visit, apart from the Smithsonian and the main post office where you could buy EVERY stamp in circulation – yes, I collected stamps and still have my albums – was the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. The Shrine sits on the campus of the Catholic University of America and is the largest Catholic church in North America and one of the top ten in the world. This show is pre-recorded but you can still leave comments about this and upcoming shows on our comment line at 719-235-5045 The construction of the church was approved by St. Pius X in 1913 who personally contributed to its construction. In 1915 the first model of the future church was created by architect Burrall Hoffman, Jr. in a gothic style that looks nothing like the finished church. The church took almost 40 years to complete and was finally dedicated 1959 by Cardinal Spellman. The church is built in a Romanesque style so instead of the pointed arches and almost lace-like stone work that you find in Gothic churches, the arches are rounded, the windows are smaller and the structure has a much more substantial presence. One of the reasons that this style was chosen was to distinguish it from the National Cathedral which was being built at the same time. I've been in both churches and the National Shrine is much more breathtaking, especially because of the mosaics that cover the inside of the domes. The most impressive one, and one that must give folks like Fr. Richard Rohr and Fr.
