Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

PATER NOSTER, qui es in caelis, sanctificetur nomen tuum. Adveniat regnum tuum. Fiat voluntas tua, sicut in caelo et in terra. Panem nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodie, et dimitte nobis debita nostra sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris. Et ne nos inducas in tentationem, sed libera nos a malo. Amen.

“Vierge Consolatrice”, detail, William-Adolphe Bouguereau, ARSH 1875

Today is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.  One of my more popular pieces has been “The one about … The Science of The Immaculate Conception and Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary”.  It really has a very high “cool factor”.

A corollary to that one is “The one about … DO ABORTED BABIES GO TO HEAVEN?”

I love Bouguereau’s depiction of the Virgin above, as she is positively radiating what I refer to as “ferocious love”.  So beautiful, so feminine, and yet and so admirable and potent that men can look up to her and model themselves in their masculinity off of her without the slightest tension or difficulty.