The Feast of the Immaculate Conception does not have a distinctive liturgical celebration in the Maronite calendar. However, they do celebrate it. The way in which they do so brings a bit of the Season of Pentecost into the Season of Announcement. In the Season of Pentecost, the calendar goes into a cycle of commemorations (actually two cycles, Week A and Week B, which alternate), with each day of the week having its own theme. Wednesdays are the commemorations for the Virgin Mary, and so any special Marian feasts throughout the year not already given their liturgical celebration use one of the two commemorations for the Wednesday of Pentecost.
Feast of the Immaculate Conception
Hebrews 7:11-17; Luke 11:27-32
[A]
Our Lord on the cross a great gift gave us;
Mary He made the Mother of the Church.
We turn to you, O Mother; intercede!
May the Word who dwelt in you dwell in us;
may He who took His true body from you
make us His true Body through your prayers.
On His cross, Christ carried the human race;
you, O Mary, carried Christ crucified.
In your womb, in your heart, you carried Him.
Through you He fulfilled prophetic promise
made to Abraham, Judah, and David.
You gave to us our High Priest; intercede!
Blessed are you above all women on earth,
blessed be God who by you gave a great blow,
striking the head of the old enemy.
Your deed of hope we will always recall,
for you, fountain of mysteries, are pure.
Thus we are astonished and worship God.
You had baptism's grace from the beginning.
You gave birth to Him because you believed;
you heard the word and had a pure faith.
That faith made you Mother of the Word!
Our Lord on the cross a great gift gave us;
Mary He made the Mother of the Church.
[B]
By your Yes, O maiden, you made truths true.
The prophets had spoken great things to come;
through your faith those prophecies were fulfilled.
They were the words of God, who does not lie,
and by the Son you bore they were made true.
So great a thing it is to bear the Lord!
And yet your faith is greater than that deed!
As you were made our Mother on His cross,
for our defense, O Mary, intercede!
By your Yes, O maiden, you gave us light,
for Light was born from your unsullied sky.
In His light, the light of God we will see
for from you comes a Priest forevermore,
the Lamb upon the Throne, who is our Light.
So great a thing it is to bear the Lord!
And yet your faith is greater than that deed!
As you were made our Mother on His cross,
for our defense, O Mary, intercede!
