DIOCESE—On Dec. 8, we honor the feast day of Mary, the Immaculate Conception. It is a holy day of obligation devoted to the conception of Mary without sin. 

 

Mary, the Immaculate Conception, is the patroness of the United States and, on a smaller scale, the Diocese of Rockford. 

 

While there are 23 parishes and one oratory specifically named St. Mary in the diocese, there is only one designated to Mary under her title of the Immaculate Conception. Immaculate Conception Parish is located in Fulton and was founded in 1863.

 

Diocesan parishes named to honor St. Mary are located in: Aurora, Byron, DeKalb, Durand, East Dubuque, Elgin, Elizabeth, Freeport, Galena, Gilberts, Huntley, Maple Park, McHenry, Morrison, Oregon, Pecatonica, Polo, Sterling, Sycamore, Tampico, Walton, West Brooklyn, Woodstock and St. Mary Oratory in Rockford.  

 

Other parishes honoring Mary under other titles include Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Aurora; Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Menominee; Our Lady of Good Counsel, Aurora; Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Sublette. And though it is not named specifically for Mary, its name certainly includes a devotion to her as our mother and that is Holy Family Parish in Rockford.