Hail Holy Queen...

Ave Maria gratia plena Dominvs tecvm
Benedicta tv in mvlieribvs
Et benedicta frvctvs ventri tvi, Iesvs
Sancta Maria, mater dei
Ora pro nobis pecatoribvs
Nvnc et in ora mortis nostrae

Once a year I get to fully indulge in goddess-worshiping paganism. The Feast of the Immaculate Conception is my favorite church holiday because Mary, um, kicks ass. Protestants just don't understand. To be sure, there is a lot more subtlety to Marian theology than Dan Brown might have you believe, and us good Catholics can easily tell the difference between goddess-worship of the divine feminine and Marian devotion. No matter what science or the lavendar mafia might be trying to do, we all have a mother, even the Son of Man. Ours might not be as chaste or as gentle or as sinless as the Blessed Virgin, but she helped make us who we are and we should be proud.