The Immaculate Conception by Murillo, 1660, Museo del Prado, Spain.
The Feast of the Immaculate Conception celebrates belief in the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is celebrated every year on 8 December in a number of countries including Italy where the date is a Public holiday.
I do not know much about the celebrations as I am not Catholic but assume that the church has special services. There is a widespread misunderstanding of the term ‘immaculate conception’ as many believe it refers to Mary's conception of Jesus, that the date of this celebration occurs only seventeen days before Christmas should make the error obvious! Annunciation of the Lord or the Incarnation of Christ, as it is also known is celebrated on 25 March, exactly nine months before Christmas Day. It was at the Annunciation, when the Blessed Virgin Mary humbly accepted the honour bestowed on her by God and announced by the angel Gabriel, that the conception of Christ took place.
The Feast of the Immaculate Conception, goes back to the seventh century, when churches in the East began celebrating the Feast of the Conception of Saint Anne. In other words, this feast celebrates the conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the womb of Saint Anne; and nine months later, on September 8, we celebrate the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
I also wrote a post on the 8th of December last year about the Festa Immacolta Conezione and Our Persimmons. http://lindyloumac.blogspot.com/2009/12/feast-of-immaculate-conception.html
With thanks to Wikipedia for facts and picture.
Also sharing with you here today some photographs of our successful Kiwi Harvest last weekend. Those of you that have been reading my ‘Our Garden’ posts since the Spring will have seen photos of the Kiwi vines as the season progressed and they gradually grew to become these impressive looking fruits.
I will link this post to Outdoor Wednesday again this week for the last time this year.
![Outdoor Wednesday button[5]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaZUIr7zH_zVfuwaTKnl-b7lXL-M5nKGIcc1-vL_UoDyp_Oa6rivDEbu9mqu6v4jsk0POHl889Bmo04aEq-LVUaX7ytyFu4DQgHtAN2QUaOjlYmrQ0MHZPNIzcOocbp1IOy4iHsQKDZxY/?imgmax=800)
That is lots of kiwi! I would love to live where you are, and thanks for the info on the Immaculate Conception..
ReplyDeleteWow Linda, so many kiwi! What a great harvest.
ReplyDeleteFantastic harvest but what are you going to do with them all.
ReplyDeleteGood Morning LindyLouMac Sweetie...
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful share this morning. I thank you for the wonderful information on the Immaculate Conception. You always have such wonderful informative posts. Love it.
Boy do I wish I was your neighbor. What a wonderful crop of kiwi's. What on earth are you going to do with all of them? How long will they keep?
Hope you have a wonderful Wednesday sweetie. Many hugs and much love, Sherry
Lindy that kiwi harvest is just amazing, I MUST see if I can get a tree when I go back. Diane
ReplyDeleteI see that you say vines, do they grown on both vines and trees as I am sure I have see trees advertised? I gather you need male and female as well? Diane
ReplyDeleteLindy! This looks fabulous! It makes me forget for a while about the winter.
ReplyDeleteUnbeknownst to you I have been enjoying catching up with your latest posts while I finish my breakfast.
ReplyDeleteIt was reported that Ms. Roberts received one million for that commercial. Perhaps it is going to charity.
Your selected sunday singer has a powerful, deep voice, and in that last video she even looked a little like Cher.
Kiwi harvest. Are those all from your trees? What are you going to do with them. You have cornered the market. Kiwis have a nice bite to them.
I had thought about posting Christmas customs from various countries, but never got around to narrowing my selections. It was hard enough just choosing music - too many favorites I had to skip over.
Thank you for always having interesting items in your posts.
Icy BC - thanks for letting me know you liked the post, maybe you will get to visit one day.
ReplyDeleteCathy - Yes enough to have them for breakfast as often as we wish right through the winter and spring, very pleased with this harvest.
Jenny - Eat them all, as they store well, wrapped and kept in the dark and dry. :)
Diane - I am not sure why they should be referred to as trees? This is a description of the plant 'A vigorous climbing plant best grown against a south or west-facing wall, or grow in a sheltered position up a trellis or over a pergola'. You need a male plant and the max number of females is 1-3 for these you would need an area smaller than a single car port for the vines to grow on.
I'm in awe of the kiwi! Enjoy.
ReplyDeleteAnother interesting and educational post! Thank you. Waow! look at that wonderful kiwi harvest. I see that you will be having them for breakfast right through Winter. I'm amazed that they will keep that long. Do they have to be stored in a certain way?
ReplyDeleteCiao! Wow, you have soooooooo many kiwis! :) I must show these photos to my hubby, he loves kiwis. Thanks for the visit. I do not write reviews of the books I read anymore. I used to do it with a friend in the past (2004-2007) but that blog is not online anymore. Hope you are having a lovely week. It's foggy and -10 C degrees at the moment (in the Glasgow area), but tomorrow it should warm up to +1. :) Have a happy rest of the week.
ReplyDeleteWOW! Those really are amazing! My mouth waters to think of a fresh kiwi! And thanks for sharing the information...very interesting! Happy holidays to you and your family! ♥
ReplyDeleteWell, I have to admit I was trying to figure out what the Immaculate Conception and Kiwi had in common! :-) The kiwi looks wonderful...great photos.
ReplyDeleteAs for the Immaculate Conception, I am a product of 12 years of Catholic education and I am great in trivia conversations about the saints and the feasts. You are right about the misunderstanding of this feast. It really means that Mary was the only human ever conceived without having the "stain" of original sin on her soul. Everyone else is believed to have that sin and thus the need for Baptism. But since she was the mother or Jesus she was conceived immaculately...without sin. Aren't you impressed at this knowledge! I am sought after for stimulating conversation at social gatherings! Ha!
As much as we would have loved to get out and about, December 8th came and went under wet skies and a case of the sneezes (for me)! Hopefully, it doesn't progress much further than tha. I believe that kiwis are full of vitamin C and it looks like you are very well armed against fighting off illnesses this season!
ReplyDeleteLook at all those kiwis! I think I might plant one next year, even though we are so much further north than you, and see how it goes...
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you cleared that up for me. I was wondering how it was possible for the Immacualte Conception to be so close to Christmas!!
ReplyDeleteLindy,
ReplyDeleteWhat will you do with your abundant harvest of Kiwi's? How long will they keep or do you preserve them somehow? I eat them quite often as they are high in Vitamin C.
Thank you for clearing up the misconception. I did believe it was related to Mary. Have a great day! Susan :)
Kia@ We are very pleased with this years Kiwi harvest should have enough to last right through the winter.
ReplyDeletePatricia - Sorry about the misleading title, needed to mention the Kiwis so those waiting to hear about the harvest knew. Good at Trivia games as well then I imagine. :)
Sarah@ Your lesson of the day then :)
Neil and Susan@ Eat them all, as they last well if stored in the dark and dry, right through till the end of May this year.
Hello there, I came from Diane's blog and glad I found you. It is my wish to visit there one day. Have a blessed weekend :)
ReplyDeleteAaaaaah. Now I finally understand the Immaculate Conception! I always wondered what it meant. Wonderful post!
ReplyDeleteI LOVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE kiwis.. Do you make kiwi jam? You must have a TON of great kiwi recipes!! Yummm yummmm!!! Have a great weekend..
ReplyDeleteWhat a treasure trove to have so many kiwis to enjoy all winter! I hope you are enjoying the time before Christmas and that your holidays are absolutely glorious! – g
ReplyDeleteFound you on blogher. Always happy to read blogs by other English-speakers living in Italy. Off to read more. Impressive kiwi harvest!
ReplyDeleteNuts@ Welcome to 'News From Italy', I am delighted you found me and have commented. I look forward to seeing you here during 2011.
ReplyDeleteI have never seen before, so much kiwi in one house, like this! Enjoy!
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