President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. marked the Feast of the Immaculate Conception by calling on Filipinos to reflect on the spiritual significance of the Blessed Virgin Mary and to build a nation grounded in faith.
Speaking during the annual Catholic celebration on December 8, Marcos urged the public to see Mary as a guiding presence in their personal and national life. “Let us draw strength from her life as we continue building a nation that places God at its center and upholds the dignity of every Filipino,” he said.
The President emphasized Mary’s role in the Christian faith, describing her as someone whose life was rooted in divine grace. “On this sacred day, we turn our gaze to Mary, whose life began entirely in God’s favor. Preserved from sin from the very first moment of her existence, she was able to offer her ‘yes’ to God with complete freedom and love,” he said. “In Mary, the Church sees not a distant figure, but a Mother who journeys with us—interceding, guiding, and showing us what it truly means to belong to God wholeheartedly.”
Marcos invited the nation to embrace the virtues commonly associated with Mary, saying her qualities should inspire personal conduct. “As we honor the Blessed Virgin Mary, may her example of purity, devotion, and unwavering faith inspire us to lead lives anchored in grace and purpose,” he said. He also prayed that “through her intercession, may our leaders be guided by wisdom and discernment, our institutions purified at the root, and our people united in hope.”
He described the feast day as a moment for reflection on the importance of beginnings and the intentions behind them. “Our intentions shape our outcomes, and the spirit in which we start a mission influences the fruit it bears,” he said, noting that choices rooted in pride or deceit can lead to division or distrust. “If we sow pride, we reap division; if we sow deceit, we reap distrust. But if we begin with truth, humility, and compassion for the least among us, we can build a more just and peaceful Bagong Pilipinas: a nation where integrity, service, and the common good guide our every action,” he added.
The Feast of the Immaculate Conception, observed every December 8, commemorates the Catholic dogma defined on the same date in 1854 when Pope Pius IX issued the encyclical Ineffabilis Deus.
