Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. Every 8th of December, the Church celebrates the dogma of faith which reveals to us that, by the grace of God, the Virgin Mary was preserved from any stain of Original sin from the moment of her conception. On December 8th of 1854, Pope Pius IX proclaimed this dogma in his bull Ineffabilis Deus.

Devotions to the Immaculate Virgin Mary are numerous, and among her devotees are saints such as St. Francis of Assisi and St. Augustine. In addition to this, devotion to the Immaculate Conception of Mary was brought to the entire Western Church by Pope Sixtus IV in 1483.

Another great devotee of the Immaculate Conception, of our Heavenly Mother, is Dom Prosper Guéranger. The great French abbot and reformer’s love for her shines through as he expresses this in his own words: "At last, the dawn of the long-awaited Sun shines in the confines of Heaven, tender and radiant. The happy Mother of the Messiah was to be born before the Messiah himself, and this day is the day of the Conception of Mary. The earth already has the first sign of celestial mercy. The Son of Man is at the door.” And he proceeds with a type of prayer that is full of fervor: "Thus, you were glorified on earth in your Immaculate Conception, O most humble creature! But how can men not rejoice to honor you, divine dawn of the Sun of Justice? Do you not bring them, in these days, the proclamation of their salvation? Are you not, O Mary, that radiant hope which comes suddenly to shine amid the abyss of desolation? What would become of us without Christ who comes to save us? And you are his eternally beloved Mother, the holiest of God's creatures, the purest of virgins, the most loving of mothers." 

The Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin is the most solemn of all of those that the Church celebrates in the holy season of Advent. If it were necessary that the first part of the Cycle should commemorate one of the Mysteries of Mary, there is none whose theme could offer more touching harmonies with the pious concerns of the Church in this mystical time of expectation. Let us, therefore, celebrate this solemnity with joy, because the Conception of Mary prefigures the Birth of Jesus. Because of this, we at Neumz have chosen the communion chant Gloriosa dicta sunt. The first part of the text of this communion is inspired by Psalm 86:3, and the last part by the Canticle of Mary, the Magnificat, from Luke 1:49. This is the text of the chant: "Glorious things have been said of you, Mary: for he who is mighty has made you great.” The first verse praises Jerusalem after the angel's victory over Sennacherib's army, and the second verse is from the Magnificat. However, it was only necessary to change mihi for tibi, and with these few words, the Church has made a praise of great gentleness, giving back to the Virgin the same words that God inspired her to reveal to the world, which is the ineffable greatness of the graces received.

As for the melody, it is composed in mode VIII. It is a faithful adaptation of the original one, of the communion Dico autem vobis from the Common of Martyrs, which was also used for the communion of the Assumption, Optimam partem. In the case of the communion in question, we find ourselves with a beautiful affirmation, full of joy and fervor. Mode VIII knows how to confer that majesty, that solemnity to the most devout prayer to Mary, which this piece is.

The Sol, the fundamental, resounds strongly from the beginning, amplified with a bivirga. It is the first pillar of the beautiful melodic arc that is lifted in Gloriosa, Sol Do Sol. After a brief but fervent tilt in the accent of the word, in the climacus La-Sol-Fa, the prayerful one raises his gaze towards the splendor of Mary, in the Do. The prayerful one takes pleasure in the quilismatic movement that adds even more strength to the enthusiasm with which this adjective, gloriosa, is sung. After reaching the Do, the melodic movement leans towards the Sol in a leap of a fourth, full of great reverence. But only for a few instances, for the melody returns to the heights of the mode with another enthusiastic leap of a fourth, Sol-Do. All that is said of you Maria is glorious, elevated things: the accent of dicta shines with force with the bivirga on the Do, a strength that is transmitted to sunt, that with a very elegant porrectus, Re-Si-Do, surpasses even the Do by touching the Re, the melodic summit of the piece. In de te, of you, the melody leans again, and the same climacus of the accent of gloriosa, La-Sol-Fa, appears. With a graceful movement of thirds, the Fa rises again to the Do in Maria, before returning to the Sol in a pes subbipunctis, La-Do-Si-Sol, full of veneration and reverence.

In the first incise of the second phrase, quia fecit tibi magna, for he has done great things in you, the melodic movement develops around the Sol, with a very pronounced descent to the low range in tibi. A beautiful salicus in the accent of the pronoun tibi, Fa-Fa-Sol, which makes it shine in the posttonic syllable, the four-note climacus, Sol-Fa-Mi-Re, performs a masterful and fervent genuflection. From the low Re, the melody rises with strength and determination in the accent of magna, great things. Thus, the prayerful one moves from the reverence of genuflection to adoration in that masterful ascent by thirds, Re-Fa-(Sol)-La-Do. Identical melodic turn as in gloriosa but without the quilismatic Si. The incise closes with another reverent leap of a fourth, Do-Sol.

In the last incise, a beautiful expression of grandeur and authority pervades the last word: qui potens est, he who is powerful, thanks to another sublime melodic arc, Sol-Do-Sol, which shows its majesty, above all, in the melodic ascent of the accent of the word potens.