The Immaculate Conception / Maria Empfängnis

It was late spring or early summer, and I remember that we were sitting around the Horsley's table talking about holidays in Austria. I think it came up because of a question about Halloween, which is not a holiday here, and Peter said something about how most holidays in Austria were tied to seemingly random religious events or people that don't get much notice in the US, at least outside churches.

"Like the Immaculate Conception?" someone joked.

"Yeah, something like that," Peter answered.

So here we are in Austria, celebrating the Immaculate Conception. No joke. It's not just a Catholic Holy Day of Obligation, it is a national holiday. Schools are closed, banks are closed, the post office is closed, most stores are closed, and the buses are running a holiday schedule. Obviously there is little separation of church and state here.