The solemnity of the Immaculate Conception will be celebrated with Mass followed by an outdoor candlelight procession in Atlanta from Sacred Heart Church to the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. All are invited.

This is the fourth year the Marian feast, a holy day of obligation, has been distinguished with this prayerful procession.

Mass will be celebrated at 7 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 8, at Sacred Heart Church, 353 Peachtree St., NE, Atlanta. Father Brian Higgins, chaplain at Southern Catholic College in Dawsonville, will be the principal celebrant.

Following Mass, a statue of Our Lady of Lourdes will be carried in procession as Mass-goers follow, carrying candles and praying the rosary, from Sacred Heart to the Shrine at 48 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.

If it is not raining, the procession will also include the Blessed Sacrament.

The Marian procession will happen rain or shine.

Father T.J. Meehan, pastor of Sacred Heart, and Msgr. Henry Gracz, pastor of the Shrine, are the hosts. The event is sponsored by the Immaculate Conception Procession Committee and Father Tom Hennessy, pastor of St. Patrick Church, Norcross.

Organizers recommend using MARTA for transportation. To reach Sacred Heart, take MARTA to the Peachtree Center stop and walk one block north. At the conclusion of the procession, take MARTA home from the Five Points station. Or arrive early and park at the parking garage at Underground, then take MARTA from Five Points to Peachtree Center and walk to Sacred Heart Church for Mass. The end of the procession at the Shrine is about a block from the Underground parking garage.