FEAST OF IMMACULATE CONCEPTION
HOLY DAY OF OBLIGATION DECEMBER 8
Immaculate Mary,
Your praises we sing,
You reign now in heaven,
With Jesus our king
Ave, Ave, Ave Maria,
Ave, Ave, Maria.
BACKGROUND
The Feast of the Immaculate Conception, in its oldest form, goes back to the seventh century, when churches in the East began celebrating the Feast of Saint Anne, the mother of Mary. The feast celebrated the conception of Mary and maternity of St. Ann.
The feast arrived in the West probably no earlier than the 11th century with a developing theological controversy between the West and East.
The feast of Immaculate Conception is not celebrated even today in the East because they believe every human being is born with original sin including Mary.
Both the Eastern and the Western Church have maintained that Mary was free from sin throughout her life, but there were different understandings of what this meant.
The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception was officially defined as dogma by Pope Pius IX in 1854. Dogma means that a definitive article of faith has been solemnly promulgated and is necessary for the belief of all Catholic faithful.
Pope Pius IX on December 8, 1854 promulgated,
“We declare,… the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instance of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin, is a doctrine revealed by God therefore to be believed firmly and constantly by all the faithful.”
It is ironic that only four years after the dogma of the Immaculate Conception was promulgated Mary appeared to a young woman in Lourdes, France, Bernadette Soubirous, and announced who she is, “I am the Immaculate Conception”
I AM THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION
LOURDES 1858
COMMENTARY
According to St. Thomas Aquinas, God had sanctified Mary at the moment of her conception in His foreknowledge that the Blessed Virgin would consent to bear Christ. In other words, she too had been redeemed—her redemption had simply been accomplished at the moment of her conception in anticipation of her Redeemer rather than as with all other Christians, in Baptism.
Mary’s soul was neither stained by Original Sin, nor by consequences of that sin…clouded intellect and weakened will but created in a state of original sanctity, innocence, and justice.
It’s important to understand what the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception is and what it is not. Some people think the term refers to Christ’s conception in Mary’s womb without the intervention of a human father; but that is called the Virgin Birth.
Others think the Immaculate Conception means Mary was conceived “by the power of the Holy Spirit,” in the way Jesus was, but that, too, is incorrect. Mary did have a human father. The Immaculate Conception means that Mary, whose conception was brought about the normal way, was conceived without original sin.
At the Annunciation, The angel Gabriel greeted Mary, “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you” Luke 1:28. This greeting “full of grace was not a result of the angel’s visit but rather an acknowledgement of Mary’s already sanctification.
REFLECTION
The Immaculate Conception is the concrete expression of God’s love for Mary, who gave herself fully, completely, and without hesitation to His service.
The Feast of Immaculate Conception tells us something very important about humanity as well and that is: Mary is exactly the human being that God meant each of us to be from the very beginning of creation. It was man’s fall that about sin and death.
God isn’t finished with us yet, thanks be to God. He remains patient and merciful as He calls each one of us to be the person He had in mind when He created us in our mother’s womb.
Our country is dedicated to its patroness the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title Immaculate Conception and is honored this day in Washington D.C. in the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception. How blessed we are to have Jesus’ church and Mary our Mother to guide us on our journey home.