The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Solemnity, December 8

The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, celebrated on December 8th, is one of the principal feasts in the liturgical calendar and a holy day of obligation in many countries. It commemorates the singular privilege by which the Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first instant of her conception in the womb of her mother Anne, preserved free from all stain of original sin by a singular grace and privilege of Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ the Saviour of the human race. This dogma was solemnly defined by Pope Pius IX on December 8, 1854, in the apostolic constitution Ineffabilis Deus.

The theological question of whether Mary was conceived without original sin had been debated for centuries, with the Franciscan tradition, following Duns Scotus, defending the privilege and the Dominican tradition, following Thomas Aquinas, questioning it. The key theological problem was how Mary could be redeemed by Christ if she never fell. Scotus provided the solution: she was redeemed by Christ, but by a more perfect redemption, being preserved from sin rather than delivered from it. This redemption preservans, preserving redemption, is more perfect than the liberating redemption accorded to all other human beings.

The definition of 1854 was preceded by a consultation of the world's bishops, who almost unanimously supported the definition. The faithful in many countries had long kept the feast with great solemnity, and the definition gave solemn doctrinal confirmation to a belief that had been growing in the Church for centuries. Four years after the definition, in 1858, the Blessed Virgin appeared to Bernadette Soubirous at Lourdes and identified herself with the words I am the Immaculate Conception, which the humble peasant girl rendered faithfully without understanding what the words meant.

The feast is the patronal feast of many countries, including the United States, where the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington is the largest Catholic church in North America.