From the desk of the Tar Heel disciple:
December 7, 2025 (#58)
The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
On December 8, 1854, Pope Blessed Pius IX, by means of an apostolic constitution, entitled Ineffabilis Deus, infallibly proclaimed:
“We declare, pronounce, and define that the doctrine which holds that 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 and therefore to be believed firmly and constantly by all the faithful.”
Thus, the Holy Father, by means of the extraordinary magisterium, in an act referred to as ex cathedra, declared that the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary was a dogma which was henceforth to be definitively held by the Catholic faithful. It is celebrated with an annual liturgical solemnity, observed on the same day, which is also a holy day of obligation in the dioceses of the United States. Under this same title, the bishops of the United States had declared her the patroness of the country in 1846.
Despite the precise theological clarity with which the dogma is defined, many people associate the title of the feast with the Church’s teaching on the Virgin Birth of the Lord Jesus. Given the proximity to the Christmas celebrated and the use of the narrative of the Annunciation for the Gospel of the feast day Mass (Luke 1:26-38), such confusion might be understood. But the date of the feast has less to do with Advent season in which it is found than with the fact that the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary is observed nine months later, on September 8. The Immaculate Conception has to do with the conception of Mary in the womb of St. Anne.
But why use the Gospel passage of the Annunciation, which speaks to the virginal conception of Jesus in the womb of Mary on December 8, thus risking confusion for some? The answer perhaps lies in the greeting of the Archangel Gabriel to the Blessed Virgin: “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.” Her being rightly addressed as “full of grace” is a direct consequence of her Immaculate Conception. And so, on December 8, together with the all the faithful, we venerate her, whose Immaculate Conception foreshadows the Incarnation of our Savior, whose birth we celebrate on December 25.
Devotional and other materials related to the Immaculate Conception can be found at:
https://inhisname.com/search?q=immaculate+conception&_pos=1&_psq=immaculate+conception&_ss=e&_v=1.0
