𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟖 • 𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐕𝐢𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐲

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𝐇𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐚𝐲: 𝐀 𝐁𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐅𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟖 • 𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐕𝐢𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐲

𝐅𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐒 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐒𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐓

A feast called the Conception of Mary arose in the Eastern Church in the seventh century. It came to the West in the eighth century. In the 11th century it received its present name, the Immaculate Conception. In the 18th century it became a feast of the universal Church. It is now recognized as a solemnity.

In 1854, Pius IX solemnly proclaimed: “The most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instant 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.”

It took a long time for this doctrine to develop. While many Fathers and Doctors of the Church considered Mary the greatest and holiest of the saints, they often had difficulty in seeing Mary as sinless—either at her conception or throughout her life. This is one of the Church teachings that arose more from the piety of the faithful than from the insights of brilliant theologians. Even such champions of Mary as Bernard of Clairvaux and Thomas Aquinas could not see theological justification for this teaching.

𝐏𝐑𝐀𝐘𝐄𝐑

𝘍𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘝𝘪𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘯 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘚𝘰𝘯. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘺 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘬𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘏𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘶𝘴 𝘣𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘪𝘯. 𝘞𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵, 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘚𝘰𝘯, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵, 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳. 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘯.