December 8 | The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Patronage: United States, Brazil 

Today, nine months before the Feast of the Nativity of Mary, the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

In 1854, Pope Pius IX solemnly proclaimed the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception in 1854: 

“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.”

Blessed John Duns Scotus is primarily credited with developing the theology of this dogma, asserting that Jesus’ redemptive act cleansed Mary from original sin at the moment of her conception.

Though sometimes disputed in the years before the 1854 proclamation, many early Church Fathers and Doctors of the Church saints strongly promoted the concept of Mary’s sinless conception.  

The feast was formalized to December 8 in the universal church in 1708, though it has been celebrated as early as the seventh century in the Eastern Church and the eighth century in the West.  

Our Lady, Conceived Without Sin, pray for us!