Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary

 

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feast day: December 8

about:
- one of the most important Marian feasts celebrated in the liturgical calendar of the Roman Catholic Church
- according to the teaching of the Catholic Church, was the conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary in her mother's womb free from original sin
-  To become the mother of the Savior, Mary "was enriched by God with gifts appropriate to such a role." The angel Gabriel at the moment of the annunciation salutes her as "full of grace". In fact, in order for Mary to be able to give the free assent of her faith to the announcement of her vocation, it was necessary that she be wholly borne by God's grace.
- Through the centuries the Church has become ever more aware that Mary, "full of grace" through God, was redeemed from the moment of her conception. That is what the dogma of the Immaculate Conception confesses, as Pope Pius IX proclaimed in 1854:

The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin.

- The "splendor of an entirely unique holiness" by which Mary is "enriched from the first instant of her conception" comes wholly from Christ: she is "redeemed, in a more exalted fashion, by reason of the merits of her Son". The Father blessed Mary more than any other created person "in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places" and chose her "in Christ before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless before him in love".
- The proclaimed Roman Catholic dogma states "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 Saviour of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin." Therefore, being always free from original sin, the doctrine teaches that from her conception Mary received the sanctifying grace that would normally come with baptism after birth.
- The Church celebrates the Feast of the Immaculate Conception (when Mary was conceived free from original sin) on 8 December, exactly nine months before celebrating the Nativity of Mary. The feast of the Annunciation (which commemorates the virginal conception and the Incarnation of Jesus) is celebrated on 25 March, nine months before Christmas Day.
- attributes: crescent moon, halo of twelve stars, blue robe, cherubs, serpent underfoot, Assumption into heave
- patronage: Argentina, Brazil, Korea, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Philippines, Portugal, Spain, United States, Uruguay

links/ sources:
- "Catechism of the Catholic Church" (source: Vatican):
   http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p122a3p2.htm

- "Immaculate Conception" (source: Wikipedia):
   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immaculate_Conception
- "Feast of the Immaculate Conception" (source: Wikipedia):
   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feast_of_the_Immaculate_Conception
- "Immaculate Conception" (source: Catholic Encyclopedia):
   http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07674d.htm
- "Mary's Immaculate Conception" (source: EWTN):
   https://www.ewtn.com/faith/teachings/marya2.htm
- "The Four Marian Dogmas" (source: Catholic News Agency):
   http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/resources/mary/general-information/the-four-marian-dogmas/