The Immaculate Conception

A Holy Day of Obligation, December 8th

This week we celebrate and important dogmatic belief of the Church: The Immaculate Conception. However, it is important to make clear what this celebration is not. It is not referring to the miraculous conception of Jesus, but the miraculous conception of Mary, His mother. Our belief states that the Virgin Mary was preserved from the stain of Original Sin when she was conceived in the womb.

While not explicitly referred to in Scripture, there are references to Mary which offer substantial understanding. A potentially prophetic reference occurs early in the Bible: Genesis 3:15 where God states that He will establish enmity between the woman and the serpent (think: Satan). In Luke 1:28, we hear that the angel Gabriel called her “full of grace” and that “the Lord is with you.” True fullness of grace would be lacking if she came into this world in sin.

Two other strong arguments for the Immaculate Conception of Mary are based upon the common sense Archbishop Fulton Sheen pointed to the fact that if one could make his own mother, wouldn’t he make her perfect, wouldn’t he love her so much that he would protect her from any harm, from any fall, from any blemish? A second comes from Blessed John Duns Scotus. He recognized that all are in need of Christ’s salvific act since we inherit Original Sin upon conception. Without contradicting Scripture and Tradition, he viewed her to be “preserved” from that stain through the merits of the passion of Christ as a singular privilege of grace. In effect, she shared beforehand the effects of the salvation which Christ brought to the world. From our point of view, time is a boundary in life, but not so for God. God is not prevented from doing this, and we believe He did. Our Lady was saved by God in an extraordinary way, for she was preserved from any stain of sin. Whereas we are picked up after the fall and cleansed, Mary was prevented from falling and thus was stainless. Mary gives thanks all the more for she is more indebted to her Savior.

Please check out Catholic Cuisine for ideas for a special dinner (or other meals) in honor of this important feast day.