virgen-milagrosa16.jpg (16682 bytes)December 8
Saints of the Day...and Events
 

Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of Virgin Mary

    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 eleventh century it received its present name, the Immaculate Conception. In the eighteenth century it became a feast of the universal Church.

    In 1854 Pius IX gave the infallible statement: “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.”

    On this and the following eight days the Church celebrates, with particular solemnity, the Immaculate Conception of the ever-blessed Virgin Mary, who, from all eternity, was chosen to be the daughter of the heavenly Father, the spouse of the Holy Ghost, the Mother of the divine Redeemer, and, by consequence, the queen of angels and of men. The consideration of these prerogatives convinced the most enlightened fathers and teachers of the Catholic Church that she was conceived immaculate, that is, without original sin. It is very remarkable that among the shining hosts of saints who have, in every century, adorned the Church no one wrote against this belief, while we find it confirmed by the decisions of the holy fathers from the earliest times. Pope Pius IX, forced, as it were, by the faith and devotion of the faithful throughout the world, finally, on 8 December 1854, sanctioned, as a dogma of faith falling within the infallible rule of Catholic traditions, this admirable prerogative of the Blessed Virgin. It is, therefore, now no longer, as fomerly, a pious belief, but an article of the faith, that Mary, like the purest morning light which precedes the rising of the most brilliant sun, was, from the first instant of her conception, free from 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 and Thomas Aquinas could not see theological justification for this teaching.

    Two Franciscans, William of Ware and Blessed John Duns Scotus, helped develop the theology. They point out that Mary’s Immaculate Conception enhances Jesus’ redemptive work. Other members of the human race are cleansed from original sin after birth. In Mary, Jesus’ work was so powerful as to prevent original sin at the outset.

    Virgin Mary also did her little job on this issue:
    In 1830 She came to Paris and appeared to St. Catherine Laboure giving her the Miraculous Medal with the inscription, O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.
    In 1858 She came to Lourdes and appeared to St. Bernadette and stating, I Am the Immaculate Conception... to give thanks to the Church for the Dogma proclaimed 4 years before by Pope Pius IX   
    In all the apparitions of Virgin Mary as the Immaculate Conception she comes as a four year pregnant lady, as in Guadalupe, Lourdes, Miraculous Medal...

    In the Introit of the Mass the Church sings: "I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, and my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, and with the robe of justice He hath covered me, as a bride adorned with her jewels. I will extol thee, O Lord, for Thou hast upheld me: and hast not made my enemies to rejoice over me." Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and forever shall be, world without end. Amen.

    This is the third Dogma pronounced by the Church on Virgin Mary, in 1854: The Dogma of the Immaculate Conception of Blessed Virgin Mary, "preserved free from all stain of original sin". The 5 Dogmas of Virgin Mary

   This is the heart of the declaration of the dogma:

     "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."
    Hence, if anyone shall dare--which God forbid!--to think otherwise than as has been defined by us, let him know and understand that he is condemned by his own judgment; that he has suffered shipwreck in the faith; that he has separated from the unity of the Church; and that, furthermore, by his own action he incurs the penalties established by law if he should are to express in words or writing or by any other outward means the errors he think in his heart.

    You may read in full The bull Ineffabilis Deus by Pope Pius IX, issued on December 8, 1854, it is a most glorious page of Christian doctrine and life.

The 5 Dogmas of Virgin Mary
http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/SaintOfDay/default.asp?id=1223   
http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/gdi205.htm  
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immaculate_Conception
 

Events of December 8 - Saints of December 8:

Art Galleries of Religions and Christianity

The Jerome Bible Commentary, book by book
1,093 prophecies and types of the Old Testament fulfilled in Jesus and His Church

Other Web Sites of Dr. Dominguez
(over 300 in English and Spanish)

Home-Index   E- Mail to: J. Dominguez, M.D.   Last edition: September 11, 2004