The Church celebrates Mary's freedom from original sin.
1. The Immaculate Conception. The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception is usually observed on December 8. But this year, much of the world (including the United States) is observing the feast today (December 9) because yesterday was the Second Sunday of Advent. It is not a holy day of obligation this year, but extra Masses are widely available today and you are encouraged to join the celebration. The feast commemorates the fact that the Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first moment of her conception, was preserved free from all stain of original sin. For a further explanation of this doctrine, see the Catholic Encyclopedia article here....
2. Ineffabilis Deus.In 1854, Blessed Pius IX issued this document to declare solemnly the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. He spoke infallibly, saying: "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." See the entire document here....
3. New Advent's Big 30.
If you haven't visited our website lately, come see us again. We recently redesigned the entire site, and have added many new features in the past couple of weeks. One of the most popular is the "New Advent Big 30" -- a list of the top 30 Catholic websites in the world, in order of popularity. Click here to see the list....
