December 8

The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Patronal Feastday of the United States of America

Solemnity

Today is the feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Many early Fathers, including Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, and John of Damascus commented on Mary as the “new Eve” who was free from sin. The feast came to Rome in the ninth century. Church dogma, formally proclaimed in 1854, teaches that “from the first moment of her conception the Blessed Virgin Mary was, by the singular grace and privilege of Almighty God, and in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of mankind, kept free from all stain of original sin.” [1][2][3]

Written by Sarah Ciotti

Reviewed by Fr. Hugh Feiss, OSB, STD

[1] Pius IX, Ineffabilis Deus, December 8, 1854.

[2] F.L. Cross and E.A. Livingstone, The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (London: Oxford University Press, 1974), 42-43.

[3] Fr. Hugh Feiss, OSB, The Martyrology of the Monastery of the Ascension, 2008.

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