December 8th - The great Feast of Immaculate Conception

You are all fair, O Mary; the original stain is not in you.
You are the glory of Jerusalem, the joy of Israel, the honor of our people, and the great advocate of siners.
O Mary, Virgin most prudent, Mother most merciful, pray for us; intercede for us with our Lord Jesus Christ.

"We declare, pronounce and define that the doctrine which asserts that the Blessed Virgin Mary, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God, and in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, Saviour of the human race, was preserved free from every stain of original sin is a doctrine revealed by God and, for this reason, must be firmly and constantly believed by all the faithful."

In 1854, Pope Pius IX, in the Papal Bull ineffabilis Dei, declared Mary's Immaculate Conception to be a dogma of the Faith. Pope Pius was not inventing a new concept but re-affirming the very ancient belief held by Christians from both East and West, that Mary was conceived free of the stain of original sin, through the future merits of her Son’s Incarnation, Passion, and Death. God created Mary to be a pure vessel to bear God-made-flesh. Only Christ is sinless on his own account. Mary was rendered sinless on account of a prevenient action of God, applying Christ's future merits and perfection to her. Mary sinlessness was purely on account of God's grace, and the work of her beloved and most Holy Son, Jesus Christ.

Like every single member of the human race, Mary needed a saviour. And in Christ through his merits as saviour of mankind, God redeemed Mary in a most remarkable manner, preserving her from the stain of Original Sin. In the Gospels Mary rejoices in the wonderful work of her saviour, connecting her salvation in Christ with all generations calling her blessed:
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my saviour. For he has looked with favour on his lowly servant:
From this day all generations will call me blessed (Matthew 1:46-48).

“The Church invented nothing new of her own when she began to extol Mary; she did not plummet from the worship of the one God to the praise of man. The Church does what she must; she carries out the task assigned her from the beginning.” Mary: The Church at its Source - Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI)

Mary, whom the Angel Gabriel called "full of grace", and whom "all generations will called 'blessed'" has been viewed as unique since the earliest days of the Christian faith. Just as Christ has was called the "new Adam," the Church Fathers, especially Saints Justin (AD 150) and Irenaeus (AD 180), described Mary as the "new Eve, who - unlike Eve - humbly obeyed God. The Church Fathers also called her the "new ark of the covenant" and theotokos, God-bearer. Thus the ancient doctrine of Mary's Immaculate Conception and sinlessness unfolded.

St. Ephrem the Syrian (d. AD 373) described Mary as without stain or blemish, the "all-pure, all-immaculate, all-stainless, all-undefiled, all-incorrupt, all-inviolate" (see Nisibine Hymns, and "Precationes ad Deiparam"). St. Ambrose (d. AD 397) wrote "lift me up not from Sarah, but from Mary, a Virgin not only undefiled, but a Virgin whom grace has made inviolate, free of every stain of sin" (Commentary on Psalm 118).

St. Augustine uses language similar to the Catholic dogma of the Immaculate Conception, in describing the holy Virgin Mary, “concerning whom I wish to raise no question when it touches the subject of sins, out of honour to the Lord; for from Him we know what abundance of grace for overcoming sin in every particular was conferred upon her who had the merit to conceive and bear Him who undoubtedly had no sin.”(On Nature and Grace, 42).

Later Church Fathers, such as St. John of Damascus (d. AD 755) and St. Andrew of Crete (d. AD 740) continued to speak about Mary's sinlessness as bearer of God Himself. John of Damascus wrote:
The Father's...sanctifying power overshadowed her, cleansed and made her holy, and, as it were, predestined her. Then Thou, Word of the Father...didst take flesh of the Blessed Virgin, vivified by a reasoning soul, having first abided in her undefiled and immaculate womb...(Sermon I: On the Assumption)
St John also spoke of Mary's "holy, undefiled, and stainless soul" (Sermon II: On the Assumption).

This wonderful and most beautiful belief continued right down through the history of the Church even though, there was no official dogma of the Immaculate Conception until 1854. Let us give honour to the Most Holy Trinity, and to Jesus Christ Incarnate, by honouring devoutly the great Mother of God!