The Catechism of the Catholic Church (no. 490–493) clearly defines the Immaculate Conception and tells us that in order to be the mother of Jesus, Mary was given special gifts from God. When the angel Gabriel greeted her, he called her “full of grace,” showing she was filled with God’s favor to accept this unique role.
For Christ to take human form, God prepared for Himself, a person, Virgin Mary, to be God’s bearer. She is the Seat of Wisdom. God made her to be free from the original sin right from her conception in the womb of her mother, Saint Anne. This is a privilege given to her because of her role in the work of salvation. She did not achieve this holiness by her own power, rather it is a pure gift from God. Mary’s holiness, which began from her conception, comes entirely from her relationship with Christ. God the Father blessed her in a unique way through Jesus, choosing her to be pure and devoted in love.
For it was supremely fitting that the woman who brought our Savior into the world should be herself totally free from sin and available to do God’s work. The angel Gabriel called Mary, God’s most favored one (“Full of grace”). Mary is the Mother of God through her motherhood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God Most High.
The ‘Immaculate’ or sinless nature of Mary continues to be the Church teaching preserved from the days of the Apostles that Mary, the Mother of God has indeed been conceived without sin and remained pure and blameless throughout all of her life.
The belief of that Mary was freed from the stain of original sin, so that she could be the spotless, sinless vessel to carry the Son of God made flesh, Our Lord Jesus Christ, though preserved since the apostolic times, was only officially declared as a dogma of the Church by Pope Pius IX in 1854. Pope Pius IX proclaimed that Mary, by a special grace from God and through the future merits of Jesus, was preserved from original sin from the moment she was conceived. Mary’s yes changed everything. Mary is always interceding for us before her son, Jesus. Despite our failings, she loves us. And so, we pray:
Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary,
that never was it known
that anyone who fled to thy protection,
implored thy help,
or sought thy intercession,
was left unaided.
Inspired by this confidence
I fly unto thee,
O Virgin of virgins, my Mother.
To thee do I come,
before thee I stand,
sinful and sorrowful.
O Mother of the Word Incarnate,
despise not my petitions,
but in thy mercy hear and answer me.
Amen.
For avoidance of doubt, to fulfill the obligation that come with the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, one must have to either attending a Mass after 4PM today, December 8, 2024, or Mass tomorrow Monday, December 9, 2024. Note that attending the weekend Mass on the weekend of December 7 or 8, 2024 only fulfills the Sunday obligation and not the obligation of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the BVM.
