Feast of the Immaculate Conception

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The feast of the Immaculate Conception is celebrated in some Christian churches on 8 December.

A feast called the Conception of Mary arose in the Eastern (Catholic) Church in the seventh century. It spread 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 Roman Catholic Church.

In 1854, Pius IX gave the infallible statement Ineffabilis Deus: "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." [1]

1 Doctrinal Development
2 Cultural Impacts
3 The feast in other communions
4 See also
5 External links and references

[edit] Doctrinal Development

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.^{[citation needed]}

Two Franciscans, William of Ware and John Duns Scotus, helped develop the theology. They point out that Mary’s Immaculate Conception enhances Jesus's redemptive work. Other members of the human race are cleansed from original sin after birth; in Mary, Jesus's work was so powerful as to prevent original sin at the outset.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Cultural Impacts

It is a public holiday in Austria, Costa Rica, Chile, Spain, Portugal, Italy,Macau, Malta, Peru and Paraguay.

In Ireland, it may well be the busiest day of the year in the cities. As the day is so near Christmas, the cities are already extremely busy. This, coupled with the fact that all civil service workers are off work (which in turn means the schools are closed), makes 8 December the most popular day for parents to bring their children to the cities in order to do their Christmas shopping. It can be so busy that Bus Éireann often has to run its services at five times its normal capacity.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] The feast in other communions

In the Anglican Communion, the Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary may be observed as a Lesser Festival on 8 December, and many Anglo-Catholic parishes do so.

In Eastern Orthodox churches, the Conception of the Theotokos is observed on 9 December. [2]