“WHERE ARE YOU?”

The feast of Immaculate Conception celebrates the catholic teaching that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was preserved free from the effects of original sin right from the moment of her conception, when the soul animated the body. The teaching insists that Mary was further protected from the stain of sin during her lifetime to make her a fitting host for the incarnate son, Jesus Christ. This teaching is greatly misunderstood and attacked, but it goes to fulfill the mission of the Virgin Mary as a mediatrix of graces. Her mission is inextricably linked to the mission of Christ. The feast of the Conception of Mary has historically existed since the 7th Century, but an official declaration as a doctrine of the Church was established by Pope Pius IX, on December 8, 1854, who issued a public declaration entitled Ineffabilis Deus.