Originally posted Dec. 7, 2020
On Tuesday, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception celebrated in Catholic churches in Mexico and worldwide begins the religious Christmas observance in many Latin nations as well as among many Hispanics in the U.S.
The feast, honoring Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception who is America’s national patroness, focuses on the concept that Jesus’ mother Mary was conceived in the womb of her mother, St. Anne, without original sin.
The Catholic Church regards this feast as so important that December 8 is a Holy Day of Obligation, which Catholics are obliged to participate in the sacred liturgy.
In the U.S., some Catholic leaders used the occasion to underscore the importance of the church’s commitment to helping immigrants and renew calls for comprehensive immigration reform.
“Many of us have forgotten our immigrant roots,” Los Angeles Archbishop Jose H. Gomez said in an advent message. “But our Church has always been a Church of immigrants, as our nation has always been a nation of immigrants.
“America’s founders dreamed of a nation where men and women from every race, religion and national background could live in equality — as brothers and sisters, children of the same God...
“And that’s what’s at stake in the immigration debate — the future of the American Dream.”
Pope Francis will pay homage to the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary by making a pilgrimage to Piazza Mignanelli near the Spanish Steps in an annual tradition dating back to 1958.
“The Virgin Mary is not far from this love (of God): all of her life, all of her being is a ‘yes’ to God,” the pope said to the crowds filling St. Peter’s Square for the celebration.
“On this feast day, then, contemplating our Immaculate Mother, we also recognize our true destiny, our deepest vocation: to be loved, to be transformed by love.”
In Latin Americ and the U.S., Catholics prepare themselves for this day with novenas, vigils, and special prayers and hymns offered to the Virgin Mary.
The feast in honor of the Immaculate Conception began in 1708 when Pope Clement XI promulgated the document Commissi Nobis.
In 1854 Pope Pius IX declared that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was conceived without original sin.
Being free from inheriting the guilt of the first sin committed by Adam and Eve, Mary was the only one worthy and freely disposed to be the mother of the savior, Pope Pius IX said.
Until then, many theologians -- including St. Thomas Aquinas -- had questioned the idea of Mary’s immaculate conception until Pope Pius IX proclaimed it to be an essential dogma in the Catholic Church.