The Immaculate Conception celebrates the belief that Mary was conceived free of original sin, and as such, is commemorated nine months before the date of Mary's birth on September 8. The Feast of the Immaculate Conception is one of the most important feasts celebrated by the Catholic Church.
A feast of the Conception of Mary was first celebrated in the Eastern Church in the seventh century. It came to the West in the eighth century. In the 11th century it received its present name, the Immaculate Conception.
In 1854, Pope Pius IX's solemn declaration, "Ineffabilis Deus," clarified with finality the Church's deeply held belief that Mary was conceived free from original sin. Mary was granted this extraordinary privilege because of Her unique role in history as the Mother of God. That is, she received the gift of salvation in Christ from the very moment of her conception. From that moment became a feast of the universal Church. It is now recognized as a solemnity.
Since the beginning of the Church, the Blessed Virgin Mary has been regarded as the holiest and the most blessed of all disciples. We can say that the Immaculate Conception was the beginning of our salvation and is now one of the central doctrines of our faith. For us as members of the Catholic faith, the Immaculate Conception is not just significant, it is essential. Because of the grace of God, Mary was preserved from sin. Because Mary was preserved from sin, she was prepared to become the sinless Mother of Jesus, who by his life, death and resurrection, has ransomed us from sin. Because of Mary's Immaculate Conception, because of her "yes" to God, we have been redeemed, and given the promise of eternal life through the merits of Mary's Son, Jesus. Because of this, we celebrate the Feast Day to highlight the significant place Our Lady has in salvation history.
The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception places Our Lady before the faithful as an example of what God can do and what we can do, if like Mary, we put ourselves in God's hands and at God's service, always open to what God asks and always seeking to fulfill God's will.
The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception also encourages us to do our best to remain free from sin. Although we are all born with original sin and through the grace of Baptism are freed from sin, in the course of our life, because of human weakness, we fail and commit sin. The Immaculate Conception reminds us that if we cooperate with God 's grace, as did the Blessed Virgin Mary, we can lead a life as free from sin as is humanly possible.
Every person is called to recognize and respond to God's call to their own vocation in order to carry out God's plan for their life and fulfill the mission prepared for them since before the beginning of time. Mary's "Let it be done to me according to Thy Word," in response to the Angel Gabriel's greeting, is the response required of all Christians to God's Plan.
The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception is a time to celebrate the great joy of God's gift to humanity in Mary, and to recognize with greater clarity, the truth that each and every human being has been created by God to fulfill a particular mission that he and only he can fulfill.