Topic: What do we celebrate on December 8?
Source of this posting: Moderator response to emailed question
Date originally posted: March 12, 2002
Moderator who originally posted this source: J. Ruffo
Question: I am a very active Roman Catholic convert of 47 years who still has still a lot to learn about his Church. Every Advent on December 8, we celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, one of my favorite feasts. Luke’s gospel tells us about the angel Gabriel's visit to Mary to inform her of her conception with God’s son. This event is presented so beautifully and I always believed that this was the immaculate conception that we were celebrating. Recently I read that this is not so and if you look at the Church’s calendar, nine months from the Feast Day, on September 8, we celebrate the birthday of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Therefore, the conception we are celebrating on December 8 is not the son of God, but Mary’s conception in her mother’s womb. Needless to say, I was very disappointed to read this and still have a hard time believing that the Church would create a special feast day to celebrate Mary’s conception but not the most immaculate conception of all as related by the angel Gabriel. So please tell me that what I read is not true. Which conception we are truly celebrating on December 8 every year? Obviously I am confused and need a better understanding of meaning of this Feast. I hope you can help.
Answer:
Dear John,
The Immaculate Conception we celebrate on December 8th refers to the belief that Mary, the Mother of Jesus, was graced by God in such a way that she was preserved from sin from the first moment of her existence. “Immaculate” thus refers to the absence of sin, and “Conception” refers to Mary’s very beginning in the womb of her mother, St. Anne. This belief has nothing to do with the sexual manner of Mary’s conception, nor with the way in which she later conceived her own child through the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit (the virginal conception of Jesus). Rather, it points to God’s graciousness to this woman, as she came into the world sinless or “full of grace”.
The Feast of the Annunciation which we celebrate on March 25th commemorates the conception of Jesus in the womb of Mary. This is firstly a Feast of Jesus, but it’s also a Feast honoring Mary, as she is still His Mother and had a lot to do with his birth too.
Father John