THE FEAST OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION.

The Feast of the Immaculate Conception is the subject of a lot of misconceptions . Perhaps the most common one, held even by many Catholics, is that it celebrates the conception of Christ in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary. That the feast occurs only 17 days before Christmas should make the error obvious! We celebrate another feast—the annunciation of the Lord—on March 25, exactly nine months before Christmas. It was at the Annunciation, when the Blessed Virgin Mary humbly accepted the honor bestowed on her by God and announced by the angel Gabriel, that the conception of Christ took place.

This feast celebrates the conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the womb of Saint Anne; and nine months later, on September 8, we celebrate the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Because of the doctrine of Original Sin, some in the West began to believe that Mary could not have been sinless unless she had been saved from Original Sin at the moment of her conception (thus making the conception "immaculate"). Others, however, including St. Thomas Aquinas, argued that Mary could not have been redeemed if she had not been subject to sin—at least, to Original Sin.

The answer to St. Thomas Aquinas's objection, as Blessed John Duns Scotus (d. 1308) showed, was that God had sanctified Mary at the moment of her conception in His foreknowledge that the Blessed Virgin would consent to bear Christ. In other words, she too had been redeemed—her redemption had simply been accomplished at the moment of her conception, rather than (as with all other Christians) in Baptism.
After Duns Scotus' defense of the Immaculate Conception, the feast spread throughout the West. On February 28, 1476, however, Pope Sixtus IV extended the feast to the entire Western Church, and in 1483 threatened with excommunication those who opposed the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception. By the middle of the 17th century, all opposition to the doctrine had died out in the Catholic Church.
Promulgation of the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception:
On December 8, 1854, Pope Pius IX officially declared the Immaculate Conception a dogma of the Church, which means that all Christians are bound to accept it as true. As the Holy Father wrote in the Apostolic Constitution Ineffabilis Deus, "We declare, pronounce, and define that the doctrine which holds that the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instance 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, is a doctrine revealed by God and therefore to be believed firmly and constantly by all the faithful."
The idea that Mary could be conceived without bondage to Original Sin, and the related idea that Mary could spend her entire life free of sin, is not a glorification of her. It's a glorification of God, who filled her with grace in order to protect her in a special way and to enable her to resist temptation throughout her life. "Let it be done to me according to your word" was not a sudden or temporary leap of faith for her; it was her life-long attitude. The power that enabled her to fulfill this desire came straight from the Holy Spirit as a gift of grace.
Though Mary appears in a perfect light, it is clear that it is not her virtue that has earned her the great honour that is to come. The angel’s greeting makes it clear. “Favoured one; what is coming to her is God's gift, not reward for virtue. In the biblical passage the favour being offered was, of course, the conception of Jesus in her womb.
An outdoor statue of Mary at a church in St. Mary’s, Kansas was popular with a tribe of Native Americans. Over the years, it lost most of its paint so that her Mary's eyes looked as if she were blind. When a new pas-tor wanted to repaint the statue, the tribal chief opposed it vigorously saying,

We could never make her look as lovely as she is in heaven. On the other hand, if we keep it is now, it reminds us of how Mary looks down on us from heaven. Her eyes are blind to our faults, but her ears are open to our prayers.”
Mary is the model of Christian discipleship. Let the soul of Mary be in each one of you to magnify the Lord. Let the spirit of Mary be in each one to exult in Christ."
Under the title of the Immaculate Conception, Mary is the patron the United States of America, as well as many other countries. It seems really important to turn to Mary and beg her help for our countries. May we be able to focus on our mission to care for the common good. May we protect the dignity of every human life, as a precious child of God, giving every human person what he or she needs for a full life enabled to practice their faith with justice and the protections justice demands. Holy Mary, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.