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On December 8, the Catholic Church celebrates the “Solemnity of the Virgin and Mother of God Mary, conceived without original sin” through her mother Anna (“Mary’s Conception”).
It is not, as is often mistakenly assumed, Mary’s virginity that is celebrated, but the Church’s conviction that Mary was without sin.
Just as the Gospel of Luke says, “Hail, blessed one, the Lord is with you” to Mary on the feast day, the Catholic faith has recognized more and more clearly over the centuries that Mary was a “blessed one” from the very first moment of her conception and was allowed to live in unclouded, therefore “immaculate” friendship with God.
Who was Mary?
The dogma of the “Immaculate Conception of Mary” was proclaimed by Pope Pius IX in 1854 as a doctrine of faith of the Catholic Church:
The doctrine that the Blessed Virgin Mary, at the first moment of her conception, was preserved unharmed from all harm of original sin by a unique gift of grace from Almighty God, given the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race, is revealed by God and therefore to be firmly and constantly believed by all the faithful.
The doctrine of the virginal conception of Jesus by the Holy Spirit, which is also accepted by other Christian denominations and is part of the creed, must be separated from this. The terms “original sin” or “original guilt” refer to a fateful entanglement in evil into which every person is born—in contrast to the personal guilt of a deliberate rejection of God—without being personally guilty.
History
Initially, the feast day introduced by Anselm of Canterbury in the 12th century was celebrated as the “Day of the Conception of the Most Holy Mother of God by Anna.”. Only under Pope Sixtus IV in 1477 was the feast introduced in the Diocese of Rome as a solemnity with mass and celebrated on December 8. However, it was not until 1708 that the feast day was celebrated throughout the Catholic Church on December 8 under the name “Mary’s Conception.”.
In Austria, the holiday on December 8 has a centuries-old tradition dating back to the Thirty Years’ War. During the Nazi era, the holiday on December 8 was abolished. After the end of the war, a referendum supported by hundreds of thousands of Austrians led to the reintroduction of the holiday. In 1955, the National Council decided that December 8 should be celebrated again as a public holiday, in gratitude for Austria’s regained freedom.
Since then, December 8 has been a public holiday in Austria and work-free. As on other public holidays, stores had to remain closed on December 8. Due to economic losses and the holiday falling in the pre-Christmas period, the Shop Opening Act was amended in 1995. Since then, stores have also been open on December 8 on “Mary’s Conception,” ensuring one of the best-selling shopping days in the run-up to Christmas. In recent years, the permission to keep stores open on December 8 has repeatedly caused debate.
Customs
“Mary’s Conception” has a special significance as a high feast in the Catholic Church due to its statement of faith. The Pope celebrates the feast day in Piazza di Spagna every year with a prayer to the Virgin Mary.
- Mag. Hector Pascua/picture: catholicnewsagency.com
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