The Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception always celebrate the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception on Dec. 8 with special joy. But what is the Immaculate Conception?We asked Dr. Robert Stackpole, director of the John Paul II Institute of Divine Mercy and author of the book Mary: Who She Is and Why She Matters, for a refresher. 24 Marian Helper • Winter 2022-23 • Marian.org Immaculate Conception 101 What is the dogma of the Immaculate Conception? We can begin with what it’s not: It’s not the Virgin Birth, as many people think. That refers to the mystery of the Incarnation of Jesus on Christmas. Rather, as the Catechism of the Catholic Church (491-492) states: Through the centuries the Church has become ever more aware that Mary, “full of grace” through God, was redeemed from the first moment of her conception. That is what the dogma of the Immaculate Conception confesses, as Pope Pius IX proclaimed in 1854: “The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and in virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin.” Is there any Biblical support for this dogma? Yes. In Genesis 3:15, after the fall of Adam and Eve, the Lord says to the serpent who had tempted them, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” This Old Testament passage is a prophecy of the “The Young Virgin [Mary],” Francisco de Zurbarán, 1632–33, Metropolitan Museum of Art/Open Access.
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