On December 8, 1854, Blessed Pope Pius IX solemnly proclaimed as a dogma of the faith what many in the Church had long believed: that Mary, from the first moment of her conception, was free from all stain of original sin. At least as noteworthy as what Pope Pius said was how he said it. For the first time in papal history, he made use of what theologians now call the “extraordinary magisterium” to teach that dogma infallibly. From the beginning of the Church, the successors of St. Peter had always taught with special authority. They had often pronounced on infallible teachings, such as the articles of the Creed, the inspiration of Sacred Scripture, the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, and various moral teachings. But they had never proposed a teaching as infallible in so formal and explicit a way as Pius did: “By the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and by the authority of Jesus Christ our Lord, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and by our own: We declare, pronounce and define that the doctrine [of Mary’s Immaculate Conception] is a doctrine revealed by God and therefore to be believed firmly and constantly by all the faithful.”
Christ wished to endow His Church as the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council taught—with the Lord’s own infallibility so that we might have certainty with regard to what we have to believe and do to please God and fully enter into communion with Him. Christ’s vicar exercises this charism whenever he, as supreme shepherd and teacher of the faithful, proclaims in an absolute way a doctrine pertaining to faith and morals.
From the beginning, the Church had taught uniformly Mary had never committed a personal sin, but saintly theologians could not discover a means by which Mary would have been conceived without original sin; without original sin, she would have had no need of redemption. Blessed Duns Scotus (d. 1308) eventually posited that she was pre-redeemed from the first moment of her existence by virtue of the eternal but temporally subsequent merits of Christ her Son. This solution eventually gained widespread acceptance and the ancient celebration of Mary’s conception developed into the liturgical memorial of her Immaculate Conception.
It is important to know, however, why there was a need to proclaim this reality infallibly in the mid-1800s. Catholics in various nations were requesting that the Holy Father solemnly define this teaching because they saw it as an antidote to some dangerous trends of thought—from sole reliance on the Bible on the one hand, to a sole reliance on human scientific reason on the other—that, on those bases, were calling it into question. The bishops of the United States—who had already in 1847 chosen Mary Immaculate as Patroness of our nation—thought that the definition of this truth would be pastorally beneficial for another reason. Americans have always prided themselves on self-reliance. From the pilgrims, to the pioneers, to people in every class today, we have gloried in our independence, in our capacity to “pick ourselves up by our bootstraps,” in our ability to get things done on our own and in our own way. When Frank Sinatra crooned his triumphant auto-eulogy, “I did it my way,” he was bellowing the theme song for so many of his countrymen. The bishops of our country saw in Mary’s Immaculate Conception a powerful contrast to excessive self-sufficiency. The late Francis Cardinal George of Chicago, an Oblate of Mary Immaculate, gave the rationale: “The meaning of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception is that Mary was always totally dependent on God, that her mission in life was given to her, and that she never did anything on her own but always did things God’s way. Never touched by sin, nothing in her resisted God’s will for her and for the salvation of the world through her Son. Of the few words attributed to her in the Gospels, the most basic is, ‘Let it be done to me according to your word.’ From this free decision on her part flows her instruction to the servants at the wedding feast of Cana, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’”
Rather than “my way,” Mary Immaculate tell us to do it God’s way. God’s way involves both her Immaculate Conception and the gift of papal infallibility. God’s way involves our following the popes’ teaching and Mary’s example. That is why the message of this feast is as relevant today as it was in 1854.
~ Fr. Robert Cooper, Pastor
The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a Holy Day of Obligation. Vigil Mass will be celebrated at 5:30PM on Wednesday, December 7th.
Masses on Thursday, December 8th will be celebrated at 7:30AM, 12Noon, 6:30PM and 8:00PM (Spanish).
The Parish Office will be closed on Thursday, December 8th in celebration of the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
(Written at the behest of Our Lady, October 5, 1956 by Sister Mary Ephrem)
Oh Immaculate Mother, Queen of our country, open our hearts, our homes, and our land to the coming of Jesus, your Divine Son. With Him, reign over us, O heavenly Lady, so pure and so bright with the radiance of God’s light shining in and about you. Be our leader against the powers of evil set upon wresting the world of souls, redeemed at such a great cost by the sufferings of your Son and of yourself, in union with Him, from that same Savior, Who loves us with infinite charity.
We gather about you, O chaste and holy Mother, Virgin Immaculate, Patroness of our beloved Land, determined to fight under your banner of holy purity against the wickedness that would make all the world an abyss of evil, without God and without your loving maternal care.
We consecrate our hearts, our homes, our Land to your Most Pure Heart, O great Queen, that the kingdom of your Son, our Redeemer and our God, may be firmly established in us.
We ask no special sign of you, sweet Mother, for we believe in your great love for us, and we place in you our entire confidence. We promise to honor you by faith, love, and the purity of our lives according to your desire.
Reign over us, then, O Virgin Immaculate, with your Son, Jesus Christ. May His Divine Heart and your most chaste Heart be ever enthroned and glorified among us. Use us, your children of America, as your instruments of peace among men and nations. Work your miracles of grace in us, so that we may be a glory to the Blessed Trinity, Who created, redeemed, and sanctifies us.
May your valiant spouse, St. Joseph, with the holy Angels and Saints, assist you and us in “renewing the face of the earth.” Then when our work is over, come, Holy Immaculate Mother, and as our Victorious Queen, lead us to the eternal kingdom, where your Son reigns forever as King. Amen.
Nihil Obstat: Daniel Pilarczyk, S.T.D.
Imprimatur: +Paul F. Leibold, V.G.
Cincinnati, Jan. 25, 1963