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Immaculate Conception feast falls on Monday this year
by The Michigan Catholic
Published December 5, 2008
Detroit — The Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, when Catholics celebrate the day when Mary, the Mother of Jesus, was conceived, is Dec. 8, which this year falls on a Monday.
It is a holy day of obligation, meaning Catholics must attend Mass. Parishes may schedule Immaculate Conception Masses for Sunday evening, Dec. 7, or during the day Dec. 8.
A parish's regularly-scheduled Sunday late afternoon or evening Mass, using the Sunday readings, will not fulfill the obligation for the feast day.
The feast day, originally known in the seventh century as the Conception of Mary, celebrates when Mary was conceived without the stain of original sin. It became a feast of the universal Church in the 18th century through Pope Pius IX's statement:
"The most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instant 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."
According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church:
"Through the centuries the Church has become ever more aware that Mary, 'full of grace' through God, was redeemed from the moment of her conception" (No. 490).
"The 'splendor of an entirely unique holiness' by which Mary is 'enriched from the first instant of her conception' comes wholly from Christ…. The Father blessed Mary more than any other created person… and chose her … to be holy and blameless before him in love" (No. 492).
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