The Immaculate Conception
It is about Mary's conception, not Jesus'. Almost everybody gets this wrong.
This is the most commonly misunderstood feast on the calendar. It is not about Jesus being conceived. It is about Mary being conceived, in the ordinary way, by her own parents, and being kept free of original sin from the very first instant.
You can check the date and see it. December 8, nine months before September 8, which is Mary's birthday. Jesus' conception is March 25, nine months before Christmas.
The Church made it official in 1854. Four years later, a girl in Lourdes asked the woman she kept seeing who she was, and the answer she reported was I am the Immaculate Conception, which Bernadette did not understand and had to repeat all the way to the priest so she would not forget it.
The Immaculate Conception facts for kids
- About Mary's conception, not Jesus'
- December 8 is exactly nine months before September 8, Mary's birthday
- A holy day of obligation, and the patronal feast of the United States
- Bernadette reported the phrase four years after the Church defined it, and had no idea what it meant
Feast day: December 8 · Patron of the United States
Mary, conceived without sin, pray for me who turns to you.