Immaculate Conception

This is the doctrine that the Virgin Mary was/is free from original sin from the moment of her conception. It’s 1 of the 4 Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. The feast day of the Immaculate Conception is December 8.

It wasn’t defined as a dogma until 1854, by Pope Pius IX in the papal bull Ineffabilis Deus. While the Immaculate Conception asserts Mary’s freedom from original sin, the Council of Trent (1545-1563) had previously affirmed her freedom from personal sin non-dogmatically.

Many Protestant churches reject this doctrine as unscriptural. Some Anglicans accept this as a pious devotion. The teaching of the Immaculate Conception among Oriental Orthodoxy varies. The Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church & the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church accept it.

Anne (who eventually becomes a saint), the mom of the Virgin Mary & Jesus’ maternal grandma, shows up for the 1st time in the 2nd-century apocryphal Gospel of James. Anne & her husband Joachim (who also became a saint) were infertile. But God heard their prayers. Mary was then conceived.

Within the Gospel of James, Mary’s conception happens without physical sexual intercourse between Anne & Joachim. This is to demonstrate Mary’s purity. The Eastern Orthodox Church believes that Mary was conceived by her parents like we all were.

Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, & Cyrus of Jerusalem came up with the idea of Mary as the new Eve. While yet immaculate & incorrupt, she wasn’t subject to original sin. Ephraim the Syrian said she was as innocent as Eve before the Fall.

Ambrose asserted Mary’s incorruptibility, attributing her virginity to grace & immunity from sin. Severus, the Bishop of Antioch, agreed to affirm Mary’s purity & immaculateness. John of Damascus extended the supernatural influence of God to Mary’s parents. This suggests they were purified by the Holy Spirit during her generation. According to John of Damascus, even the material of Mary’s origin was deemed pure & holy.

By the 4th century, the idea of Mary being free from sin was more widespread. But her being free from original sin, passed down from the OGs Adam & Eve, raised questions. The question became more acute when the feast of Mary’s conception brought the objection that, as adult spicy time is sinful, & to celebrate Mary’s conception was to celebrate a sinful act. (Let’s get 1 thing straight: God doesn’t make married adult spicy time between 2 consenting MARRIED adults a sin! He (God) in fact encourages a healthy marital sex life. “Be fruitful & multiply,” ring any bells! And how exactly do we multiply? This is the conclusion of our TED talk.)

The feast of Mary’s conception came from the Eastern Church in the 7th century. It reached England in the 11th century. From there, it spread out to Europe. It was given official approval in 1477 & extended to the whole church in 1693. The word “immaculate” wasn’t used until 1854.

This doctrine caused a “civil war” between the Franciscans & the Dominicans during the Middle Ages. The Franciscan “Scotists” were in favor & the Dominican “Thomists” against it.

The English ecclesiastic & scholar Eadmer (circa 1060-circa 1126) reasoned that Mary might have been conceived without original sin because of God’s omnipotence. It was also appropriate for her role as Mother of God. Potuit, decuit, fecit: “it was possible, it was fitting, therefore it was done.”

Others, like St. Bernard of Clairvaux (of the St. Bernard dog breed fame, 1090-1153) & Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) objected because if Mary were free of original sin at her superfluous conception. Then she would have no need of redemption. Thus making Christ’s saving redemption unneeded.

In 1439, the Council of Basel, in schism with Pope Eugene IV (who lived at the Council of Florence), declared the Immaculate Conception a “pious opinion” consistent with faith & Scripture. The Council of Trent made no explicit declaration on the topic. But did exempt her from the universality of original sin.

They also affirmed that she remained free from all stains of sin during her life, even the venial ones. By 1571, the revised Roman Breviary set out an elaborate celebration of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8.

Some devotees go so far as to hold that Anne had conceived Mary just by kissing her husband. They also believe that (St.) Anne’s dad & grandma had likewise been conceived without spicy adult time. However, (St.) Bridget of Sweden (circa 1303-1373) told how Mary herself had revealed to her that Anne & Joachim conceived their daughter through a spicy adult time, which was sinless because it was pure & free of sexual lust.

In the 16th & 17th centuries, Spain exploded with Immaculatist devotion. This led the Habsburg monarchs to demand the Holy See elevate this belief to the status of dogma.

In France in 1830, Catherine Laboure (May 2, 1806-December 31, 1876) saw a vision of Mary standing on a globe while a voice commanded her to have a medal made in imitation of what she saw. The medal said, “O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee,” which was a confirmation from Mary herself that she was conceived without sin. Laboure’s vision marked the beginning of a great 19th-century Marian revival.

In 1849, Pope Pius IX issued the encyclical Ubi primum, soliciting the bishops of the church for their views on whether the doctrine should be defined as dogma. 90% of those who responded were supportive. Although the Archbishop of Paris, Marie-Dominique-Auguste Sibour, warned that the Immaculate Conception “could be proved neither from the Scriptures nor from tradition.”

In 1854, the Immaculate Conception dogma was proclaimed with the bull Ineffabilis Deus. Ineffabilis Deus found the Immaculate Conception in the Ark of Salvation (Noah’s Ark), Jacob’s Ladder, the Burning Bush at Sinai, the Enclosed Garden from the Song of Song/Song of Solomon, & many more passages.

The pope’s advisors singled out 2 Bible passages: Genesis 3:15 – “I’ll put enmity between you & the woman.” This is a prophecy which reached fulfillment in the figure of the Woman in Revelation, crowned with stars & trampling the Dragon underfoot. Luke 1:28 – Specifically the phrase “full of grace” by which Gabriel greeted Mary was another reference to her Immaculate Conception: “she was never subject to the curse & was, together with her Son, the only partaker of perpetual benediction.”

Four years after the proclamation of the dogma, in 1858, the young Bernadette Soubirous (of the Lourdes grotto fame) said that Mary appeared to her at Lourdes in southern France, to announce that she was the Immaculate Conception. The Catholic Church later endorsed the apparition as authentic. There are other “approved” Marian apparitions in which Mary identified herself as the Immaculate Conception. For example, Our Lady of Gietrzwald in 1877, Poland.

The feast day of the Immaculate Conception is December 8. The Roman Missal (which contains texts & rubrics (a set of rules)) & the Roman Rite Liturgy of the Hours (a set of Catholic prayers) include references to Mary’s Immaculate Conception in the feast of the Immaculate Conception.

Its celebration seems to have begun in the Eastern church in the 7th century & may have spread to Ireland by the 8th century. The earliest well-attested record in the Western Church is from England early in the 11th century. It was suppressed there after the Norman Conquest (1066). The 1st thorough exposition of the doctrine was a response to this suppression. It continued to spread through the 15th century despite accusations of heresy from the Thomists & strong objections from several prominent theologians.

Beginning around 1140, St. Bernard of Clairvaux (Yes, like the dog breed. That’s where the dog breed got its name.), a Cistercian monk (This is a religious order of monks & nuns that branched off from the Benedictines.), wrote to Lyons Cathedral to express his surprise & dissatisfaction that it had recently begun to be observed there.

But in 1477, Pope Lixtus IV, who was a devoted Immaculist, put it on the Roman calendar via the papal bull called Cum praexcelsa. In 1481 & 1483, Pope Sixtus IV published 2 more bulls which prohibited anyone from preaching or teaching against the Immaculate Conception, or for either side to accuse the other of heresy, under threats of excommunication.

Pope Pius V kept the Feast on the Tridentine calendar. But suppressed the word “Immaculate.” Pope Gregory XV, in 1622, prohibited any public or private assertion that Mary was conceived in sin. In 1624, Pope Urban VIII allowed the Franciscans to establish a military order dedicated to the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception.

The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo & Eritrean Orthodox Tewahed Churches believe in the Immaculate Conception of the Theotokos. The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church celebrates the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on August 13 (Nehasie 7).

Eastern Orthodoxy does not exempt Mary from original sin. But they do affirm Mary’s purity & preservation from personal sin.

In the mid-1800s, some Catholics who were unable to accept the doctrine of papal infallibility left the Roman Church & formed the Old Catholic Church. They reject the Immaculate Conception.

Protestants overwhelmingly condemned the announcement of Ineffabilis Deus. Protestants teach that Mary was a sinner, saved through grace, like everyone else.

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But it was only Mary

Cerro San Cristóbal
Melanie McCabe

#Poetry #MelanieMcCabe #CerroSanCristóbal #Santiago #Chile #VirginMary #Sanctuary #ImmaculateConception

https://eunoiareview.wordpress.com/2026/04/01/cerro-san-cristobal/

Pastor Nick Park, executive director of the #EvangelicalAlliance Ireland, said #EnochBurke’s disrespectful treatment of “everyone” led to his incarceration.

The Evangelical Alliance are #fundamentalist headbangers and #transphobes. They share Burke's obsession with "#BiologicalSex", which is a hilarious stance for a religion based on #immaculateConception. 🤣

But the #BurkeFamily antics are too much for even the #EA.

screenshot from https://archive.is/H9qqb

#trans #transgender #iepol #lgbt

St. Anne

According to Christian tradition, St. Anne was the mom of the Virgin Mary, wife of St. Joachim, & was Jesus’ maternal grandma.

Her name isn’t in the Bible’s canonical Gospels. In writing, Anne’s name, & Joachim’s come from New Testament apocrypha. The Gospel of Thomas (written circa 150 AD) seems to be the earliest that mentions them. She’s mentioned in the Quran, but not by name.

The Immaculate Conception was eventually made dogma by the Catholic Church following an increased devotion to Anne in the 12th century. In Eastern Christianity dedications start as early as 6th century.

In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, Anne & Joachim are attributed to the title Ancestor of God. Both the Nativity of Mary & the Presentation of Mary are celebrated as 2 of the 12 Great Feasts of the Orthodox Church.

The Dormition of Anne is also a minor feast in Eastern Christianity. In Lutheranism, it’s believed that Martin Luther chose to enter religious life as an Augustinian friar after invoking St. Anne was jeopardized by lightning.

In the 4th century, & in the 15th century, a belief arose that Mary was conceived of Anne without original sin. The Immaculate Conception is often confused with the Annunciation of the Incarnation (Mary’s virgin birth of Jesus). The 13th century Speculum Maius includes information regarding the life of St. Anne.

In the Eastern church, the veneration of Anne herself may go back as far as circa 550, when Justinian built a church in Constantinople in her honor. The earliest pictorial sign of her veneration in the West in an 8th century fresco in the church of Santa Maria Antique, Rome.

The Feast of the Conception of the Virgin Mary had reached southern Italy by the 9th century. In the Latin Church, St. Anne wasn’t venerated. Except, perhaps, in the south of France, before the 13th century. A shrine at Douai (in northern France) was 1 of the early centers of devotion to St. Anne in the West.

The Anna Selbdritt was a type of iconography showing 3 generations of the “Holy Family,” St. Anne, the Virgin Mary, & Jesus (grandma, mom, son). This style of iconography emphasized the humanity of Jesus. It drew on the earlier conventions of the Seat of Wisdom. (The Seat of Wisdom is/are icons/sculptures that shows the Virgin Mary is seated on a throne with Jesus, as a kid, on her lap.) This was popular in northern Germany in the 1500s.

Two well-known shrines to St. Anne is that of Ste-Anne-d’Auray in Brittany (France) & that of Ste.-Anne-de-Beaupre near the city of Quebec. The number of pilgrims to the Basilica of Ste.-Anne-de-Beaupre is the greatest of St. Anne’s Feast Day (July 26), & the Sunday before the Nativity of the Virgin Mary (September 8). In 1892, Pope Leo XIII sent a relic of St. Anne to the church.

By the middle of the 7th century, a distinct feast day, the Conception of St. Anne (Maternity of Holy Anne) celebrating Mary by St. Anne, was observed at the Monastery of St. Sabas.

It’s now known in the Greek Orthodox Church as the feast of “The Conception by St. Anne of the Most Holy Theotokos.” It’s celebrated on December 9th. In the Catholic Church, the Feast of Saints Anne & Joachim is celebrated on July 26. The alleged relics of St. Anne was brought from the Holy Land to Constantinople in 710 & was kept there in the church of St. Sophia as late as 1333.

During the 12th & 13th centuries, returning crusaders & pilgrims from the East brought St. Anne’s relics to some churches, including most famously those at Apt, in Provence, Ghent, & Chartres. St. Anne’s relics have been preserved & venerated in the many cathedrals & monasteries dedicated to her name.

For example, in Austria, Canada, Germany, Italy, & Greece in the semi-autonomous Mount Athos, & the city of Katerini. Duren has been the main place of pilgrimage for Anne since 1506, when Pope Julius II decreed that her relics should be kept there, after they were stolen from the church of St. Stephen in Mainz.

The Church of St. Anne in Beit Guvrin National Park was built by the Byzantines & the crusaders in the 12th century. This is known in Arabic as Khirbet Sandahanna, the mound of Maresha being called Tell Sandahanna.

St. Anne is the patroness of unmarried women, housewives, women in labor or who want to be pregnant, grandmothers, moms, & educators. She’s also a patroness of horseback riders, cabinet-makers, & miners.

As the mom of Mary, this devotion to St. Anne as the patron of miners arises from the medieval comparison between Mary & Jesus & the precious metals: gold & silver. Anne’s womb was considered the source from which these precious metals were mined.

St. Anne is the patron saint of Brittany (France); Cuenca (Ecuador); Chinandega (Nicaragua); the Mi’kmaq people of Canada; Castelbuono (Sicily); Quebec (Canada); Santa Ana (California); Norwich (Connecticut); Detroit (Michigan); Adjunta (Puerto Rico); Santa Ana & Jucuaran (El Salvador); Berlin (New Hampshire); Santa Ana Pueblo, Seama, & Taos (New Mexico); Chiclana de la Frontera, Marsaskala, Tuadela, Atarfe & Fasnia (Spain); Town of Sta Ana Province of Pampanga, Molo, Iloilo City, Balasan; Iloilo, Hagnoy, Santa Ana, Taguig City, St. Anne Shrine, Malicboy, Pagbilao, Quezon, & Malinao, Albay (Philippines); Santana (Brazil); St. Anne (Illinois); Sainte Anne Island; Baie Sainte Anne & Praslin Island (Seychelles); Bukit Mertajam & Port Klang (Malaysia); Kl’ucove (Slovakia) & South Vietnam.

The parish church of Vatican City is Sant’ Anna dei Palafrenieri. There’s a shrine dedicated to St. Anne in the Woods in Bristol, United Kingdom.

Anne is also revered in Islam, recognized as a highly spiritual woman & as the mom of Mary. She’s not named in the Quran. She’s called “the wife of Imran.” The Quran describes her remaining childless until old age. One day, Anne saw a bird feeding its young while sitting in the shade of a tree, which awakened her desire to have kids of her own.

She prayed for a kid & eventually conceived. Imran, her husband, died before the kid was born. Anne expected the unborn kid to be a boy, so she vowed to dedicate “him” to isolation & service in the Second Temple.

Anne had a daughter (Mary) instead. Anne named her: Mary. Anne’s words upon delivering Mary reflect as a great mystic, realizing that while she’d had wanted a son, this daughter was God’s gift to her.

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#12thCentury #12thCenturyAD #13thCentury #1500s #1506 #15thCentury #1892 #4thCentury #710 #7thCentury #8thCentury #9thCentury #Adjunta #Albay #AncestorsOfGod #AnnaSelbdritt #AnnunciationOfTheIncarnation #Apocrypha #Apt #Arabic #Atarfe #Augustinian #Austria #BaieSainteAnne #Balasan #BasilicaOfSteAnneDeBeaupre #BeitGuvrinNationalPark #Berlin #bible #Brazil #Bristol #Brittany #BukitMertajam #Byzantines #California #Canada #Castelbuono #CatholicChurch #Chartres #Chiclana #ChiclanaDeLaFrontera #Chinandega #Christianity #Circa150AD #Circa550 #ConceptionOfStAnne #Connecticut #Constantinople #Crusaders #Cuenca #December9 #Detroit #DormitionOfAnne #Douai #Duren #EasternChristianity #Ecuador #ElSalvador #Fasnia #FeastOfSaintsAnneJoachim #FeastOfTheConceptionOfTheVirginMary #France #Germany #GospelOfThomas #GreatFeastsOfTheOrthodoxChurch #Greece #GreekOrthodoxChurch #Hagnoy #HolyFamily #HolyLand #Iloilo #IloiloCity #ImmaculateConception #Imran #Islam #Italy #Jesus #Jucuaran #July26 #Justinian #KhirbetSandahanna #KlUcove #LatinChurch #Lutheranism #Mainz #Malaysia #Malicboy #Malinao #Maresha #MartinLuther #MaternityOfHolyAnne #MiKmaqPeople #MonasteryOfStSabas #MountAthos #NativityOfMary #NativityOfTheVirginMary #NewHampshire #NewMexico #NewTestament #Nicaragua #NorthernFrance #Pagbilao #Philippines #PopeJuliusII #PopeLeoXIII #PortKlang #PraslinIsland #PresentationOfMary #Provence #PuertoRico #Quebec #Quran #Rome #SainteAnneIsland #SantAnnaDeiPalafrenieri #SantaAna #SantaAnaPueblo #SantaMariaAntique #SeatOfWisdom #September8 #Sicily #Slovakia #SouthVietnam #SouthernItaly #Spain #SpeculumMaius #StAnne #StAnneInTheWoods #StAnneShrine #StAnneSFeastDay #StJoachim #StSophia #StStephen #SteAnneDAuray #SteAnneDeBeaupre #TaguigCity #Taos #TellSandahanna #TheChurchOfStAnne #TheConceptionByStAnneOfTheMostHolyTheotokos #TownOfStaAnaProvinceOfPampanga #Tudela #UnitedKingdom #VaticanCity #VirginMary

The miracle of Jesus’s conception

... that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
2 Corinthians 5:19

#faith #ImmaculateConception #jesus #Messiah #salvation #virginbirth

https://lightforthelastdays.co.uk/articles/jesus-and-judaism/the-miracle-of-jesuss-conception/