Immaculate Conception 2033

What is Immaculate Conception?

The Immaculate Conception is a Catholic feast that celebrates the belief that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was preserved free from original sin from the moment of her conception. It is often confused with the conception of Jesus, but that is a different feast, the Annunciation, kept on 25 March. The doctrine was proclaimed a dogma by Pope Pius IX on 8 December 1854 in the bull Ineffabilis Deus. The name of the feast is often misunderstood, because the word conception refers to Mary's own conception by her mother, Saint Anne.

The day is the national feast of several countries and a patron day of many places and institutions. In Spain, the Immaculate is a patron of the infantry and the date is also associated with children's choirs, the Seises of Seville, who dance before the cathedral altar. In Italy and Austria, 8 December is also the traditional opening of the Christmas shopping period, and Christmas markets and decorations start around it. Spain and Italy hold processions and flower offerings to statues of Mary on the day, such as the traditional offering at the Column of the Immaculate Conception in Rome near the Spanish Steps, where the Pope or the fire brigade places a wreath.

Why it is observed

The feast began in the East in the seventh century and spread to the West, where it was celebrated in England and elsewhere from the eleventh century, though it long remained controversial among theologians, since figures including Thomas Aquinas questioned how it could be reconciled with the universal need for redemption. The Franciscan thinker Duns Scotus helped answer this objection in the early fourteenth century. The feast became universal in the Catholic Church in 1708 and was defined as a dogma in 1854. The date is nine months before 8 September, the traditional birthday of Mary.

How the date is set

The Immaculate Conception is fixed on 8 December, nine months before the feast of the Nativity of Mary on 8 September.

How it is observed

The Immaculate Conception is a public holiday in Andorra, Austria, Spain, Italy, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Portugal, San Marino and Vatican City, among others, and in Malta it appears as the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. Shops and offices close, though in Austria and Italy the day is a customary shopping day, and shop opening rules vary. In practice, it also opens the pre-Christmas season. Pay and substitute days depend on the country and the contract. Visitors may find the day busy, as it often starts a long weekend and the Christmas shopping season.