The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1913-12-06
THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION.
Dogma of the Church-History of the
Feast-Discussions of the Doc
trine.

In the Constitution "Ineffabilis
Deus" of December 8, 1854, Plus TX
pronounced and defined that the Bless
ed Virgin Mary Sin the first instant
of her conception, by a singular priv
ilege and grace granted by God, in
view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the
Saviour of the human race, was pre-
served exempt from all stain of orig
inal SIM The subject of this i'm
munity from original sin is the person
of Mary at the moment of the .crea-
ton of her soul and it's infusion into
her body.
The person, writes Reverend Fred
erick G. Holwick, in the Catholic En-
cyclopedia, is truly conceived when
the soul is created and infused into
the body. Mary was preserved ex-
empt from all stain of original sin at
the first moment of her animation,
and sanctifying grace was given to
her before sin could have taken effect
in her soul. simultaneously with the
exclusion of sin, the state of original
sanctity, innocence, and justice, as OPP
posed to original sin, was conferred
upon her, by which gift every stain
and fault, all depraved emotions, pas
sions, and debilities, essentially per-
tanning to original sin, were excluded.
But she was not made exempt from
the temporal penalties of Adam-from
sorrow, bodily infirmities, and death.
The immunity from original sin was
given to Mary by singular exemp-
ton from a universal law through the
same merits of Christ, by which other
men are cleansed from sin by baptism
Mary needed the redeeming Saviour
to obtain this exemption, and to be de-
livered from the universal necessity
and debt of being subject to original
sin. The person of Mary. in conse-
quence of her origin from Adam,
should have been subject to sin; but
being the new Eve who was to be
the mother of the new Adam, she was,
by the eternal counsel of God and by
the merits of Christ, withdrawn from
the general law of original sin. Her
redemption was the very masterpiece
of Christ's redeeming wisdom. He is
a greater redeemer who pays the debt
that it may not be incurred, than he
who pays after it has fallen on the
debtor. Such is the meaning of the
term Immaculate Conception"
Feast Of the Conception.
The older feast of the Conception
of Mary, which originated in the mon
asteries of Palestine at least as early
as the seventh century, and the mod
ern feast of the Immaculate Concep-
ton are not identical in their object.
Originally the Church only celebrated
the Feast of the Conception of Mary
as she kept the Feast of St Johns
Conception, not discussing the sinless
ness. This feast in the course of cen
turtles became the Feast of the I'm
maculate Conception, as dogmat1ca
augmentation brought about precise
and correct ideas, and as the thesis o.
the theological schools regarding the
preservation of Mary from all stair
of original sin gained strength.
AS in other cases of the same kline
the feast originated in the monastlt
communities. The monks, who ar
ranged the psalmody and composed
the various poetical pieces for the
office, also selected the date, Decem
Der 9, which was always retained IL
the Oriental calendars. Gradually the
solemnity emerged from the cloister
entered in the cathedrals, was glori
fed by preachers and poets, anC
eventually became fixed feast of the
calendar; approved by Church ant
State. 1t is registered in the Calendai
of Basil II (976-1025).
History in the Western Church.
In the Western Church, the feas
appeared (Dec, 81, when in the Orien
it's development had come to stand
still. The timid beginnings Of tn
new feast in some Anglo-Saxon NOR
asteries in the eleventh century, partl
smothered by the Norman conquest