The Feast of the Immaculate Conception is one of the great celebrations of how God honoured Mary of Nazareth such that: "Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed." (Lk 1: 48) This feast affirms that Mary was conceived without the stain of Original Sin. This sin, incurred by our original parents, is part of the human condition and means that we are born with a damaged relationship with God and capacity to live according to his law. For most of us the healing of this wound is brought about through baptism. The Rite of Baptism for Infants states: "We pray for this child: set him (her) free from original sin, make him (her) a temple of your glory, and send your Holy Spirit to dwell with him (her)." For Mary this was a reality from the moment of her conception, which occurred in the usual way. This feast has a long history however it was made a Holy Day of Obligation as late as 1708 and declared to be a dogma of the Church on 8 December 1854. The mystery of God's grace and action in the world is indeed a profound one and this is the case in the life of Our Lady. The mystery is made even more awesome when we consider that the woman who appeared to the fourteen year old peasant girl, Bernadette Soubirous, at Lourdes on 25 March 1858, was asked the question: "Would you kindly tell me who you are?" "Bernadette repeated her question twice more, and then the Lady, joining her hands on her breast and raising her eyes to heaven answered: 'Que soy era Immaculado Conceptiou,' 'I am the Immaculate Conception.' " (Taken from Butler's Lives of the Saints, Vol I)
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