Holiday marks 150th anniversary

Immaculate Conception celebrations in Italy

On December 8, Pope John Paul II will make his way in his popemobile to the Statue of Mother Mary in Rome's Spanish Square (Piazza di Spagna) to commemorate the Immaculate Conception - a major feast day with obligatory mass in the Roman Catholic Church. Also a national public holiday in Italy, this year’s celebration marks the 150th anniversary of the Church’s official declaration of the doctrine behind the feast.
It was on this day in 1854 when the dogma of the Immaculate Conception was formally defined by Pope Pius IX, and it has been papal tradition since 1857 to visit the monument to pray and to crown the statue with a garland of flowers. The faithful then place flowers at the base of the column in homage to the immaculate, sinless Mary.
This dogma - not to be mistaken with the idea of the Virgin Birth (the birth of Jesus to a virgin mother) - states that Mary was conceived in her mother St Anna's womb without original sin, and that she never sinned throughout her entire life. Mary's privilege of immaculate conception derives from God's having chosen her to be the mother of Jesus. She has salvation at the moment of her conception, hence the phrase “…full of grace…” in the Hail Mary prayer.
Though the idea of an Immaculate Conception was a long-held belief of the Church, it was a controversial one through the middle ages. Theologians questioned whether Mary was free from original sin at the moment of conception, or, like John the Baptist, was sanctified in her mother’s womb. The argument against the idea of Mary’s Immaculate conception was that it directly contradicted the Saviour’s role as the universal redeemer.
By the 1380s a clear split had emerged between the Franciscan and Dominican orders. The Franciscan friars, under the inspiration of the 13th-century Scottish theologian John Duns Scotus, defended the idea, while it was vigorously opposed by the Dominican order following the precepts of St Thomas Aquinas.
In 1477, Pope Sixtus IV, a Franciscan, established a feast of the Immaculate Conception with a proper mass to be celebrated on December 8. In 1497 the University of Paris decreed that no one should be admitted unless he swore to defend and assert the Immaculate Conception of Mary. This feast was extended to the entire western church by Pope Clement XI in 1708. The doctrine today has not been accepted by Protestant or by Orthodox churches.
The monument, at the southern end of the Spanish Square, is made up of an ancient Roman column topped by a statue of Mary - a work of art commissioned in 1856 by Pope Pius IX.
Every town in Italy celebrates this day, usually with a statue of Mary being carried through the streets after dark, accompanied by marching bands, garlands, and fireworks. In fact, Christmas celebrations generally begin after December 8, the feast of the Immaculate Conception being so important.

Publication Date: 2004-12-05
Story Location: http://tandemnews.com/viewstory.php?storyid=4687