Today we celebrate the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
«²⁸And he came to her and said, “
Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!”»
Luke 1:28 (RSVCE)
«By the authority of Jesus Christ Our Lord, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and by our own: We declare, pronounce, and define that the doctrine which holds that
the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instance of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race,
was preserved free from all stain of original sin, is a doctrine revealed by God and therefore to be believed firmly and constantly by all the faithful».
–Pope Pius IX,
Ineffabilis Deus (1854)