A - Thanks for the question! The dogma of the Immaculate
Conception (IC) is a widely misunderstood teaching of the
Catholic Church, so I am glad to try and clear up some of the
misconceptions (pun intended) about it. Before I do so, I want
to remind everyone that Dec 8 is a Holy Day of Obligation
(Opportunity). Check Mass times for St. Marys here. The IC is
not a teaching about Christ being without sin or being conceived
without a father. These are different teachings. The teaching of
the IC is the following, from Pius IX - defined in 1854: "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."Here is what the
Church teaches about the I.C. - Mary w