The Feast of the Immaculate Conception

My son, Jerald Kervin who is in kindergarten at the Colegio dela Inmaculada Concepcion-Mandaue excitedly told me last night that they won't have classes today.

Today is a big celebration for the Roman Catholic Church being the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.

The Church Dogma of the Immaculate Conception is the conception of the Virgin Mary without any stain of original sin. It is one of the four dogmas in Roman Catholic Mariology.

The Feast of the Immaculate Conception that is celebrated every December 8 was established as a universal feast by Pope Sixtus IV in 1476.

Pope Pius IX solemnly defined the Immaculate Conception as a dogma on December 8, 1854 in his constitution "Ineffabilis Deus".

The dogma is supported by Holy Scripture when the Virgin Mother was greeted by Angel Gabriel "Hail Mary, full of grace.."

To highlight the closing of the Marian Year in 1954, a Philippine stamp was released on December 30, 1954 featuring Murillo's painting of the Immaculate Conception.