Begins: Nov 29 - Feast: Dec 8

The Immaculate Conception is a doctrine of the Roman Catholic church that states that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception.^[1] First debated by medieval theologians, it proved so controversial that it did not become part of official Catholic teaching until 1854, when Pius IX gave it the status of dogma in the papal bull Ineffabilis Deus.^[2] Protestants rejected Ineffabilis Deus as an exercise in papal power and the doctrine itself as without foundation in Scripture.^[3] Although Eastern Orthodoxy reveres Mary in its liturgy, Patriarch Anthimus VII of Constantinople characterized the dogmas of the Immaculate Conception and papal infallibility as "Roman novelties".^[4] The iconography of the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception shows her standing, with arms outstretched or hands clasped in prayer, and her feast day is 8 December.^[5]

Novena to the Immaculate Conception Nov29-Dec7.pdf