Feast of the Immaculate Conception#Designation as public holiday

{{Roman Catholic Mariology}}

The Eastern Church first celebrated a Feast of the Conception of the Most Holy and All Pure Mother of God on 9 December, perhaps as early as the 5th century in Syria. The original title of the feast focused more specifically on Saint Anne, being termed Sylepsis tes hagias kai theoprometoros Annas ("conception of Saint Anne, the ancestress of God").{{Cite web|url=https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07674d.htm|title=CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Immaculate Conception|website=www.newadvent.org}} By the 7th century, the feast was already widely known in the East: on at least two occasions in the Acta of the Third Council of Constantinople (680-681), regarded as ecumenical by both the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches, Mary is called "immaculate" (Achrantos).{{Cite web |title=CHURCH FATHERS: Third Council of Constantinople (A.D. 680-681) |url=https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/3813.htm |access-date=2025-01-04 |website=www.newadvent.org}}

Most Orthodox Christians reject the Scholastic definition of Mary's preservation from original sin.Timothy Ware (Bishop Kallistos). The Orthodox Church (London: Penguin Books, 1963), pp. 263–264. The feast associated with her immaculate conception, initially celebrated on 8 December, was translated to the Western Church in the 8th century. It then spread from the Byzantine Southern Italy to Normandy during the Norman dominance, eventually reaching England, France, Germany, and Rome.Francis X. Weiser. Handbook of Christian Feasts and Customs (New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1958), p. 292.

In 1568, Pope Pius V revised the Roman Breviary, and though the Franciscans were allowed to retain the Office and Mass written by Bernardine dei Busti, this office was suppressed for the rest of the Church, and the office of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin was substituted instead, the word "Conception" being substituted for "Nativity".{{Cite web|url=http://www.ewtn.com/library/HOMELIBR/LANDMARY.HTM|title=Habig O.F.M., Marion A. "Land of Mary Immaculate", The American Ecclesiastical Review, June 1954}}

According to the papal bull Commissi Nobis Divinitus, dated 6 December 1708, Pope Clement XI mandated the feast as a holy day of obligation which is to be celebrated in future years by the faithful.Commissi Nobis Divinitus - VI Decembris 1708 - Clementis XI, Papam - Sincera itaque nostra erga eamdem augustissimam caeli reginam, patronam, advocatam, nostram, devotione incitati festum conceptionis ipsius beatae mariae virginis immaculatae ubique terrarum in posterum ab omnibus et singulis utriusque sexus christifidelibus sicut alia festa de praecepto observationis festorum comprehendi auctoritate apostolica, tenore praesentium decernimus praecipimus et mandamus. ...Volumus autem ut earumdem praesentium literrarum transumptis, seu exemplis etiam impressis, manu alicuius notarii publici subscriptis, et sigillo personae in ecclesiastica dignitate constitutae munitis, eadem prorsus fides adhibeatur ipsis praesentibus si forent exhibitae vel ostensae. Furthermore, the pontiff requested that the papal bull be notarized in the Holy See to be further copied and reproduced for dissemination.

Prior to Pope Pius IX's definition of the Immaculate Conception as a Catholic dogma in 1854, most missals referred to it as the Feast of the Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The festal texts of this period focused more on the action of her conception than on the theological question of her preservation from original sin. A missal published in England in 1806 indicates the same collect for the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary was used for this feast as well.[https://archive.org/details/romanmissaltran00englgoog/page/n120 The Roman Missal in English] Tr. John England (Philadelphia: Eugene Chummiskey, 1843), p. 529.

The first move towards describing Mary's conception as "immaculate" came in the 11th century. In the 15th century, Pope Sixtus IV, while promoting the festival, explicitly tolerated both the views of those who promoted it as the Immaculate Conception and those who challenged such a description, a position later endorsed by the Council of Trent.

The proper for the feast of the Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the medieval Sarum missal merely addresses the fact of her conception. The collect for the feast reads:

O God, mercifully hear the supplication of thy servants who are assembled together on the Conception of the Virgin Mother of God, may at her intercession be delivered by Thee from dangers which beset us.[https://books.google.com/books?id=cyUBAAAAQAAJ&dq=%22Sarum+Missal&pg=RA1-PR7 The Sarum Missal in English] Tr. A. Harford Pearson (London: The Church Printing Co., 1834), p. 332.

File:Vatikan, Petersdom, der Altar der unbefleckten Empfängnis.JPG venerated within Saint Peter's Basilica. It was crowned by Pope Pius IX (1854) and Pius X (1904).]]

Pope Pius IX on 8 December 1854 issued the apostolic constitution Ineffabilis Deus:

{{Blockquote| "The most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instant of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the saviour of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin."[http://www.newadvent.org/library/docs_pi09id.htm Ineffabilis Deus] the Apostolic Constitution of Pope Pius IX on the Immaculate Conception (8 December 1854), in the Acta Pii IX, pars 1, Vol. 1, p. 615.}}

According to the Universal Norms on the Liturgical Year and the Calendar, the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception cannot replace an Advent Sunday; if 8 December falls on a Sunday, the solemnity is transferred to the following Monday (9 December).[https://www.liturgyoffice.org.uk/Calendar/Info/GNLY.pdfUniversal Norms on the Liturgical Year and the Calendar No. 5.] The 1960 Code of Rubrics, still observed by some in accordance with Summorum Pontificum, gives the feast of the Immaculate Conception preference even over an Advent Sunday.Code of Rubrics, 15

When the feast is celebrated on 9 December, the obligation to attend Mass did not also transfer in some countries,Edward McNamara, [https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/feast-of-the-immaculate-conception--4706 "Feast of the Immaculate Conception"], ZENIT, 17 December 2013. but in 2024 the Holy See issued a clarification that the obligation is transferred to the day when it is observed.{{Cite news|title=Vatican: Holy days of obligation not dispensed if transferred to a Monday |first=Kate |last=Quiñones |date=1 November 2024 |url=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/260207/vatican-holy-days-of-obligation-not-dispensed-if-transferred-to-a-monday |work=Catholic News Agency |access-date=29 November 2024}}https://www.ncregister.com/cna/vatican-holy-days-of-obligation-not-dispensed-if-transferred-to-a-monday

In the Church of England, the "Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary" may be observed as a Lesser Festival on 8 December without the religious designation as "sinless", "most pure" or "immaculate".

The situation in other constituent churches of the Anglican Communion is similar, i.e., as a lesser commemoration.{{cite web|url=http://prayerbook.ca/the-prayer-book-online/57-the-calendar-ix |title=The Calendar [page ix] |access-date=2013-11-03 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131104172841/http://prayerbook.ca/the-prayer-book-online/57-the-calendar-ix |archive-date=2013-11-04 }}

The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church celebrates the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on Nehasie 7 (August 13). The 96th chapter of the Kebra Nagast states: "He cleansed Eve's body and sanctified it and made for it a dwelling in her for Adam's salvation. Mary was born without blemish, for He made Her pure, without pollution".{{Cite web|url=https://eotcmk.org/e/the-birth-of-the-blessed-virgin-mary-2/|title=THE BIRTH OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY – Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church Sunday School Department – Mahibere Kidusan}}

==Eastern Orthodoxy==

{{Main|Conception of the Virgin Mary}}

The Eastern Orthodox Churches does not accept the Catholic dogma of the Immaculate Conception. Accordingly, they celebrate 9 December called the “Feast of the Conception by Saint Anne of the Most Holy Theotokos”.

While the Orthodox believe that the Virgin Mary was, from her conception, filled with every grace of the Holy Spirit, in view of her calling as the Mother of God, they do not teach that she was conceived without original sin as their understanding and terminology of the doctrine of original sin differs from the Catholic articulation.Timothy Ware, The Orthodox Church (Penguin Books, 1963, {{ISBN|0-14-020592-6}}), pp. 263-4. The Orthodox do, however, affirm that Mary is "all-holy" and never committed a personal sin during her lifetime.{{Cite web|title=The Sinlessness of the Theotokos|url=https://www.sttikhonsmonastery.org/sinlessness.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200712221715/https://www.sttikhonsmonastery.org/sinlessness|archive-date=2020-07-12|access-date=2020-07-12|website=Monastery of St. Tikhon of Zadonsk}}

The Orthodox feast is not a perfect nine months before the feast of the Nativity of the Theotokos (8 September) as it is in the West, but a day later. This feast is not ranked among the Great Feasts of the church year, but is a lesser-ranking feast (Polyeleos).

==Designation as public holiday==

File:Procesión de la Inmaculada, Sevilla, España, 2015-12-06, DD 130.JPG, Spain]]

File:Pontifical High Mass Novus Ordo 2023-12-08.jpg, 8 December 2023, Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary]]

File:2023-12-08 abbé benoît de jorna 1.jpg, Catholic church in the centre of Paris, France, 8 December 2023, procession of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary]]

The solemnity is a registered public holiday in the following sovereign countries and territories:

• {{flagicon|AND}} Andorra
• {{flagicon|ARG}} Argentina
• {{flagicon|AUT}} Austria
• {{flagicon|CHL}} Chile
• {{flagicon|COL}} Colombia — its people cook food and delicacies honoring this day.
• {{flagicon|EQG}} Equatorial Guinea
• {{flagicon|GUM}} Guam (USA)
• {{flagicon|ITA}} Italy — it has been a national holiday since 1853. The Pope, in his capacity as Bishop of Rome, visits the Column of the Immaculate Conception in Piazza di Spagna to offer expiatory prayers commemorating the solemn event. The day marks the start of the Christmas season in the country.{{cite web |url=https://www.italymagazine.com/featured-story/celebrate-christmas-italian |last=Donati |first=Silvia |title=Celebrate Christmas Like an Italian |publisher=Italy Magazine |date=2021-11-25}}
• {{flagicon|LIE}} Liechtenstein
• {{flagicon|MAC}} Macau, China — by Government Executive Order No. 60/2000, published on 29 September 2000 and enforced into legal effect since 1 January 2001.{{Cite executive order|number=60/2000|url= https://bo.io.gov.mo/bo/i/2000/40/ordem60_cn.asp#60|date=29 September 2000|title= |via=Imprensa Oficial |language=Traditional Chinese|post=Chief Executive of Macau}}
• {{flagicon|MLT}} Malta
• {{flagicon|MON}} Monaco — it is celebrated with food festivities, particularly honoring mothers and grandmothers.
• {{flagicon|NIC}} Nicaragua – the solemnity is celebrated with local parades and religious processions.
• {{flagicon|PAN}} Panama – it is celebrated throughout the country as Mother's Day.
• {{flagicon|PAR}} Paraguay
• {{flagicon|PER}} Peru
• {{flagicon|PHL}} Philippines – a non-working public holiday in honour of the Immaculate Conception as Principal Patroness, signed into law on 28 December 2017.{{Cite PH act|chamber=RA|number=10966|url=https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/2017/12/28/republic-act-no-10966/ |title=An Act Declaring December 8 of Every Year a Special Nonworking Holiday in the Entire Country to Commemorate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, the Principal Patroness of the Philippines|publisher=Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines|date=December 28, 2017|accessdate=December 9, 2023}}
• {{flagicon|POR}} Portugal
• {{flagicon|SMR}} San Marino
• {{flagicon|SEY}} Seychelles
• {{flagicon|ESP}} Spain — since 8 November 1760, the day is marked as a national holiday as designated by Pope Clement XIII.
• {{flagicon|SWI}} Switzerland — at present, 13 out of 26 cantons have elected to make this is a registered public holiday in accordance with government laws.{{Cite web|url=http://www.earthcalendar.net/_php/lookup.php?mode=date&m=12&d=08&y=2009|title=Earth Calendar|website=www.earthcalendar.net}}
• {{flagicon|TLS}} East Timor
• {{flagicon|VAT}} Vatican
• {{flagicon|VEN}} Venezuela

{{Main|Church of the Company Fire}}

File:Incendio de la Iglesia de la Compañía (cropped).jpg]]

The Church of the Company Fire is a major mass casualty incident that occurred during the celebration of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception in Santiago, Chile; on December 8, 1863. A fire broke out at the start of a Mass that was being held at the Church of the Company of Jesus in honour of this feast day. Between 2,000 and 3,000 churchgoers (mostly women) were killed during the fire, a number which represented approximately 2% of the total population of Santiago at the time according to subsequent estimates. A combination of organisational negligence, overcrowding, mass panic and a highly flammable indoor environment led to a rapidly spreading fire that consumed the church within one hour. Only a relatively small number of people were able to escape. This tragedy is considered one of the largest single building fires by number of victims in the world.{{cite book |last=Lambert |first=David |title= Repairing the Damage. Fires & Floods |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2DK6tElfKswC |access-date=22 December 2015 |date=2003 |publisher=GRAFO, S.A |location=Bilbao |isbn=0-237-51798-1 |chapter=Chapter two: Cities on Fire - Blazing buildings |page=12 |quote=Perhaps the deadliest of all church fire disasters occurred in 1863, in a Jesuit church in Santiago, Chile. Some records say that 2500 people perished}}

• Feast of the Conception of the Virgin Mary (antecedent)
• Patronages of the Immaculate Conception
• Church of the Company Fire (A mass casualty tragedy which occurred on 8 December 1863, during the celebration of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception in Santiago, Chile; with more than 2,000 lives lost){{Cite web |url= https://www.memoriachilena.gob.cl/602/w3-article-31438.html |title= El incendio de la iglesia de la Compañía de Jesús (1863) |last=Memoria Chilena |first=Biblioteca Nacional de Chile|date=2024|website= |publisher= |access-date=20 November 2024 |quote= |language=es |trans-title=The Church of the Society of Jesus Fire (1863)}}

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{{Philippine national holidays}}

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Category:Public holidays in Spain

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Category:December observances

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Category:Winter in Spain

Category:Immaculate Conception

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