“The Feast of the immaculate conception is very important in Catholic and other High Church denominations… you should know that.” ~ online commenter
Indeed, it is. It is even a Holy Day of Obligation in the Roman Catholic Religion, which means you are obligated to attend Mass and say Hail Mary prayers before each meal.
It is celebrated on December 8th by the Romans, or December 9th if you follow the Eastern faction of the Great Schism.
What many don’t know about this religious holy day is 1) it is man made (not ordained by God or the Bible), and 2) it is not about the conception of the Lord Jesus Christ, but of Mary.
In short they believe that Mary was also virgin born and born without sin (they say she also lived without sin). Thus they give her the title of Immaculate Virgin.
The teaching is nowhere found in the Bible, but is an attempt to preserve the sinlessness of Jesus by projecting purity back to his mother and grandmother (just to cover the theological bases – in denial of Romans 3:10 and 23).
You may realize why this is important to them when you enter discussion about the role Mary plays in salvation. (If she does, then so does Abraham, David, and Joseph).
There is no Biblical reason to observe this man made holy day, especially since it gives undue veneration to the Lord’s earthly mother (there is no such thing as a heavenly mother, and thus no Queen of Heaven except in pagan religion – Jer 7:18).
Then again, there are many manmade religious holy days happening this time of year, why not observe them all?
The Head of the church (Jesus, not the Pope) teaches us not to turn again to weak and beggarly elements of observing days for blessing (Gal 4:9). He teaches us to preach him without sin (2 Cor 5:21), his being full of grace (Rom 5:20-21), and there being one mediator, saviour, and redeemer, that being Him (1 Tim 2:4-5), due to his conquering death with resurrection.
None of that required the cooperation of his earthly mother, who, like the rest of us, was born in sin and needed her Son to save her from all her sin (Luke 1:47).
For Truth every day,
Justin “what day is it” Johnson
Article Index Published: December 17, 2022
Last Modified: January 21, 2023