Countless have been the Saints and Popes who have spoken about the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, declared by Pope Pius IX on December 8, 1854, through the bull ‘Ineffabilis Deus.’

Redaction (08/12/2021 08:59, Gaudium Press) Today, December 8, the Catholic Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady. This Marian dogma was declared by Pope Pius IX on December 8, 1854, through the bull ‘Ineffabilis Deus’.

In two apparitions, Our Lady confirmed that she was exempt from original sin from the time of her conception. One of them was in 1830 when she asked St. Catherine Labouré to mint a medal with the prayer: “O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to you.”

In 1858, after the dogma’s proclamation, the Blessed Virgin appeared to St. Bernadette Soubirous in the French town of Lourdes. Our Lady introduced herself on that occasion, saying: “I am the Immaculate Conception.”

Countless have been the Saints and Popes who have spoken about the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. Check out some of their thoughts:

01 – “Would it not be fitting that a virgin most pure and without blemish put herself at the service of this mysterious plan? And where to find this Virgin if not in this woman unique among all, chosen by the creator of the universe before all generations?” (St. Andrew of Crete)

02 – “O woman full and more than full of grace, the overflow of your fullness makes every creature reborn! O Virgin blessed and more than blessed, by your blessing all nature is blessed, not only the things created by the Creator, but also the Creator by the creature!” (Saint Anselm)

03 – “You, it is written, arise with beauty (Ps 44:14); and your virginal body is all holy, all chaste, all a dwelling place of God.” (St. German of Constantinople)

04 – “Yes, she is the Mother of God, Mary of divine name, whose womb gave birth to the incarnate God, who had supernaturally prepared Himself to be a temple.” (St. Andrew of Crete)

05 – “Immaculate Conception, purify my heart so that I may better love God!” (St. Pius)

06 – “God made her the first heir of the holiness of His own Son. First among those redeemed by His blood, from Her received humanly speaking. He made her immaculate at the very moment of conception.” (St. John Paul II)

07 – “Preserved from every stain of guilt, You are for us, pilgrims on the roads of the world, a shining model of evangelical coherence and a most valuable pledge of sure hope.” (St. John Paul II)

08 – “‘Full of grace’ are you, Mary, filled with divine love from the first moment of your existence, providentially predestined to be the Mother of the Redeemer, and intimately associated with Him in the mystery of salvation.” (Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI)

09 – “It was she, the Immaculate One, free from all original or actual stain, and always intimately united with her Son, who, like another Eve, together with the holocaust of her maternal rights and her maternal love, offered him on Golgotha to the Eternal Father for all the children of Adam, stained by their miserable fall…” (Pope Pius II)

10 – “We pay homage to Mary Most Holy who was preserved from the first instant from the contagion of original guilt and from every shadow of sin, by virtue of the merits of her Son Jesus Christ, our only Redeemer.” (St. John Paul II)

11 – “Blessed be God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has graced You, O Virgin of Nazareth, with every spiritual blessing in Christ. In Him you were conceived immaculate! Chosen to be His Mother, in Him and for Him you were redeemed more than all other human beings!” (St. John Paul II)

12 – “By a singular grace and favor of Almighty God and in anticipation of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, the Blessed Virgin Mary was preserved intact from all stain of original sin at the first instant of her conception.” (Blessed Pius IX)

13 – “God chose her from the beginning, from the first moment of conception, making her worthy of the divine maternity, to which at the appointed time she would be called.” (St. John Paul II)

14 – “The august Mother of God, immaculate at conception, a virgin entirely intact in divine motherhood, a generous companion of the divine Redeemer, who obtained full triumph over sin and its consequences, attained to be kept immune from the corruption of the sepulcher, as the supreme crown of her privileges.” (Pope Pius XII)

15 – “The Virgin Mary, benefited in advance from the redemptive death of her Son and from conception was preserved from the contagion of guilt. Therefore, with her immaculate Heart, She says to us: entrust yourselves to Jesus, He will save you.” (Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI)

16 – “In Mary’s immaculate conception we are invited to recognize the dawn of the new world, transformed by the saving work of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” (Pope Francis)

17 – “Preserved from the inheritance of original sin, you were conceived and came into the world in a state of sanctifying grace. Full of grace!” (St. John Paul II)

18 – “In the midst of life’s trials and especially the contradictions that man experiences within and around himself, Mary, Mother of Christ, tells us that Grace is greater than sin, that God’s mercy is more powerful than evil and knows how to turn it into good.” (Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI)

19 – “Holy and Immaculate Virgin, who is the honour of our people and the solicitous guardian of our city, to You we turn with loving confidence. You are all beautiful, O Mary! In you, there is no sin. (Pope Francis)

20 – “In your Immaculate Conception shines forth the vocation of Christ’s disciples, called to become, with his grace, holy and immaculate in love.” (Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI). (EPC)

Compiled by Gustavo Kralj