History of Immaculate Conception/Jesus’ lineage

Q  On Dec. 8 we celebrated the feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.   What is the history of this feast?

A On Dec. 8, 1854, Pope Pius IX proclaimed “the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instance of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the savior of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin, is a doctrine revealed by God and therefore to be believed firmly and constantly by all the faithful.”  

Many believe the Immaculate Conception relates to the conception of Jesus.  True, Jesus was conceived without original sin, but the feast day celebrated Dec. 8 annually relates to Mary’s conception in her mother’s womb.

Even though it was only declared a doctrine of the church in 1854, the church celebrated the feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary in the seventh century in Palestine as the “Conception by St. Anne of the Theotokos (mother of God)” on Dec. 9.   When the observance spread to “the west,” the date of the feast was ultimately changed to Dec. 8, nine months before Our Blessed Lady’s birthday of Sept. 8.  

During the middle ages many theologians, including St. Anselm of Canterbury, St. Albert the Great, St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Bonaventure opposed this doctrine.  They believed there was no justification for the opinion that Mary was conceived without original sin; Mary had to have been touched by original sin for at least an instant in her mother’s womb.  

Blessed John Dun Scotus (1266-1308) disputed this; he laid the foundation of the Immaculate Conception of Mary so well and sufficiently that from that time the idea of Mary’s Immaculate Conception prevailed.  The Council of Basel in 1439 affirmed this, as did the Council of Trent (1545-1563), which explicitly declared that Mary was free from original sin.

In 1830, Mary appeared to St. Catherine Labouré.  Mary was standing on a globe, with dazzling rays of light streaming from her outstretched hands surrounded by the inscription “O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.”  As a result of this apparition, the Miraculous Medal was born, which acknowledged her Immaculate Conception.  

In 1858, Our Lady appeared to St. Bernadette Soubirous in Lourdes, France.  Many people, including church officials, doubted this apparition.  St. Bernadette did not know who the lady was so her family and friends asked St. Bernadette to ask her who she was.  Our Lady’s reply was, “Que soy era Immaculada Conceptiou,” which means “I am the Immaculate Conception.”  

When St. Bernadette told the parish priest Mary’s reply, he was convinced that St. Bernadette had been seeing Our Blessed Lady because the proclamation four years earlier was not well known.  St. Bernadette was only 14 years old, uneducated and could not have known about Pope Pius’ declaration.    

Our Lady under the title of the “Immaculate Conception” is the patroness of the United States, Spain, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as several parishes in the Baton Rouge and New Orleans areas, including my parish in Denham Springs.

Q  The Second Book of Samuel, Chapter 7, reveals the Messiah would be a descendent of King David.  How can this prophecy relate to Jesus since he was not the biological son of Joseph, who was a descendent of David? 

A In the Bible there are two genealogies of Jesus, one in the Gospel of St. Matthew and one in the Gospel of St. Luke.  Both go through the line of David, and in both Joseph is clearly pointed out as a descendent of David.  Through her marriage to Joseph, Mary became part of his family and legally a part of the House of David.  Therefore, when Joseph became the legal guardian of Jesus, Jesus became a descendent of David.  The Jews of Jesus’ day would have looked upon Jesus as the son of Joseph.

In addition, many theologians believe that Mary was also a direct descendent of King David.

The genealogy in St. Matthew traces Joseph back to David through his son, Solomon, but many believe that St. Luke’s genealogy is Mary’s ancestry because it goes back to David through Nathan, a different son of David.  

The custom in Jesus’ time was for a bridegroom (Joseph) to choose his bride (Mary) from his own tribe.  Therefore, if Joseph was a descendent of David, and Mary was part of Joseph’s tribe, Mary would also be a descendent of King David.

The Navarre Bible commentary discusses Jesus’ genealogy: “Joseph, being Mary’s husband, was the legal father of Jesus.  The legal father is on par with the real father as regards rights and duties. Since it was quite usual for people to marry within their clan, it can be concluded that Mary belonged to the house of David.  Several early fathers of the church testify to this – for example, St. Ignatius, St. Irenaeus of Antioch, St. Justin and Tertullian, who base their testimony on an unbroken oral tradition.”

Deacon Hooper is a deacon assistant at Immaculate Conception Church in Denham Springs. He can be reached at [email protected].