The Feast of the Immaculate Conception in Lourdes
In Lourdes, the feast of the Immaculate Conception and the 170th anniversary of the proclamation of the dogma by Pope Pius IX are celebrated on Sunday 8 December. In 2024, because 8th December falls on a Sunday, the Church will be celebrating the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on 9th December. The celebration of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary – during the first days of the new liturgical year and the season of Advent – reminds us of the unique destiny of this Jewish woman, chosen by God. For the Christian faith, Mary is inseparable from the child she bore, Jesus, in whom the living God was fully incarnated.
The Dogma of the Immaculate Conception
The dogma of the Immaculate Conception, solemnly proclaimed on 8th December 1854 by Pope Pius IX in the Bull Ineffabilis Deus, affirms that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was preserved from original sin from the moment of her conception. The text of the Bull states:
“We declare, pronounce and define that the doctrine which holds that the Blessed Virgin Mary, at the first instant of her conception, by a singular privilege and grace of the Omnipotent God, in virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of mankind, was preserved immaculate from all stain of original sin, has been revealed by God, and therefore should firmly and constantly be believed by all the faithful.”
This dogma confirms Mary’s unique role in God’s plan of salvation. She was chosen to be the mother of the Saviour, and for this reason, she benefitted from a special grace that kept her free from sin, a grace in view of the merits of Jesus Christ.
Lourdes and the Immaculate Conception
Four years after the dogma was proclaimed, in 1858, the Marian apparitions in Lourdes confirmed the magnitude of the mystery of the Immaculate Conception. On 25th March of that year, during the sixteenth apparition, Mary revealed her name to the young Bernadette Soubirous in the Grotto of Massabielle: ‘I am the Immaculate Conception.’
These words, spoken by Mary herself, gave divine confirmation, through little Bernadette, of the dogma proclaimed a few years earlier by the Pope.
From the beginning, Mary was chosen for this unique mission, to bear in her womb the Saviour of the world. The celebration of the Immaculate Conception invites us to reflect on this exceptional grace, and on the love of God that allowed Mary to be so blessed that she could fully accomplish her mission as Mother of God.
Since the Council of Ephesus in 431, Mary has been recognised as Theotokos, or ‘Mother of God’, a title that underlines the inseparability of the person of Mary from her Son, Jesus Christ. By honouring Mary through this beautiful feast, we are also celebrating the mission of salvation accomplished by Jesus.
Roses for the Immaculate Conception in Lourdes
Roses, particularly white roses, play an important symbolic role in celebrations of the Immaculate Conception. The rose has long been associated with Mary in Catholic tradition, as it embodies both her purity and her maternal role. White, representing purity, is the preferred colour for this feast.
On 8 December, the feast of the Immaculate Conception, the Pope traditionally lays a bouquet of flowers at the foot of an 11-metre-high marble column in the Spanish Steps in Rome, supporting a statue of Mary that pays homage to her Immaculate Conception.
In 1965, Padre Pio asked that, on 8th December the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, a wreath of flowers be laid at the foot of the statue of the Immaculate Conception on the Spanish Steps in Rome. Since then, many of Padre Pio’s prayer groups meet on 8th December each year to go in procession to lay flowers at the foot of the statue, just like the Holy Father and many Romans. Since 8th December 2015 (50 years after he first proposed it), the Padre Pio prayer groups have been bringing a wreath of flowers to the foot of the statue of the Virgin in the Grotto at Lourdes.
In order to expand and firmly establish this floral tribute, it was decided that, from 2017 onwards, it would no longer be organised solely by the Padre Pio Prayer Groups, but by the ‘Family of Our Lady of Lourdes’. This initiative also makes it possible for all those who want to be part of the celebrations in Lourdes, despite the distance, to offer a rose via the Internet.
