Mary & the Saints
Mary's Immaculate Conception
From the first moment of her existence, Mary was preserved free from original sin by a singular grace in view of Christ's future merits.
Catholic teaching
Mary needed a savior like everyone else, but Christ saved her in a more excellent way: by preventing sin from ever touching her rather than cleansing it afterward. This fittingly prepared her to be the worthy dwelling of the Son of God.
Biblical foundation
The angel Gabriel greets Mary as 'full of grace,' a unique title in Scripture suggesting a completeness of grace from the start. This fulfills the promise in Genesis that the woman's offspring would be at perpetual enmity with the serpent, implying her freedom from sin's dominion.
Scripture references
Historical evidence
Devotion to Mary's sinless purity is ancient, with feasts of her conception celebrated in the East by the eighth century; Pope Pius IX formally defined the doctrine as dogma in the bull Ineffabilis Deus in 1854 after centuries of theological development.
The Church Fathers
“You alone and your Mother are more beautiful than any others, for there is no blemish in you nor any stains upon your Mother.”