In honor of the sesquicentennial anniversary of the proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception on Dec. 8, 2004, the U.S. bishops' Committee on Pastoral Practices has offered the following:

On Dec. 8, 1854, Blessed Pope Pius IX proclaimed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, an action affirming that the Immaculate Conception of Mary is a truth revealed by God to the Church. The meaning of this dogma is that by God's grace Mary was preserved free from original sin from the first moment of her existence. In this way God prepared her to be the mother of his Son and our Savior.

For Roman Catholics the Feast of the Immaculate Conception is a holy day of obligation, meaning that we must attend Mass on December 8. We do so in order to praise God for choosing Mary to be the mother of Jesus Christ.

As we prepare for this year's Feast, we recall that Mary, free from original sin, remained free of all sin throughout her life. This means that she always chose to be faithful to God's will, even in the most difficult times. Mary was a human being who, as the Second Vatican Council taught, was on a "pilgrimage of faith," and remained steadfast even when her faith was tested.

As the Council also affirmed, she freely cooperated "in the work of human salvation through faith and obedience." She shows us what it means to a follower of her Son. As we participate in the Eucharist on this December 8, we thank God for giving us the Blessed Virgin Mary as the pre-eminent model of discipleship and holiness.

We all come into this world in the state of original sin. This means that because of the sin of our first parents at the beginning of human history we stand in need of God's gracious mercy in order to be brought back into the union with him that he intended for us from the beginning. God has shown us this mercy most completely through his Son, Jesus Christ.

Because the Blessed Virgin Mary was to be the mother of his Son, God granted her a share in the grace of Jesus' redemptive work even from the first moment of her existence. Her perfect union with God reveals God's call to us to be his holy people.

In 1846 the Bishops of the United States placed this nation under the patronage of the Blessed Virgin Mary in her Immaculate Conception. The Second Vatican Council taught that the Blessed Virgin Mary is "a mother to us in the order of grace" and that "by her manifold intercession [she] continues to procure for us the gifts of eternal salvation."

As Catholics in the United States, with a special bond to the Blessed Virgin Mary as our patroness, we turn to her this Dec. 8 to seek her intercession for our nation, that God will provide healing where there is conflict, serenity where there is anxiety and courage where life is threatened and in need of protection.