Monday, December 9, 2013
Since December 8, 2013 is the Second Sunday of Advent, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary is transferred to Monday, December 9, 2013. However, the obligation to attend Mass does not transfer.
There is often misunderstanding concerning the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary which again is not a holy day of obiligation in 2013.
From the Modern Catholic Encyclopedia:
The Immaculate Conception is the belief that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was graced by God in such a way that she was preserved from sin from the first moment of her existence. "Immaculate" refers to the absence of sin or stain and "Conception" refers to Mary's very beginning.
This belief has nothing to do with the sexual manner of Mary's conception, nor with the way in which she later conceived her own child through the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit...it points to God's graciousness to this woman as she came into the world sinless or "full of grace."
In 1854, after consultation with the world's bishops. Pope Pius IX declared this belief to be a dogma of the Catholic Church.
In the United States this is normally a holy day of obligation, partly because this country is dedicated to Mary under the title of The Immaculate Conception.