Filipino Catholics mark the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary every year with a grand procession of Marian images in Manila. (Photo by Angie de Silva)
The Lower House of Congress in the Philippines passed a bill on March 29 declaring the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, which is celebrated every Dec. 8, a national holiday.
Rep. Rodolfo Farinas, author of the proposed law, said the feast is one of the most prominent and highly observed celebrations in the predominantly Catholic country.
The legislator also noted that one of the three ships that carried the first European explorers to the Philippines was the Concepcion, named after the Immaculate Conception.
"The country before being named Filipinas and even before the name of Christ had begun to be preached, saw on these shores the name of Mary under her title of the Immaculate Conception," said Farinas.
Ironically, the legislator who is known to be a devout Catholic, strongly pushed for the swift approval of the death penalty bill, a measure opposed by Catholic Church leaders.
"The church requires public devotion and veneration of the faithful during the Feast of the Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary," said Farinas, justifying his proposed law.
Dec. 8 was declared a holy day by Pope Clement XI in 1708 for Catholics all over the world, in honor of the "holiness and purity of the Blessed Virgin Mary."
On Sept. 12, 1942, Pope Pius XII, through the Apostolic letter Impositi Nobis, declared the Virgin Mary, under the title of the Immaculate Conception, as the "principal patroness of the Philippines."