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 grace and  through  the  merits  of  her  divine  Son, preserved from  the  stain  of  original  sin. This doctrine was  received  throughout  the  world  with ineffable joy;  and,  indeed,  no  one  who  loves  the Blessed Virgin  can  help  rejoicing  at  this  her  most glorious privilege.

The invocation,  "Queen  conceived  without  the stain  of  original  sin,"  was  added  to  the  Litany  of Loreto. In 1866,  at  the  Second  Plenary  Council in Baltimore,  the  feast  of  the  Immaculate  Conception was  raised  to  the  rank  of  a  holyday  of obligation  for  the  Church  of  the  United  States.

n the  inscrutable  designs  of  His  providence  God ordained that  the  mystery  of  the  immaculate conception of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary  should  be proclaimed  an  article  of  faith  as  late  as  the  middle of the  nineteenth  century. But, then,  its  proclamation was  attended  by  circumstances  that  undeniably proved  that  the  Holy  Father  in  pronouncing the  dogma  had  been  inspired  and  guided  by the  Holy  Ghost.

Let us  praise  God  and  thank  Him  for  bestowing this  glorious  privilege  on  our  beloved  Mother, and let  us  often  invoke  her  under  her  favorite title, the  Immaculate  Conception. St. Alphonsus Liguori tells  us  that  the  devotion  to  this  mystery is especially  efficacious  in  overcoming  the  temptations of  impurity. Therefore he  was  accustomed