The Immaculate Conception

The Immaculate Conception is one of the Basilica's patrons.

In Roman Catholic teaching, "original sin" is the sin of Adam which humans inherit at conception but which is washed away in Baptism.

"The Immaculate Conception" is the doctrine that Mary was preserved from original sin at the moment of conception, receiving in advance the grace of Baptism that her son would earn for all mankind.

Images that celebrate this doctrine represent Mary as the woman of Revelation 12:1, "And a great sign appeared in heaven: A woman clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet and on her head a crown of twelve stars."

The stained glass is typical. It shows the crown of twelve stars

Often the Virgin stands on a globe or on a crescent moon as she does in this stained glass.