IMMACULATE CONCEPTION of the Virgin Mary.
This doctrine was asserted by Muhammad (Mishkdt, book i. ch. iii. pt. 1). The Prophet said. " There is not of the sons of Adam, except Mary and her Son, one born but is touched by the Devil at the time of his birth, and the child makes a loud noise from the touch."
When or where the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception was first taught is quite unknown. Perrone says that some writers have ascribed its origin to France, and he himself is of opinion that it came from the East, and was recognized in Naples in the ninth century. (Blunt's Dictionary of Doctrinal and Historical Theology, in loco.)
The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception was finally imposed as an Article of Faith in the Romish Church, by Pius IX., Dec. 8th, 1854.