The Immaculate Virgin Conception of the Virgin Mary 

exact length of time (by our modern way of counting) would then be either 46  years (from fall of 32 

B.C.

 to 

spring of 

A.D.

 16) or 45  years (from fall of 31 

B.C.

 to spring of 

A.D.

 16). 

    Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich states, based on her visions from God, that  just seventeen years before 

the Birth of Christ, Herod ordered that work should be done in the Temple. 

488

 Since Christ was born in 15 

B.C.

, the beginning of this work would then be in 32 

B.C.

 So then, the work  on the Temple Sanctuary was 

completed 1  years later, in fall of 31 

B.C.

, which is 45  years before the Passover of 

A.D.

 16. 

    The chronology of Herod's reign, as detailed in chapter 12 of this book, indicates that the reconstruction 

work on the Temple began in 11th year of Herod's reign and was completed in the 18th year of his reign. 

Herod captured Jerusalem in autumn of 43 

B.C.

, so that 42 

B.C.

 was the first calendar year of his reign. For 

this reason, 32 

B.C.

 must have been the 11th year of Herod's reign, and 25 

B.C.

 was the 18th year of his reign. 

So, the work on the Temple began in spring of 32 

B.C.

; the Sanctuary itself was completed 1  years later in 

autumn of 31 

B.C.

; and the outer enclosures were completed sometime in 25 

B.C.

    Since the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary coincided with the completion of the rebuilding of the 

Temple Sanctuary (Jn 2:20 22), the Immaculate Conception must also have occurred in fall of 31 

B.C.

 At the 

time of the first Passover of Jesus Christ's ministry then, the Virgin Mary was in her 46th year of life since 

conception, (and it had been about 45  years since the Immaculate Conception). She was about one half year 

away from completing 46 years of age from conception and a few months away from completing 45 years of 

age from birth. The Temple of Jerusalem is a symbol and foreshadowing of the Messiah, therefore it was 

fitting for the Immaculate Conception, which prepared the way for the Christ, to correspond with the physical 

and spiritual renewal of the Temple of Jerusalem. 

    In my booklet, the Virginity of Jesus and Mary, I state that the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary 

occurred  at the time of the beginning of the rebuilding of the Second Temple of Jerusalem. 

489

 These words 

are correct because Sacred Scripture counts the beginning of the rebuilding of the Temple from the completion 

of the physical work on the Sanctuary itself, when the spiritual rebuilding of the Temple began anew:   `It has 

taken forty six years to build this temple'   (Jn 2:20). However, let the reader understand that, as concerns the 

rebuilding of the physical structure of the Temple, the Immaculate Conception began at the completion of the 

rebuilding of the holy Sanctuary of the Temple of Jerusalem. 

The Count of the 46 Years 

    The Jews were counting the age of the Temple as 46 years since the completion of the work on the 

Sanctuary, because that is were the holy sacrifices took place. Their words mean that the Temple had been 

rebuilt since 46 years ago, and that the Temple was continually being spiritually rebuilt by all of the prayers 

and sacrifices in the Sanctuary of the Temple since that time. 

    The length of time since the Immaculate Conception was not exactly 46 years (i.e. not 12 months times 46, 

as one might count today), but was 46 years as the Jews counted the years. Jesus was speaking to the Jews 

about the Temple on the occasion of the 46th Passover since the completion of the rebuilding of the Sanctuary 

itself. That is why the Jews counted the length of time as 46 years; they were speaking to Jesus during the 

Passover. 

    From fall of 31 

B.C.

 to spring of 

A.D.

 16 is 45  years, yet the Jews speaking to Jesus gave the time as a 

whole number, 46 years (John 2:20). The Sanctuary itself was, at that time, in its 46th year since the rebuilding 

was completed. One could argue that the Jews were herein counting a partial year as a full year, as was their 

custom.

490

 In other words, the rebuilding of the Temple began during the middle of a certain year (the sacred 

calendar year beginning with Nisan in 31 

B.C.

), and that partial year was counted as year 1 of the 46 years. 

The Jewish calendar year beginning with Nisan of 

A.D.

 16 (when this conversation about the Temple 

occurred), would not be counted because it had just begun. 

    But I conclude that the Jews were counting the number of Passovers since the Temple Sanctuary had been 

rebuilt. There were 46 Passovers between fall of 31 

B.C.

 and spring of 

A.D.

 16, including the Passover of 

A.D.

16 when this conversation occurred. Since the new year of the sacred calendar begins with the month of Nisan 

(Ex 12:2), and the Temple Sanctuary is sacred, they must have been keeping track of the number of years by 

the sacred calendar. They would then have counted either the number of Passovers, or the number of Nisan 1 

dates, which had passed since the rebuilding of the Temple itself was completed.

491

 Because the Passover is of 

119