[Kolokotronis]

"This sounds like too important a concept for the Scriptures to be completely silent on so where can I find the basis for saying Mary was conceived without sin or “cleansed as she was conceived”?"

As a matter of curiosity, cyc, do you believe in Original Sin and if so, how do you and/or your ecclesial group define it?

[count-your-change]

To try to answer both questions at once, the most concise but hardly exhaustive, teaching is Paul’s statement at Romans 5:12-14. We are not held responsible for Adam’s actions but do inherit an inclination toward sin and all being “children” or descendants of Adam we all sin. (1 John 1:8-10)

It is this I believe. Does that satisfy your curiosity?