MARY

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MARY MOTHER OF JESUS, MOTHER OF GOD
Part IIIa Marys Immaculate Conception
Rejoice, O highly favored daughter! (Luke 128)
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• The Immaculate Conception of
  Mary
• The Immaculate Conception of Mary,
• the Mother of Jesus, is the belief that
• God preserved Mary from any
• inclination to sin, the inheritance of
• original sin passed on to all mankind
• from our first parents, Adam and Eve.
• The belief of the Immaculate
• Conception of Mary says nothing about
• Mary and personal sin (Romans 323).
• Christian belief holds that every human
• being through faith and through baptism
• is freed from sin - original sin and personal sin
  
• through the grace of Jesus Christ.

Catholic Christians simply claim that Mary was
the first one to whom this was done. What Mary
received before her birth, all Christians receive
at their baptism.
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Catholics also believe that there have been other
certain saints who were cleansed of original sin
while still in the womb.
Jeremiah 15 Before I formed you in the womb I
knew you, before you were born I dedicated you,
a prophet to the nations I appointed you.
Luke 115 And you will have joy and gladness,
and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will
be great in the sight of (the) Lord. He will
drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will be
filled with the Holy Spirit even from his
mother's womb, and he will turn many of the
children of Israel to the Lord their God.
But, Mary did not need that cleansing. She never
had original sin.
Catholics also know that the unfallen angels are
sinless.
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The Privileges of the Mother of God Mary's
Immaculate Conception Dogma Mary was conceived
without stain of original sin. (De fide It
must be believed to be Catholic and remain a
Catholic) Pope Pius IX, December 8, 1854,
Ineffabilis The Most Holy Virgin Mary was, in
the first moment of her conception, by a unique
gift of grace and privilege of Almighty God, in
view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Redeemer
of mankind, preserved free from all stain of
original sin. D 1641
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Explanation of the dogma By conception is to be
understood the passive conception. The first
moment of the conception is that moment of time
in which the soul was created by God and infused
into the bodily matter prepared by her parents.
The essence of original sin consists in the
lack of sanctifying grace, in consequence of the
fall of Adam. Mary was preserved from this
defect, so that she entered existence in the
state of sanctifying grace. Mary's freedom from
original sin was an unmerited gift of God
(gratia), and an exception from the law which
was vouchsafed to her only. The efficient cause
of the Immaculate Conception of Mary was
Almighty God.
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The meritorious cause was the Redemption by Jesus
Christ. It follows from this that even Mary was
in need of redemption, and was in fact redeemed.
By reason of her natural origin, she, like all
other children of Adam, was subject to the
necessity of contracting original sin but by a
special intervention of God, she was preserved
from stain of original sin. Thus Mary also was
redeemed by the grace of Christ but in a more
perfect manner than other human beings. While
other human beings are freed through baptism from
original sin present in their souls, Mary the
Mother of the Redeemer, was preserved from the
contagion of original sin. Thus the dogma of
the lmmaculate Conception of Mary in no way
contradicts the dogma that all children of Adam
are subject to Original Sin and need redemption.
The formal cause of the Immaculate Conception
of Mary is her Motherhood of God.
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Proof from Holy Scripture and Tradition The
doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of Mary is
not explicitly revealed in Scripture. According
to many theologians it is contained implicitly
in the following passages Genesis 315 I
will put enmity between you and the woman, and
between your seed and her seed. He (the seed of
the woman) shall crush your head, and you shall
crush his heel. The literal sense of the
passage is possibly the following Between Satan
and his followers on the one hand, and Eve and
her posterity on the other hand, there is to be
constant moral warfare. The posterity of Eve
wiII achieve a complete and final victory over
Satan and his followers, even if it is wounded in
the struggle. The posterity of Eve includes
the Messiah, in whose power humanity wiII win a
victory over Satan. Thus the passage is
indirectly messianic. (D 2123) The seed of the
woman was understood as referring to the Redeemer
and thus the Mother of the Redeemer came to be
seen in the woman.
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Since the second century this direct
messianic-marian interpretation has been
expounded by individual Fathers St. Irenaeus,
St. Epiphanius, Isidor of Pelusium, St. Cyprian,
the author of the Epistola ad amicum aegrotum,
St. Leo the Great. However, it is not found in
the writings of the majority of the Fathers,
among them the great teachers of the East and
West. According to this interpretation, Mary
stands with Christ in a perfect and victorious
enmity towards Satan and his following. Many of
the later scholastics and a great many modern
theologians argue, in the light of this
interpretation of the Protoevangelium that
Mary's victory over Satan would not have been
perfect if she had ever been under his dominion.
Consequently she must have entered this world
without the stain of original sin.
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The Bull Ineffabilis approves of this
messianic-marianic interpretation. It draws from
it the inference that Mary, in consequence of her
intimate association with Christ, with Him and
through Him had eternal enmity towards the
poisonous serpent, triumphed in the most complete
fashion over him, and crushed its head with her
immaculate foot. The Bull does not give any
authentic explanation of the passage. It must
also be observed that the infallibility of the
Papal doctrinal decision extends only to the
dogma as such and not to the reasons given as
leading up to the dogma.
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Luke 1 28 Hail, full of grace! The expression
full of grace (kecharitomene) in the angel's
salutation, represents the proper name, and must
on this account express a characteristic quality
of Mary. The principal reason why the pleasure of
God rests in special fashion on her is her
election to the dignity of the Mother of God.
Accordingly. Marys endowment with grace
proceeding from Gods pleasure must also be of
unique perfection. However, it is perfect only if
it be perfect not only intensively but also
extensively, that is, if it extends over her
whole life, beginning with her entry into the
world. Luke 1 41 Blessed are you
(eulogemene) among women and blessed is the
fruit of your womb. The blessing of God which
rests upon Mary is made parallel to the blessing
of God which rests upon Christ in His humanity.
This parallelism suggests that Mary, just like
Christ, was from the beginning of her existence,
free from all sin.
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Neither the Greek nor the Latin Fathers
explicitly teach the Immaculate Conception of
Mary. Still, they teach it implicitly in two
fundamental notions. Mary, most perfect purity
and holiness. St. Ephrem (b. ? 373 AD) Thou
and thy mother are the only ones who are totally
beautiful in every respect for in thee, 0 Lord,
there is no spot, and in thy Mother no stain.
(Carm. Nisib. 27) St. Augustine (354 430
AD) says that all men must confess themselves
sinners, except the Holy Virgin Mary, whom I
desire, for the sake of the honor of the Lord,
to leave entirely out of the question, when the
talk is of sin. (De natura et gratia 36, 42).
According to the context, however, this must be
taken as referring to freedom from personal
sins.
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The similarity and contrast between Mary and Eve.
Mary, is on the one hand, a replica of Eve in
her purity and integrity before the Fall, on the
other hand, the antitype of Eve, in so far as Eve
is the cause of corruption, and Mary the cause of
salvation.
St. Ephrem (b. ? 373 AD) Mary and Eve, two
people without guilt, two simple people, were
identical. Later, however, one became the cause
of our death, the other the cause of our life.
(Op. syr. II 327) Cf. St. Justin, Dial. 100,
St. Irenaeus Adv. haer. III 22, 4 Tertulian, de
carne Christi, 17.
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The Constant Faith and Practice of
the Church Since the seventh century (600s) a
Feast of the Conception of St. Anne that is, of
the conception of Mary, was celebrated in the
Greek Eastern Church. The celebration and the
Feast spread later to the West, first to southern
Italy, then to Ireland and England, under the
title, Conceptio Beatae Mariae Virginis. The
object of the celebration of the feast was
initially the active conception of St. Anne,
which, according to the Protoevangelium of St.
James, occurred after a long period of
childlessness, and was foretold by an angel, as
an extraordinary manifestation of God's grace.
At the beginning of the twelfth century
(1100s), the British monk Eadmer, (1060-1124) a
pupil of St. Anselm of Canterbury, and Osben of
Clare, advocated the Immaculate Conception of
Mary, that is, her conception free from original
sin. Eadmer wrote the first monograph on this
subject.
Feast of the Conception of St Anne
Eadmer
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Under the influence of St. Bernard, the leading
theologians of the twelfth and thirteenth
centuries (Petrus Lombardus, St. Alexander of
Hales, St. Bonaventure, St. Albert the Great,
St. Thomas Aquinas (cf. S. Th III 1,7, 1),
rejected the doctrine of the Immaculate
Conception. Their difficulty was that they had
not yet found the way to bring Mary's freedom
from original sin into consonance with the
universality of original sin, and with the
necessity of all men for redemption.
On the other hand, St. Bernard of Clairvaux, on
the occasion of the institution of the Feast in
Lyons (about 1140), warned the faithful that
this was an unfounded innovation, and taught
that Mary was sanctified after conception only,
that is, when she was already in the womb (Ep.
174). The correct approach to the final
solution of the problem was first achieved by
the Franciscan theologian, William of Ware, and
this was perfected by his great pupil John Duns
Scotus (d. 1308). The latter taught that the
animation need not precede the sanctification in
order of time but only in order of concept (ordo
naturae).
Feast of the Immaculate Conception
St Bernard
Duns Scotus
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Through the introduction of the concept of
preredemption, he succeeded in reconciling
Mary's freedom from original sin with her
necessity for redemption. The preservation from
original sin, is, according to Scotus, the most
perfect kind of redemption. Thus. it was fitting
that Christ should redeem His mother in this
manner.
The Franciscan Order allied itself with Scotus,
and in contrast to the Dominican Order,
decisively advocated the doctrine and the Feast
of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. In the
year 1439, the Council of Basle, in its
thirty-sixth session, which, however, had no
ecumenical validity, declared in favor of the
Immaculate Conception.
COUNCIL OF BASLE
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Pope Sixtus IV (1471-1484) endowed the
celebration of the Feast with indulgences, and
forbade the mutual censuring of the disputing
factions. (D 734 et seq.)
The Council of Trent, in its Decree on original
sin, makes the significant declaration that it
was not its intention to involve Mary, the
Blessed and Immaculate Virgin and Mother of God
in this Decree. (D 792)
In 1567, Pope Pius V condemned the proposition
advanced by Baius, that nobody but Christ had
been free from original sin, and that Mary's
sorrows and her death were a punishment for
actual sin or for original sin. (D 1073)
COUNCIL OF TRENT
Sixtus IV
Pius V
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Popes Paul V (1616), Gregory XV (1622) and
Alexander VII (1661), advocated the doctrine
(cf. D 1100). On the eighth day of December,
1854, Pope Pius IX, having consulted the entire
episcopate, and speaking ex cathedra, declared
the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception to be
a Dogma of the Faith.
Alexander VII
Gregory XV
Paul V
Pius IX
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Argument from
Reason Reason bases the dogma on the Scholastic
axiom, which is already found in the writings of
Eadmer potuit, decuit, ergo fecit (God could do
it, He ought to do it, therefore He did it).
This, it is true, gives no certainty, but
still, it rationally establishes for the dogma a
high degree of probability.
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Mary's Freedom from Evil Concupiscence and from
Every Personal Sin Freedom from Concupiscence
From her conception Mary was free from all
motions of concupiscence. (Sententia communis
common consensus of theologians) Freedom from
original sin does not necessarily involve freedom
from all defects which came into the world as a
punishment for sin. Mary, like Christ Himself,
was subject to the general human defects, in so
far as these involve no moral imperfection.
Concupiscence cannot be reckoned among these
because concupiscence excites a person to commit
acts which are materially contrary to God's Law,
even where, through lack of assent, they are not
formal sins. It would be incompatible with
Marys fullness of grace and her perfect purity
and immaculate state to be subject to motions of
inordinate desire.
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Marys merits are no more prejudiced by her
freedom from concupiscence than are the merits
of Christ, because concupiscence is indeed an
occasion, but not an indispensable precondition,
of merit. Mary acquired rich merits, not by any
struggle against sensual desire, but by her love
of God, and by other virtues (faith, humility,
obedience). Cf. S. Th. III 27, 3 ad 2.
Many of the older theologians, with St. Thomas,
distinguish between the binding and the complete
removal or extinction of concupiscence. In the
sanctification of Mary in the mothers womb,
concupiscence was so bound that every inordinate
motion of the senses was excluded. In Christs
conception, concupiscence was completely removed,
so that the powers of the senses were completely
subject to the direction of reason (S. Th. III
27, 3). The distinction made by St. Thomas rests
on the assumption that Mary was cleansed from
original sin. Since she was preserved from
original sin, it is logical to assume that she
was, from the very beginning, entirely free from
concupiscence.
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Freedom from Actual
Sin In consequence of a Special Privilege of
Grace from God, Mary was free from every
personal sin during her whole life. (Sententia
fidei proxima a close understanding of faith)
Council of Trent (1545-63) No justified
person can for his whole life avoid all sins,
even venial sins, except on the ground of a
special privilege from God such as the Church
holds was given to the Blessed Virgin (nisi ex
speciali Dei privilegio, quemadmodum de beata
Virgine tenet Ecclesia). D 833 Pope Pius XII
Mystici Corporis , June 29, 1943 She (Mary) was
immune from all sin, personal or inherited.
Mary's sinlessness may be deduced from the
text Luke 1, 28 Hail, full of grace! Personal
moral defects are irreconcilable with fullness of
grace.
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While individual Greek Fathers (Origen, St.
Basil, St. John Chrysostom, St. Cyril of
Alexandria) taught that Mary suffered from venial
personal faults, such as ambition and vanity,
doubt about the message of the Angel Gabriel,
and lack of faith under the Cross, the Latin
Patristic authors unanimously teach the doctrine
of the sinlessness of Mary. St. Augustine
teaches that every personal sin must be excluded
from the Blessed Virgin Mary for the sake of the
honor of God. (De natura et gratia, 36, 42.)
St. Ephrem the Syrian puts Mary, in her
immaculateness, on the same plane as Christ (
Par. 3). According to the teaching of St.
Thomas, the fullness of grace which Mary
received in implied confirmation in grace and
therefore sinlessness. S. Th. III 27, 5 ad 2.
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A Biblical Argument
A basis for the belief in the Immaculate
Conception of Mary can be found in the Biblical
revelation of holiness and the opposite of that
state, sinfulness.
God is revealed as perfect interior holiness.
Isaiah 63 Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of
hosts! they (the Seraphim) cried one to the
other.
No sin or anything tainted with sin can stand in
the face of the holiness of God. Enmity is that
mutual hatred between Mary and sin, between
Christ and sin. Genesis 315 I will put
enmity between you (the serpent, Satan) and the
woman (Mary), and between your offspring
(minions of Satan) and hers (Jesus) He
will strike at your head, while you strike at his
heel.
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The salutation of the Angel Gabriel indicates
that Mary was exceptionally highly favored with
grace (Gk. charitoo, used only twice in the New
Testament in (1) Luke 128 for Mary - before
Christ's redemption and (2) Ephesians 16 for
Christ's grace to us after Christ's
redemption). Luke 128 And coming to her
(Mary), he (the angel Gabriel) said, Hail,
favored one (kecharitomene). Ephesians 14-6
(God) chose us in him (Jesus), before the
foundation of the world, to be holy and without
blemish before him. In love he destined us for
adoption to himself through Jesus Christ, in
accord with the favor of his will, for the
praise of the glory of his grace (echaritosen)
that he granted us in the beloved.
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End of Mary the Series The Immaculate
Conception, Part IIIa Go to Mary the Series The
Immaculate Conception, Part IIIb