Posted on 09/21/2004 7:43:13 AM PDT by Tantumergo
In discussing why we believe in the Immaculate Conception, it’s important to understand what the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception is and what it is not. Some people think the term refers to Christ’s conception in Mary’s womb without the intervention of a human father; but that is the Virgin Birth. Others think the Immaculate Conception means Mary was conceived "by the power of the Holy Spirit," in the way Jesus was, but that, too, is incorrect. The Immaculate Conception means that Mary, whose conception was brought about in the normal way, was conceived without original sin or its stain — the meaning of "immaculate" being “without stain”. The essence of original sin consists in the deprivation of sanctifying grace, and its stain is a fallen nature. Mary was preserved from these defects by God’s grace; from the first instant of her existence she was in the state of sanctifying grace and was free from the corrupt nature original sin brings.
While in the West the doctrine has been taught somewhat negatively – the emphasis being on Mary’s sinlessness - the East has tended to put the accent instead on her abundant holiness. The colloquial term for her is Panagia, the All-Holy; for everything in her is holy.
Although this doctrine is not explicitly stated in Scripture (as indeed the Trinity is not explicitly stated), there is much implicit evidence that the New Testament Church believed in the sinlessness and holiness of the Mother of God.
The primary implicit reference can be found in the angel’s greeting to Mary. The angel Gabriel said, "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you" (Luke 1:28). The phrase "full of grace" is a translation of the Greek word kecharitomene. This word represents the proper name of the person being addressed by the angel, and it therefore expresses a characteristic quality of Mary.
The traditional translation, "full of grace," is more accurate than the one found in many recent versions of the New Testament, which tend to render the expression "highly favoured daughter." Mary was indeed a highly favoured daughter of God, but the Greek implies more than that (and it never mentions the word for "daughter"). The grace given to Mary is at once permanent and of a unique kind. Kecharitomene is a perfect passive participle of charitoo, meaning "to fill or endow with grace." Since this term is in the perfect tense, it indicates a perfection of grace that is both intensive and extensive. So, the grace Mary enjoyed was not a result of the angel’s visit, but rather it extended over the whole of her life. She must have been in a state of sanctifying grace from the first moment of her existence to have been called "full of grace."
However, this is not to imply that Mary had no need of a saviour. Like all other descendants of Adam, she was subject to the necessity of contracting original sin. But by a special intervention of God, undertaken at the instant she was conceived, she was preserved from the stain of original sin and its consequences. She was therefore redeemed by the grace of Christ, but in a special way - by anticipation.
If we consider an analogy: Suppose a man falls into a deep pit and someone reaches down to pull him out. The man has been "saved" from the pit. Now imagine a woman walking along, and she too is about to topple into the pit, but at the very moment that she is to fall in, someone holds her back and prevents her. She too has been saved from the pit, but in an even better way: she was not simply taken out of the pit; she was prevented from getting stained by the mud in the first place. By receiving Christ’s grace at her conception, she had his grace applied to her before she was able to become subject to original sin and its stain.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that she was "redeemed in a more exalted fashion, by reason of the merits of her Son" (CCC 492). She has more reason to call God her Saviour than we do, because he saved her in an even more glorious manner.
St. Luke also provides us with further evidence that the early Church believed in the sinlessness of Mary. In the first chapter of his gospel, he goes to great pains to recount the event of the Visitation in parallel terms to the recovery of the Ark of the Covenant by David in 2 Sam 6. The following contrasts are notable:
1) 2 Sam 6,2 “So David arose and went…set out for Baala of Judah” Lk 1,39 “And Mary rising up in those days, went…to a town of Judah”
2) 2 Sam 6,9 “How can the ark of the Lord come to me?” Lk 1,43 “And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
3) 2 Sam 6,14 “And David danced with all his might before the Lord” Lk 1,44 “the infant in my womb leaped for joy.”
4) 2 Sam 6,11 “ And the ark of the Lord abode in the house of Obededom the Gittite three months.” Lk 1,56 “And Mary abode with her about three months.”
When taken in conjunction with Gabriel’s earlier promise to Mary that “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the most High shall overshadow thee.” (Lk 1,35) in similar language to that describing the descent of the Shekinah on the ark, it is clear that St. Luke considers Mary to be the fulfilment of the type of the Ark of the Covenant.
In Luke’s mind she is the ark of the New Covenant. Just as the old ark contained the Word of God written on stone, the bread from heaven in the form of manna, and the priestly staff of Aaron; so the new ark contains the Word of God enfleshed, the true bread of heaven, and the high priest of the New Covenant.
Up until its disappearance 500 years earlier the ark had been the holiest thing in all creation – even to touch it or look into it was to bring death or plagues on non-Levites. Similarly then, the ark of the New Covenant would have been viewed as the holiest created being by the early Jewish Christians. Mary’s holiness was by the specific design of heaven, just as the old ark was given as a specific design from heaven.
This understanding of Mary as the ark is not just limited to the Lucan tradition. We also find Johannine understanding of this teaching in the Apocalypse. If we omit the medieval chapter and verse numberings, we see that John’s vision, following the judgement of Jerusalem and the Old Covenant, reveals:
“And the temple of God was opened in heaven: and the ark of his covenant was seen in his temple, and there were lightnings, and voices, and an earthquake, and great hail. 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:” Apoc. 11,19-12,1
While some commentators see in the figure of the woman a corporate type of Israel or the Church, these can only be secondary meanings as the same vision reveals two other figures which both have primary individual identities: Satan and the woman’s child – Jesus Christ:
Apoc 12,3 “And there was seen another sign in heaven: and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads, and ten horns: and on his head seven diadems: Apoc 12,9 “And that great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, who is called the devil and Satan.”
Apoc 12,5 “And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with an iron rod: and her son was taken up to God, and to his throne.”
Thus many fathers of the Church as well as recent Popes have clearly identified the ark/woman as Mary, the Holy Mother of God. This should not be surprising as John is here recapitulating the whole of revelation. Not only is he portraying the breaking in of the New Covenant, but of the new creation itself. The early chapters of Genesis where we see the man and woman in conflict with the serpent at the beginning of the old creation, are now recapitulated with the new Adam and the new Eve in conflict with that same serpent, though this time with positive results. Revelation has come full circle with the final triumph of God over the devil through the woman and her seed as first foretold in Genesis 3,15.
This is why early fathers such as St Irenaeus, St Ephraim, St. Ambrose and St. Augustine could clearly identify Mary as the new Eve as well as the Ark of the Covenant. For in a way that Eve in her disobedience could only be physically the mother of all the living, Mary is now revealed as the true mother of all the living in Jesus Christ:
Apoc 12,17 “And the dragon was angry against the woman: and went to make war with the rest of her seed, who keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”
It is only reasonable to conclude, then, that just as the first Eve was created without sin and filled with sanctifying grace, so the new Eve who was to “untie the knot of disobedience” wrought by the first, should be also so conceived. Or, as Cardinal Newman put it:
“Now, can we refuse to see that, according to these Fathers, who are earliest of the early, Mary was a typical woman like Eve, that both were endued with special gifts of grace, and that Mary succeeded where Eve failed?” Memorandum on the Immaculate Conception. Cardinal John Henry Newman.
Although arguments from authority can often be the weakest form of argument, as Catholics, it is worth finally pointing out that the ultimate reason for believing in the Immaculate Conception is that this doctrine has been infallibly defined as being revealed by God, and as such our salvation depends on adhering to it:
"Accordingly, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, for the honour of the Holy and undivided Trinity, for the glory and adornment of the Virgin Mother of God, for the exaltation of the Catholic Faith, and for the furtherance of the Catholic religion, by the authority of Jesus Christ our Lord, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and by our own: "We declare, pronounce, and define that the doctrine which holds that the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instance of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin, is a doctrine revealed by God and therefore to be believed firmly and constantly by all the faithful." Hence, if anyone shall dare—which God forbid!—to think otherwise than as has been defined by us, let him know and understand that he is condemned by his own judgment; that he has suffered shipwreck in the faith; that he has separated from the unity of the Church; and that, furthermore, by his own action he incurs the penalties established by law if he should dare to express in words or writing or by any other outward means the errors he think in his heart." Ineffabilis Deus, Bl. Pope Pius IX
Point well taken. I have heard Fr. Pacwa say the same thing about Semitic cultures, and it may be that by the time of the NT writers, a sufficiently "Semiticized" form of Greek was in vogue by which brothers was just translated "adelphos" for convenience.
Thanks!
St. John was special to Our Lord as it says in the Bible.
Jesus and his disciples criticized tradition and often disobeyed it. Jesus (contrary to the Catholic church) declared that tradition could be a bad thing in two circumstances.
1. When it contradicts scripture ("You therefore nullify the word of God with your traditions")
2. When it is elevated to an equal plain with scripture ("Teaching for doctrine the commandments of men")
The idea of the church and it's leaders being infallible is controverted by Paul warning the elders in Acts that even from their own midst people would come and try to destroy the flock of God. See also I Tim "they shall turn away their ears from the truth...". As a matter of fact, the vote that declared the Pope and the College of Bishops to be infallible only passed by a narrow margin. I guess only some of them were infallible that day, huh ?
The Apostles, with the exception of Saint James who had died, and of Saint Thomas who was brought later, were miraculously transported from the parts of the world where they were preaching to attend the death of Our Lady in Jerusalem, when She gave up Her immaculate and spotless soul to God.
Saint Timothy, Saint Denis the Areopagite and Saint Hierotheus, his friend, were also brought miraculously to Our Lady's bedside. Jesus Himself came down from Heaven to assist at Our Lady's death. Just before Mary died, Jesus gave Her the Blessed Eucharist, the Body and Blood which She had given to Him when She conceived Him at Nazareth.
Our Lady was buried reverently by the Apostles at the foot of the Mount of Olives, just below the place where Our Lord had sweat blood on the eve of His passion. It was not far from the grave where Saint Lazarus had been buried and raised from the dead by Jesus.
Mary's soul, during the interval when Her virginal body lay dead, was able to visit the souls in Purgatory so as to comfort and to release them, just as Our Lord's soul, during the three days He lay dead, went to comfort the souls in the Limbo of the Just. Our Lady was seventy-two years old when she died.
Sorry Vicomte13, I think I misinterpreted your question on a previous response. My personal vote goes with #2...I think it accords best with piety and the mind of the Church.
Where is this description from?
Actually, I do remember that parable. Thank God that the seeds of my faith were sown on fertile ground over 2k years ago.
It is traditional Catholic teaching, still taught today same as it always has been.
We'd argue exactly the opposite...that biblical interpretation on a blank slate, without recourse to how the Bible has *always* been interpreted makes it a useless document.
Look, to tie this back to the matter at hand, the point is that ideas of Mary go all the way back to the earliest centuries, and the early Christians had a decidedly "higher" view of her than many Christians today are willing to grant. You can certainly say that such a high view contradicts Scripture--very well, but then you're asking me to rely on your interpretation, which you will freely admit is not infallible itself. And, I might add, not only is it fallible but it is an interpretation that is fairly new in Christian history. As others have said on this thread, Martin Luther and other Reformers didn't even hold it.
I can't disagree with your premise more. You can't fake a 2000 year tradition--either you have a long chain of documents supporting a view or you don't. In this case, we do.
BTW...Mary is NOT a DEITY!
Thanks for the news flash. For your next scoop, you may want to find me the person on this thread who said she was. ;)
Interesting.
Thank you.
This tells us that, according to Tradition, Mary died a natural death. But it does not close the loop for me and answer why (or if) she HAD to.
Immaculately conceived and living a stainless life, she would seem to not have been under the curse of Adam, and therefore to be immortal like Adam and Eve were before the Fall.
I guess the answer really must be that, if she died, it was because she chose to "fall asleep in the Lord" and go to her Son. I would presume that Tradition would somewhere say that.
Saints and other learned RC theologins teach of God's woderfull works He created in Her, wonderfull accounts, telling of some of the "great things" God accomplished in Our Lady.
Doctor of the Church, Saint Alphonsus' analogy of Our Blessed Mother, using Ecclesiasticus 24:3 - 32, a book of the OT that was removed from protestant bible............
And in the midst of her own people she shall be exalted, and shall be admired in the holy assembly.
And in the multitude of the elect she shall have praise, and among the blessed she shall be blessed, saying:
I came out of the mouth of the most High, the firstborn before all creatures:
I made that in the heavens there should rise light that never faileth, and as a cloud I covered all the earth:
I dwelt in the highest places, and my throne is in a pillar of a cloud.
I alone have compassed the circuit of heaven, and have penetrated into the bottom of the deep, and have walked in the waves of the sea,
And have stood in all the earth: and in every people,
And in every nation I have had the chief rule:
And by my power I have trodden under my feet the hearts of all the high and low: and in all these I sought rest, and I shall abide in the inheritance of the Lord.
Then the creator of all things commanded, and said to me: and he that made me, rested in my tabernacle,
And he said to me: Let thy dwelling be in Jacob, and thy inheritance in Israel, and take root in my elect.
From the beginning, and before the world, was I created, and unto the world to come I shall not cease to be, and in the holy dwelling place I have ministered before him.
And so was I established in Sion, and in the holy city likewise I rested, and my power was in Jerusalem.
And I took root in an honourable people, and in the portion of my God his inheritance, and my abode is in the full assembly of saints.
I was exalted like a cedar in Libanus, and as a cypress tree on mount Sion.
I was exalted like a palm tree in Cades, and as a rose plant in Jericho:
As a fair olive tree in the plains, and as a plane tree by the water in the streets, was I exalted.
I gave a sweet smell like cinnamon. and aromatical balm: I yielded a sweet odour like the best myrrh:
And I perfumed my dwelling as storax, and galbanum, and onyx, and aloes, and as the frankincense not cut, and my odour is as the purest balm.
I have stretched out my branches as the turpentine tree, and my branches are of honour and grace.
As the vine I have brought forth a pleasant odour: and my flowers are the fruit of honour and riches.
I am the mother of fair love, and of fear, and of knowledge, and of holy hope.
In me is all grace of the way and of the truth, in me is all hope of life and of virtue.
Come over to me, all ye that desire me, and be filled with my fruits.
For my spirit is sweet above honey, and my inheritance above honey and the honeycomb.
My memory is unto everlasting generations.
They that eat me, shall yet hunger: and they that drink me, shall yet thirst.
He that hearkeneth to me, shall not be confounded: and they that work by me, shall not sin.
They that explain me shall have life everlasting.
All these things are the book of life, and the covenant of the most High, and the knowledge of truth.
She was also following the example of her Son, since even He had to die.
I could honestly talk on this subject for days - but the short of it is - Our Lady died, not because of the punishment due us all for sin - for in Her was no sin, rather out of Her great humility. Her humility would not allow Her to be assumend, body and soul into Heaven without first submitting to the same death Her beloved Son did, but also proving that by so doing, She, as our Heavenly Mother, submitted to that same death that befalls us, Her children.
That makes sense. Thank you.
NO. I go only on what is in the New Testament. Not on "tradition." Opposing (or even questioning) the belief of an organization is not the same as opposing God himself.
I have a few questions. If Mary was sinless, then everything she spoke, thought, and did was without sin. If she spoke without sin, then nothing she said was erroneous. Do you agree? Would this mean that she was considered to have always spoken truth?
I also wonder about Mary's birth. If she was born without sin, would that not assume some blessedness to her parents? Are Mary's parents considered saints? Are they considered holy vessels of God? (since they bore the "Mother and Bride of Christ")
Can someone live a sinless life without being a diety?
makes no sence when the NT tells us we are bound to tradition.
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