Three Reasons the Church’s Enemies Hate The Immaculate Conception

TFP ^ | 12.08.06 | Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira

[Coleus]

The following text is adapted from a lecture Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira gave on June 15, 1973.  It has been translated and edited for publication without his revision.  Note, in this text, he uses the words Revolution and Counter-Revolution as he defined them in his book Revolution and Counter-Revolution.  In this sense, the Revolution is a centuries-old process, motivated by pride and sensuality, and therefore egalitarianism and liberalism, that dominates the modern world and seeks to destroy Christian civilization.  Counter-Revolutionaries are those dedicated to defeating this process and defending the rights of God. –Ed.

…One of the truly Counter-Revolutionary acts of Pope Pius IX’s pontificate was the proclamation of the Immaculate Conception. 

There are three reasons the definition of this dogma was especially Counter-Revolutionary and therefore hateful to the enemies of the Church.  

First Reason: An Anti-Egalitarian Dogma
As you know, this dogma teaches that Our Lady was immaculate at her conception, meaning that, at no moment, did she have even the slightest stain of Original Sin. Both she, and naturally Our Lord Jesus Christ, were exempt from that rigid law that subjugates all other descendants of Adam and Eve.  Thus, Our Lady was not subject to the miseries of fallen man.  She did not have bad influences, inclinations and tendencies.  In her, everything moved harmonically towards truth, goodness and therefore God.  In this sense, Our Lady is an example of perfect liberty, meaning that everything her reason, illuminated by Faith, determined as good, her will desired entirely.  She had no interior obstacles to impede her practice of virtue.

Being “full of grace” increased these effects.  Thus, her will advanced with an unimaginable impetus towards everything that was true and good.  Declaring that a mere human creature had this extraordinary privilege makes this dogma fundamentally anti-egalitarian, because it points out an enormous inequality in the work of God.  It demonstrates the total superiority of Our Lady over all other beings.  Thus, its proclamation made Revolutionary egalitarian spirits boil with hatred.

Second Reason: The Unsullied Purity of Our Lady
However, there is a more profound reason why the Revolution hates this dogma.  The Revolution loves evil and is in harmony with those who are bad, and thus tries to find evil in everything.  On the contrary, those who are irreproachable are a cause of intense hatred.  Therefore, the idea that a being could be utterly spotless from the first moment of her existence is abhorrent to Revolutionaries.  For example: Imagine a man who is consumed with impurity.  When besieged by impure inclinations, he is ashamed of his consent to them.  This leaves him depressed and utterly devastated.

Imagine this man considering Our Lady, who, being the personification of transcendental purity, did not have even the least appetite for lust.  He feels hatred and scorn because her virtue smashes his pride.  Furthermore, by declaring Our Lady to be so free from pride, sensuality and the desire for anything Revolutionary, the proclamation of the Immaculate Conception affirmed that she was utterly Counter-Revolutionary.  This only inflamed the Revolutionary hatred of the dogma all the more.

Disputing the Doctrine: A Counter-Revolutionary Struggle

Declaring that Our Lady was so free from pride, sensuality and the desire for anything Revolutionary, affirmed that she was utterly Counter-Revolutionary and inflamed the Revolutionary hatred of the dogma all the more.

For centuries, there were two opposing currents of thought about the Immaculate Conception in the Church.  While it would be an exaggeration to suggest that everyone who fought against the doctrine was acting with Revolutionary intentions; it is a fact that all those who were acting with Revolutionary intentions fought against it.  On the other hand, all those who favored its proclamation, at least on that point, expressed a Counter-Revolutionary attitude. Thus, in some way the fight between the Revolution and Counter-Revolution was present in the fight between these two theological currents.

Third Reason:  The Exercise of Papal Infallibility
There is still another reason this dogma is hateful to Revolutionaries: it was the first dogma proclaimed through Papal Infallibility.  At that time, the dogma of Papal Infallibility had not yet been defined and there was a current in the Church maintaining that the Pope was only infallible when presiding over a council.  Nevertheless, Pius IX invoked Papal Infallibility when he defined the Immaculate Conception after merely consulting some theologians and bishops.   For liberal theologians, this seemed like circular reasoning.  If his infallibility had not been defined, how could he use it?  On the contrary, by using his infallibility, he affirmed that he had it.

This daring affirmation provoked an explosion of indignation among Revolutionaries, but enormous enthusiasm among Counter-Revolutionaries.  In praise of the new dogma, children all over the world were baptized under the name: Conception, Concepcion or Concepta to consecrate them to the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady.

Pius IX: Bringing the Fight to the Enemy
It is not surprising that Pius IX so adamantly affirmed Papal Infallibility.  Very different from those who succeeded him, he was ever ready to bring the fight to the enemy.  He did this in Geneva, Switzerland, which then was the breeding ground of Calvinism, which is the most radical form of Protestantism.  When Swiss laws changed to allow a Catholic Cathedral in Geneva, Pius IX ordered that a statue of the Immaculate Conception be placed in the middle of the city, to proclaim this dogma in the place where Calvinists, Lutherans and other Protestants denied it more than anywhere else.  This is an example of Pius IX’s leadership in the fight against the Revolution. It is therefore entirely proper that all Catholics entertain a special affection for the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, which is so detested by the enemies of the Church today.

To read another commentary on the Immaculate Conception, click here.
To read Fr. Saint-Laurent's commentary on the Immaculate Conception, click here.
To order your free copy of a picture of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, click here.

[Forest Keeper]

[mother of Jesus, the Incarnate 2d Person of the Godhead] is better theology than "Mother of God" because it is specific. It accurately portrays Jesus as both fully human and fully God.

Yes, I agree it is better because it is more specific to a first-hearer. Further information is needed to interpret the other terms, such as Theotokos. With that further information, I "think" we arrive at the same place.

[Cvengr]

RCC doctrine of kenosis nicely explains both His person as a human being, a human person, and Divine.

[Salvation]

BTTT!

[Coleus]

thanks, i forgot about this thread, and judging by some responses i see the title rings true. we have so many enemies and they call themselves Christians, oh well, it’s not saying so much for their respective religions.

[Salvation]

True, just thought that it was worth bumping.

Also the Body of St. Bernadette is one of the incorruptibles.

Hmmmm. (Can’t really argue with that!)

[Coleus]

(Can’t really argue with that!) >>

no you can’t. we have an incorruptable saint, Mother Cabrini, right here in NYC.

[Arthur McGowan]

I’ve seen Leo XIII quoted as saying “We’ve heard enough about the ‘Rights of Man.’ It’s time to hear more about the Rights of God.”

[Arthur McGowan]

I always enjoy reading stuff from Traditionally our Family has the Property.

[Arthur McGowan]

Another doctrine that is not found in Scripture is the doctrine that all doctrine must be found in Scripture.

[Coleus]

yea, me too, they put out some good information and also are involved in activism. I was involved with their davinci code protest and the rosary rally on Oct. 13th. Keep property in the family, it's a God-given right.

[fatima]

http://www.catholicpilgrims.com/lourdes/images/berngrotto.jpg"> The only known photograph of Bernadette at the grotto in Lourdes—1862, three years after the apparitions.http://www.catholicpilgrims.com/lourdes/lourdes_photo_ac.htm

[Arthur McGowan]

Of course, that name for them (Traditionally our Family has the Property) plays off the situation in Central and South America where a few families in each country DO traditionally have a huge share of the property. They don’t have the income mobility that makes the charge that “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer” utterly bogus in North America.

[Coleus]

i wrote to the tfp after the scotus kelo decision wondering why they didn’t write any response. they said their private property activism takes place in Brazil and other places in central and south america.

[CommerceComet]

I see....so Jesus was born of a stained vessle?

He seemed to have no issue with coming to a "stained" world populated by "stained" people with whom He interacted constantly. Are you suggesting that Jesus can be contaminated by His surroundings? Is His divine nature so fragile that contamination would even be possible?

[G Larry]

We’re not discussing “what’s possible”, we’re talking about what happened.

Angle Gabriel made it quite clear Mary was “full of grace”.
That grace was present from the moment of her conception.