Posted on 01/11/2018 8:37:21 AM PST by SeekAndFind
At least one person is dead and 800 others were injured in Manila, Philippines, where 3.5 million barefoot Roman Catholics followed a blackened statue of Jesus Christ, known as the Black Nazarene, which is believed to have healing powers.
The procession, one of the largest Catholics festivals in the world, took place Tuesday, with officials reporting on the mass injuries a day later, despite describing the event as "generally peaceful."
AFP reported that the one known death so far was of a former jail officer, who suffered a heart attack after attempting to climb onto the carriage pulling the centuries-old statue.
The Black Nazarene, brought to the country by Spanish missionaries in 1606, is believed to have 'miraculous powers,' such as healing people who touch it from illnesses. Others seek blessings and forgiveness for sins.
Reuters reports that other processions and religious rites are held across the largest Catholic nation in Asia, with as many as 105 million believers celebrating the major feast.
Over 4,000 police officers and soldiers guarded the procession in Manila, according to police chief Oscar Albayalde.
Some devotees swear that touching the Black Nazarene has made a great difference in their lives.
"My child is now a medicine graduate," one believer named Rogelio Lim told Reuters.
"I have been spared diseases. I have been blessed with a house. Everything we wished for. A good job. Everything. This is why I am here, to thank Him," Lim said.
Alvin Carlos added that he felt stronger after he touched the statue.
"Rain or shine, I gained the strength to continue because of my strong faith in Him," the man said.
As Catholic News Agency explained, the life-size statue of Christ is enshrined in a famous basilica known as the Quiapo Church, part of the Archdiocese of Manila.
The image has survived despite fires that have destroyed the church twice, earthquakes, floods, typhoons, and World War II bombings.
Msgr. Jose Clemente Ignacio, the rector of the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene, quoted Archbishop of Manila, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, when describing the great devotion to the Black Nazarene: "To understand the devotee you have to be a devotee. Only a devotee could best understand a devotee."
"Here in Quiapo Church you can witness many stories of the faith of the people, those who are patiently lining up for seven hours without any complaints. They just want to pray and touch the image of Black Nazarene. There are huge queues for confessions," Ignacio added.
Mass injuries and deaths have been reported in past processions as well, with close to 100 injured during the 2017 event, while in 2016 two people died.
But that’s my point.
If Mary is the only real Kecharitomene, of course it would be used only in reference to her, personally.
That's why you shouldn't be reading too much into this.
Keep in mind the Greek behind this and the context of the overall passage...not just the one verse.
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I know you've been raised as a lifelong Roman Catholic and I can understand how hard it is to open your mind to the position that Rome is incorrect on this issue.
But this passage does not support the Immaculate Conception much as Rome wants it to be.
Cf. Pope Pius IX's declaration "Ineffabilis Deus".
If you had done ANY due diligence in reading background on the Immaculate Conception doctrine, you would have known that.
If you had done ANY due diligence in reading background on the Immaculate Conception doctrine, you would have known that.
When the Fathers and writers of the Church meditated on the fact that the most Blessed Virgin was, in the name and by order of God himself, proclaimed full of grace[22] by the Angel Gabriel when he announced her most sublime dignity of Mother of God, they thought that this singular and solemn salutation, never heard before, [emphasis mine] showed that the Mother of God is the seat of all divine graces and is adorned with all gifts of the Holy Spirit.
22. Cf. Lk 1:28.
It also cites Genesis 3:15 as evidence.
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However, this is what the Catholic Encyclopedia Online has to say about the Immaculate Conception ( Immaculate Conception - Catholic Encyclopedia Online")
No direct or categorical and stringent proof of the dogma can be brought forward from Scripture. But the first scriptural passage which contains the promise of the redemption, mentions also the Mother of the Redeemer. The sentence against the first parents was accompanied by the Earliest Gospel ( Proto-evangelium ), which put enmity between the serpent and the woman : "and I will put enmity between thee and the woman and her seed; she (he) shall crush thy head and thou shalt lie in wait for her (his) heel" ( Genesis 3:15 ). The translation "she" of the Vulgate is interpretative; it originated after the fourth century, and cannot be defended critically. [emphasis mine]
Regarding the passage from Luke 1:28
The salutation of the angel Gabriel -- chaire kecharitomene , Hail, full of grace ( Luke 1:28 ) indicates a unique abundance of grace, a supernatural, godlike state of soul, which finds its explanation only in the Immaculate Conception of Mary. But the term kecharitomene (full of grace ) serves only as an illustration, not as a proof of the dogma.
The argument from Tradition:
In regard to the sinlessness of Mary the older Fathers are very cautious: some of them even seem to have been in error on this matter....
Origen, although he ascribed to Mary high spiritual prerogatives, thought that, at the time of Christ's passion, the sword of disbelief pierced Mary's soul ; that she was struck by the poniard of doubt ; and that for her sins also Christ died ( Origen, "In Luc. hom. xvii").
In the same manner St. Basil writes in the fourth century: he sees in the sword, of which Simeon speaks, the doubt which pierced Mary's soul (Epistle 259).
St. Chrysostom accuses her of ambition, and of putting herself forward unduly when she sought to speak to Jesus at Capharnaum ( Matthew 12:46 ; Chrysostom, Hom. xliv; cf. also "In Matt.", hom. 4).
But these stray private opinions merely serve to show that theology is a progressive science....
[It must be noted the above three aren't the only ones not advocating the the doctrine. It also must be noticed these are by no means "lightweights" in Roman Catholicism. Basil and Chrysostom are recognized as "Doctors of the Church"; Origen is recognized as a "Church Father".]
From this summary it appears that the belief in Mary's immunity from sin in her conception was prevalent amongst the Fathers, especially those of the Greek Church. The rhetorical character, however, of many of these and similar passages prevents us from laying too much stress on them, and interpreting them in a strictly literal sense. The Greek Fathers never formally or explicitly discussed the question of the Immaculate Conception.[emphasis mine]
Note.
And thanks sincerely for the rest of those quotes. Good to get them together in one place.
Hence the test laid out in 1 John 4...wherebye one could tell whether a doctrine of men or Demons could be exposed as AntiChrist...denying that Christ was come in the flesh, that Christ is God in flesh...the Word made incarnate!
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