In teaching that Mary was conceived immaculate, the Catholic Church teaches that from the very moment of her conception, the Blessed Virgin Mary was free from all stain of original sin. This simply means that from the beginning, she was in a state of grace, sharing in God's own life, and that she was free from the sinful inclinations which have beset human nature after the fall.
We can distinguish between two aspects of conception. Active conception refers to the physical conjugal act of parents in the generation of new life. Passive conception refers to the origin of a child in the womb of his or her mother. A child comes into being at the moment when the sperm and egg unite and God infuses the soul into the child. Despite our culture’s denial, human life begins at this point of conception.
In speaking of Mary’s Immaculate Conception, we refer to this later aspect. Mary came to be in the way that all humans originate – through the conjugal action of her parents, Joachim and Anna. Mary’s Immaculate Conception refers simply and solely to the creative act by which God infused her immaculate soul into the body formed by the love of her parents. From the very first instant of her existence, Mary was thus preserved from all stain of original sin. The fact that she was exempt from the stain of original sin does not imply nor necessitate that she was exempt from being subject to its effects. Mary is a human and as such, even preserved from the stain of original sin, lived life subject to the implications of that sin.
Mary owed this special grace entirely to the merits of her Son, Jesus Christ. Like all humans, Mary was in need of redemption and a redeemer, even though the manner of her redemption differed from the norm for the rest of us. This privilege is based on her role as Mother of God. We speak of her redemption as redemptio anticipata (anticipated redemption). This “pre-redemption” was an infusion of sanctifying grace directly into her soul at the very instant of her creation. In other words, Mary’s sanctification was like that of our first parents, Adam and Eve, in that it was simultaneous with her creation.
This privilege had nothing to do with her parents or her own actions, but was a gracious gift bestowed by God through the merits of Jesus Christ.
The Immaculate Conception in Scripture
The dogma of the Immaculate Conception is not explicitly detailed in the texts of Sacred Scripture. However, two texts are most often associated with the doctrine as supporting it.
The first is found in Genesis 3:14-15
The LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, cursed are you above all cattle, and above all wild animals; upon your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life.
I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel."
This text is often referred to as the Proto-evangelium, the first gospel. Throughout her history, the Church has always identified the “seed” as a definite person, namely Jesus Christ, and the woman having enmity with the serpent as His mother, Mary. The woman and her seed are opposed to the serpent and his seed. God Himself has “put enmity” between the two pairs, Christ and His mother on the one side, and Satan and his followers on the other – enmity that will ultimately end in the destruction of the latter (see Matt 3:7; John 8:44; Acts 13:10; 1 John 3:8). Mary being on the same side of Christ and with the same enmity between her and Satan as that between Christ and Satan must also share in His triumph. This could not be the case if Mary was even for a moment tainted by original sin. If she was, Satan would have triumphed over her, and she would have been, even if only temporarily, his friend and ally. The Proto-evangelium would then be untrue. It follows then, that viewed in this light, this passage foreshadows the Immaculate Conception.
A second Scripture passage is found in the Gospel of Luke, specifically Luke 1:28
and Luke 1:41-45
And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and she exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the
Lord."
We have discussed at length the Angel Gabriel’s greeting to Mary as representing the divine favor of Mary as the highest form of grace consistent with her very unique and very special role as the Mother of God.
To recap this discussion, I quote Fr. William Most
“For the Greek word in the Gospel is kecharitomene. It is a perfect passive participle of the verb charitoo. A perfect passive participle is very strong. In addition, charitoo belongs to a group of verbs ending in omicron omega. They have in common that they mean to put a person or thing into the state indicated by the root. Thus leukos means white, so leukoo means to make white. Then charitoo should mean to put into charis. That word charis can mean either favor or grace. But if we translate by favor, we must keep firmly in mind that favor must not mean merely that God, as it were, sits there and smiles at someone, without giving anything. That would be Pelagian: salvation possible without grace. So for certain, God does give something, and that something is grace, are share in His own life. So charitoo means to put into grace. But then too, kecharitomene is used in place of the name "Mary". This is like our English usage in which we say, for example, someone is Mr. Tennis. That means he is the ultimate in tennis. So then kecharitomene should mean "Miss Grace", the ultimate in grace. Hence we could reason that fullness of grace implies an Immaculate Conception.”
Likewise, Elizabeth’s greeting contains more than what first appears in the English translation. When Elizabeth hailed Mary as the “mother of my Lord” she was not using a conventional greeting. The Greek is “mētēr tou kuriou mou”. Kuriou is the Greek word used to translate the Hebrew “Yahweh”, the Name of God revealed to Moses. Essentially she was indicating that Mary was the blessed one among women because the fruit of her womb was the Son of God.
The Angel Gabriel hailed Mary as “full of grace” and Elizabeth hailed Mary as “mother of my Lord”. Mary’s fullness of grace was to prepare her to carry the Son of God in her womb. In this way, Mary is the New Ark of the Covenant.
Luke clearly is drawing a parallel between Mary and the Ark of the Covenant. Luke is drawing on Old Testament texts familiar to any Jewish reader.
Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. (Ex 40:34)
And David was afraid of the LORD that day; and he said, "How can the ark of the LORD come to me?" (2 Sam 6:9)
And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? (Luke 1:43)
And David danced before the LORD with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting, and with the sound of the horn. (2 Sam 6:14-15)
For behold, when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leaped for joy. (Luke 1:44)
And the ark of the LORD remained in the house of Obededom the Gittite three months (2 Sam 6:11)
And Mary remained with her about three months (Luke 1:56)
and the LORD blessed Obededom and all his household (2 Sam 6:11)
In Scripture, blessing is associated with fertility and the bearing of children.
The Scriptural foundations for the dogma of the Immaculate Conception is strengthened and completed by the teaching of the Church from the time of the Fathers through the present day. We will discuss the Immaculate Conception in the Tradition of the Church in the next post.
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