THE TRUE MEANING OF THE TERMS
The first step in understanding the dogma of the Immaculate Conception is not to confuse the Virginal Conception of Jesus with the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The dogma of the Immaculate Conception doesn't seek to teach us that the Most Blessed Mary entered the world through a virginal conception as was the fact for Jesus Christ. When we speak or write about the Virginal Conception we are saying that Jesus was conceived by a virgin, the Blessed Virgin Mary. With the term "Immaculate Conception”, however, we mean that the conception of Mary in the womb of Saint Anne was free from all stain of original sin, the sin of Adam and Eve, which affected all other human beings. While other human creatures enter this world in a state of original sin, and have to be purified by Baptism, the Virgin Mary entered this world in a state of original sanctity. The feast of the Immaculate Conception is on the eight of December.
It is significant also that we celebrate the Immaculate Conception nine months before the feast of Mary's birthday, on September 8. This unique and miraculous event happened in the first moment of the Blessed Mary's conception, when her soul was created and infused into her body. From the first moment of Mary's animation in Saint Anne's womb, Mary was preserved from all stain of original sin, and sanctifying grace was granted to her, before sin could take effect in her soul. (Cf The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. VII Copyright 1910 by Robert Appleton Company). It is also important to note that the dogma of the Immaculate Conception doesn't teach us that Mary was exempted from the temporal penalties of Adam - from sorrow, bodily infirmities, and death. However it does allow us to conclude that all the passions, all the debilities pertaining to original sin, were excluded from her existence, as well as obviously all other sins.
A SECULAR FAITH AND TEACHING
The Catholic Church took a long time to define this truth, although from the beginning, "from ancient times", Christians were aware of Mary's perfect sinlessness.
The truth of the Immaculate Conception is implicit in the Sacred Scripture "contained in the deposit of heavenly revelation" ("Ineffabilis Deus").
The Fathers of the Church, from the very beginning, were in deep awe before the exceptional prerogatives of the Mother of God. Even if we cannot interpret all their expressions in the literal sense of the dogmatic definition, it is beyond doubt that the belief in Mary's immunity from sin from the moment of her conception was prevalent amongst the early Fathers of the Church, especially those of the Greek Church. In fact, Mary's purity was celebrated by the Fathers of the Church in luminous expressions. The Virgin Mary is “the most holy, all pure, all immaculate, all stainless, alone most immaculate” (St Ephraem), "immaculate of the immaculate" (Origen), and "when not yet born, she was consecrated to God " (Theodorus of Ancyra), " pure from eternity, exempt from every defect " (Typicon S. Sabae)…
HISTORY OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION
Patristic writings on Mary as the "second Eve" abound as well. This comparison with the incorrupt and innocent Eve in Paradise before the fall leads us to belief in the immaculateness of Mary's conception. In fact, Mary was never under the dominion of the serpent, neither before nor after her birth. Mary is exalted above Eve because “she never lent an ear to the serpent, but by divinely given power she utterly destroyed the force and dominion of the evil one " ("Ineffabilis Deus").
This privilege was quite fitting, as it was from this creature pure in body and soul that the 'new Adam' would be formed. Belief in the Immaculate Conception was lived for centuries by generations of faithful, who even solemnized and celebrated a feast in honor of the Conception of the Most Blessed Mary. Congregations and religious communities, altars and churches were founded through the centuries in honor of the Immaculate Conception, and were approved by the Popes.
"From ancient times" the bishops of the Church, ecclesiastics, religious orders, and even emperors and kings, as well as the Catholic faithful "have earnestly petitioned this Apostolic See" (Pius IX), asking the Popes to declare this truth as an article of faith.
In 1546, the Fathers of the Council of Trent, after defining that all men are born infected by original sin, declared that they had "no intention of including the Virgin Mary". This remark in favor of Mary's special status further fostered devotion to Our Lady's Immaculate Conception. Spain was the first country to obtain permission to celebrate the feast in honor of this privilege (1644), and in 1708, the Pope extended the permission to the whole world.
In 1645, the king of Portugal, Dom João IV, chose Nossa Senhora da Conceição as patronness of his country. On 8 November 1760 the Immaculate Conception was declared principal patron of all possessions of the crown of Spain, including those of America. Finally, the United States named the Immaculate Conception principal patron of the country in 1846.
Two centuries before the dogmatic declaration of the Immaculate Conception, this traditional teaching was "authoritatively and decisively" declared by Pope Alexander VII on December 8, 1661, using almost the same terms of the final definition of 1854: "Concerning the most Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, ancient indeed is that devotion of the faithful based on the belief that her soul, in the first instant of its creation and in the first instant of the soul's infusion into the body, was preserved free from all stain of original sin. And in this sense have the faithful ever solemnized and celebrated the feast of the Conception " (Apostolic Constitution “Sollicitudo Omnium Ecclesiarum”, December 8, 1661). With this 17th-century declaration, Pope Alexander VII asserted the precise moment of Mary's exemption from original sin, as well as the true focus of the celebration of the feast of the Conception of Mary throughout the centuries.
Before the Apostolic Constitution of Pope Alexander VII, Duns Scotus (d. 1308), a Franciscan monk and famous theologian, had also made an important contribution in establishing the true meaning of this dogma. The final conclusion of 1854 came after a long controversy among theologians about Mary's Redemption and the exact moment of her Redemption. St Thomas Aquinas himself (d. 1274) didn't know the doctrine in the sense of the final definition of Pius IX, though he put forth the principles that enabled other theologians to reach the true resolution of all the difficulties presented in the famous controversy.
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
It was in the nineteenth century that God, through the Church, revealed in a very clear way this truth to the faithful in a solemn declaration, so confirming an already long-held teaching.
Before and after that solemn act, this truth was confirmed by the Virgin Mary herself in two apparitions.
In 1830, the Most Blessed Mary appeared to Saint Catherine Labouré, when she was a simple novice of the “Sisters of Charity”, spending her novitiate on Rue du Bac, Paris. On November 27, the Virgin Mary appeared for the third time. Framing Our Lady was a prayer: “O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee”. According to the Virgin Mary, Catherine received a mission: to spread Marian devotion through this image in the form of a medal. This religious event opened the “Marian era” with subsequent Marian apparitions to be followed (La Salette, Lourdes, Fatima).
Daniel-Rops in his “History of the Church of Christ” informs us of the profound impression that this apparition of the Virgin Mary made on Pope Pius IX:
“Pius IX always had a great devotion to the Mother of God. Like other Catholics of his time he had been impressed by the apparition of Our Lady to Catherine Labouré and by the rapid expansion of the Arch-confraternity of the Miraculous Medal, as well as by the conversion of Alphonse-Marie Ratisbonne in Rome after a vision in which Mary had appeared to him as shown in the medal, surrounded by the words “O Marie conçue sans péché.” Soon after his arrival at Gaeta, as if to show that he was not entirely preoccupied with political affairs, he canonized a number of saints*** (including Antony Zaccaria, founder of Barnabites) and let it be known that he intended to appeal to the Blessed Virgin for her intervention in order to “calm the fearful storms buffeting the Church”, and to proclaim the dogma of her Immaculate Conception.”
In 1858, four years after the proclamation of the dogma, the Blessed Mary appeared again to a young girl, St. Bernadette Soubirous, at Lourdes, and after several apparitions, revealed her name to her: "I am the Immaculate Conception", so confirming the Church's declaration.
PREPARATION FOR THE DEFINITION
A diligent examination of this truth was made by Pope Pius IX before declaring the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary.
He established a especial congregation of Cardinals and selected theologians to study the question and give their opinion. It was only after having written to all bishops of the world and receiving their assent, that in a solemn Consistory of the Cardinals Pius IX declared: "We concluded that we should no longer delay in decreeing and defining by our supreme authority the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin. And thus we can satisfy the most holy desire of the Catholic world…"
Related article: The Bible teaches Mary's Immaculate Conception, Perpetual Virginity, Bodily Assumption and more
The first step in understanding the dogma of the Immaculate Conception is not to confuse the Virginal Conception of Jesus with the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The dogma of the Immaculate Conception doesn't seek to teach us that the Most Blessed Mary entered the world through a virginal conception as was the fact for Jesus Christ. When we speak or write about the Virginal Conception we are saying that Jesus was conceived by a virgin, the Blessed Virgin Mary. With the term "Immaculate Conception”, however, we mean that the conception of Mary in the womb of Saint Anne was free from all stain of original sin, the sin of Adam and Eve, which affected all other human beings. While other human creatures enter this world in a state of original sin, and have to be purified by Baptism, the Virgin Mary entered this world in a state of original sanctity. The feast of the Immaculate Conception is on the eight of December.
It is significant also that we celebrate the Immaculate Conception nine months before the feast of Mary's birthday, on September 8. This unique and miraculous event happened in the first moment of the Blessed Mary's conception, when her soul was created and infused into her body. From the first moment of Mary's animation in Saint Anne's womb, Mary was preserved from all stain of original sin, and sanctifying grace was granted to her, before sin could take effect in her soul. (Cf The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. VII Copyright 1910 by Robert Appleton Company). It is also important to note that the dogma of the Immaculate Conception doesn't teach us that Mary was exempted from the temporal penalties of Adam - from sorrow, bodily infirmities, and death. However it does allow us to conclude that all the passions, all the debilities pertaining to original sin, were excluded from her existence, as well as obviously all other sins.
A SECULAR FAITH AND TEACHING
The Catholic Church took a long time to define this truth, although from the beginning, "from ancient times", Christians were aware of Mary's perfect sinlessness.
The truth of the Immaculate Conception is implicit in the Sacred Scripture "contained in the deposit of heavenly revelation" ("Ineffabilis Deus").
The Fathers of the Church, from the very beginning, were in deep awe before the exceptional prerogatives of the Mother of God. Even if we cannot interpret all their expressions in the literal sense of the dogmatic definition, it is beyond doubt that the belief in Mary's immunity from sin from the moment of her conception was prevalent amongst the early Fathers of the Church, especially those of the Greek Church. In fact, Mary's purity was celebrated by the Fathers of the Church in luminous expressions. The Virgin Mary is “the most holy, all pure, all immaculate, all stainless, alone most immaculate” (St Ephraem), "immaculate of the immaculate" (Origen), and "when not yet born, she was consecrated to God " (Theodorus of Ancyra), " pure from eternity, exempt from every defect " (Typicon S. Sabae)…
HISTORY OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION
Patristic writings on Mary as the "second Eve" abound as well. This comparison with the incorrupt and innocent Eve in Paradise before the fall leads us to belief in the immaculateness of Mary's conception. In fact, Mary was never under the dominion of the serpent, neither before nor after her birth. Mary is exalted above Eve because “she never lent an ear to the serpent, but by divinely given power she utterly destroyed the force and dominion of the evil one " ("Ineffabilis Deus").
This privilege was quite fitting, as it was from this creature pure in body and soul that the 'new Adam' would be formed. Belief in the Immaculate Conception was lived for centuries by generations of faithful, who even solemnized and celebrated a feast in honor of the Conception of the Most Blessed Mary. Congregations and religious communities, altars and churches were founded through the centuries in honor of the Immaculate Conception, and were approved by the Popes.
"From ancient times" the bishops of the Church, ecclesiastics, religious orders, and even emperors and kings, as well as the Catholic faithful "have earnestly petitioned this Apostolic See" (Pius IX), asking the Popes to declare this truth as an article of faith.
In 1546, the Fathers of the Council of Trent, after defining that all men are born infected by original sin, declared that they had "no intention of including the Virgin Mary". This remark in favor of Mary's special status further fostered devotion to Our Lady's Immaculate Conception. Spain was the first country to obtain permission to celebrate the feast in honor of this privilege (1644), and in 1708, the Pope extended the permission to the whole world.
In 1645, the king of Portugal, Dom João IV, chose Nossa Senhora da Conceição as patronness of his country. On 8 November 1760 the Immaculate Conception was declared principal patron of all possessions of the crown of Spain, including those of America. Finally, the United States named the Immaculate Conception principal patron of the country in 1846.
Two centuries before the dogmatic declaration of the Immaculate Conception, this traditional teaching was "authoritatively and decisively" declared by Pope Alexander VII on December 8, 1661, using almost the same terms of the final definition of 1854: "Concerning the most Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, ancient indeed is that devotion of the faithful based on the belief that her soul, in the first instant of its creation and in the first instant of the soul's infusion into the body, was preserved free from all stain of original sin. And in this sense have the faithful ever solemnized and celebrated the feast of the Conception " (Apostolic Constitution “Sollicitudo Omnium Ecclesiarum”, December 8, 1661). With this 17th-century declaration, Pope Alexander VII asserted the precise moment of Mary's exemption from original sin, as well as the true focus of the celebration of the feast of the Conception of Mary throughout the centuries.
Before the Apostolic Constitution of Pope Alexander VII, Duns Scotus (d. 1308), a Franciscan monk and famous theologian, had also made an important contribution in establishing the true meaning of this dogma. The final conclusion of 1854 came after a long controversy among theologians about Mary's Redemption and the exact moment of her Redemption. St Thomas Aquinas himself (d. 1274) didn't know the doctrine in the sense of the final definition of Pius IX, though he put forth the principles that enabled other theologians to reach the true resolution of all the difficulties presented in the famous controversy.
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
It was in the nineteenth century that God, through the Church, revealed in a very clear way this truth to the faithful in a solemn declaration, so confirming an already long-held teaching.
Before and after that solemn act, this truth was confirmed by the Virgin Mary herself in two apparitions.
In 1830, the Most Blessed Mary appeared to Saint Catherine Labouré, when she was a simple novice of the “Sisters of Charity”, spending her novitiate on Rue du Bac, Paris. On November 27, the Virgin Mary appeared for the third time. Framing Our Lady was a prayer: “O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee”. According to the Virgin Mary, Catherine received a mission: to spread Marian devotion through this image in the form of a medal. This religious event opened the “Marian era” with subsequent Marian apparitions to be followed (La Salette, Lourdes, Fatima).
Daniel-Rops in his “History of the Church of Christ” informs us of the profound impression that this apparition of the Virgin Mary made on Pope Pius IX:
“Pius IX always had a great devotion to the Mother of God. Like other Catholics of his time he had been impressed by the apparition of Our Lady to Catherine Labouré and by the rapid expansion of the Arch-confraternity of the Miraculous Medal, as well as by the conversion of Alphonse-Marie Ratisbonne in Rome after a vision in which Mary had appeared to him as shown in the medal, surrounded by the words “O Marie conçue sans péché.” Soon after his arrival at Gaeta, as if to show that he was not entirely preoccupied with political affairs, he canonized a number of saints*** (including Antony Zaccaria, founder of Barnabites) and let it be known that he intended to appeal to the Blessed Virgin for her intervention in order to “calm the fearful storms buffeting the Church”, and to proclaim the dogma of her Immaculate Conception.”
In 1858, four years after the proclamation of the dogma, the Blessed Mary appeared again to a young girl, St. Bernadette Soubirous, at Lourdes, and after several apparitions, revealed her name to her: "I am the Immaculate Conception", so confirming the Church's declaration.
PREPARATION FOR THE DEFINITION
A diligent examination of this truth was made by Pope Pius IX before declaring the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary.
He established a especial congregation of Cardinals and selected theologians to study the question and give their opinion. It was only after having written to all bishops of the world and receiving their assent, that in a solemn Consistory of the Cardinals Pius IX declared: "We concluded that we should no longer delay in decreeing and defining by our supreme authority the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin. And thus we can satisfy the most holy desire of the Catholic world…"
Related article: The Bible teaches Mary's Immaculate Conception, Perpetual Virginity, Bodily Assumption and more
