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
He held up bread and said "This is my body, eat of it in rememberance of me". So, I eat bread and drink wine on those days where we take communion. Nothing mysterious about it.
And who said I am disparaging Mary? All I am saying is that she is not as the Catholic church has put her up to be. I don't pray to her, I don't venerate her, I don't count on her to protect me, save me, pray for me. God saved me, through Jesus. God protects me. I pray directly to God the Father through Jesus Christ, my Savior, not Mary.
He said "this is my body". Do you eat his body or do you eat bread. If you say you eat bread on those days, your whole argument falls apart.
No it doesn't. Read what I wrote. He said this is my body as he was holding up some bread. Obviously he didn't change into bread. He was holding it. He didn't say eat this bread while I mysteriously transform myself into it. They ate the bread, he was still there. He didn't die (not that night, anyway). THERE IS NOTHING MYSTERIOUS ABOUT THE BREAD, it was still bread. He said eat it in REMEMBERANCE of me, of what he was going to do. When I eat the bread and drink the wine I remember what Jesus did for me, he died to take away my sins. Praise God.
- Although for hundreds of years the Roman Catholic Church has given honor and adoration to Mary that the Scriptures do not, during the past fifty years, one of the most important trends in the Catholic Church has been an even greater emphasis upon the place of Mary. She is readily referred to as "holy," the "Mother of God" (official Catholic dogma in 431 A.D.), with prayers to her proclaimed in 600 A.D., and has been dubbed the "Co-Redemptrix," thereby making her an object of idolatrous worship (e.g., the Rosary has ten prayers to Mary for each two directed to God). In 1923, Pope Pius XI sanctioned Pope Benedict XV's (1914-1922) pronouncement that Mary suffered with Christ, and that with Him, she redeemed the human race. And Pope Pius XII officially designated Mary the "Queen of Heaven" and "Queen of the World."
Catholics claim not only that Mary was perfectly sinless from conception, even as Jesus was (doctrine of the "Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary," proclaimed by Pope Pius IX in 1854 -- "Let all the children of the Catholic Church ... continue to venerate, invoke, and pray to the most blessed Virgin Mary, mother of God, conceived without original sin."), but that the reason she never sinned at any time during her life was because she was unable to sin (cf. Lk. 1:46,47; Rom. 3:10,23; 5:12; Heb. 4:15; 1 Jn. 1:8,10). Catholics also believe that Mary was a perpetual virgin (cf. Ps. 69:8; Matt. 1:24,25; 13:54-56; Mk. 6:3; Jn. 7:5), and that she was assumed, body and soul, into heaven shortly after her death (doctrine of the "Assumption of the Virgin Mary," declared by Pope Pius XII in 1950). Finally, she was given the title "Mother of the Church" in 1965. The consequence of all this veneration of Mary, in effect, establishes her authority above Christ's! Rome says, "He came to us through Mary and we must go to Him through her." All this is so obviously idolatrous, one wonders why Catholics take offense when their religious affections are called cultic.
- There are some Roman Catholic observers that continue to believe that Mary has still not officially been proclaimed "Co-Redemptrix with Christ." In fact, the premier issue of the Roman Catholic publication Catholic Heritage displayed a front page with the title: "Mary, Mother of the Church." In a Question and Answer column the question is asked, "At the foot of the cross, Mary shared in the mystery of the passion. True or False? Answer: True. Mary united her sorrows to those of her Son. The sorrowful and immaculate heart of Mary bled with her Son for all of mankind. For this reason, we invoke her under the title of Co-Redemptrix." (Emphasis added.)
- During the past forty years, each pope has done his part to increase Mary's influence in the Roman Catholic Church, based completely on tradition rather than upon the Bible. In the 8/25/75 issue of the official Vatican newspaper, L 'Osservatore Romano, Pope Paul VI, speaking of the ceremony celebrated the day before in honor of the Madonna at the Feast of the Assumption of Mary, said, "Her venerate image, known as 'Salus Populi Romani,' was carried in procession from St. Mary Major's as part of the Holy Year ceremonies, so that the overflow crowd of pilgrims, coming from all parts of the world, could see it and thus increase their devotion to her. In this way we should all be reminded of the meaning and practice of the cult of Mary, inseparable from the unique and central cult of Christ ... Let us pray to her with humble, trusting, and childlike faith." (Emphasis added.)
- The present pope, John Paul II, has dedicated himself completely to Mary. During his visit to Vancouver, B.C. in 1985, the special souvenir edition of B.C. Catholic carried a full page color photo of the pope under the caption of Totus Tuus, which, in Latin, means "all yours." The following explanation was then given:
"When Karol Wojtyla [John Paul II] was consecrated bishop of Krakow by Pius XII in 1958 he took, 'Totus Tuus' (all yours) as his motto, thus presenting himself to Mary. In his first Urbi et Orbi message immediately after being elected pope he said, 'At this difficult hour, full of fear, we must turn our thoughts with filial devotion to the Virgin Mary who always lives in the midst of Christ and exists as his mother. We must repeat the words, Totus Tuus which 20 years ago were inscribed into our heart and soul.'"
Additionally, in "The Holy Father's Prayer for the Marian Year," John Paul II asks Mary to do what only God can do -- comfort, guide, strengthen, and protect "the whole of humanity ..." His prayer ends: "Sustain us, O Virgin Mary, on our journey of faith and obtain for us the grace of eternal salvation." What blasphemy to ask Mary to obtain what God offers freely by His grace through Christ! (4/97, Berean Call). To conclude the Marian Year, John Paul II's televised rosary on June 6, 1987, viewed by an estimated 1.5 billion people and broadcast by Vatican Radio in 35 languages, featured the pope praying to Mary and seeking her blessings. The pope concluded, "with a smile from the Virgin Mary, the rosary will bring to our world the tender tones of God's love for anxious humanity in the 20th century" (David Cloud, 6/13/97, FBIS).
- More recently, at his general audience in St. Peter's Square on 4/9/97, Pope John Paul II said that Mary uniquely collaborated in the work of salvation. According to the 4/9/97 Vatican Information Service, the pope stated that "in union with Christ and yielding to Him, She collaborated to obtain the grace of salvation for all humanity." He also said: "Having created man 'male and female,' in the Redemption too, the Lord wanted to put the New Eve next to the New Adam. ... Mary, the New Eve, thus becomes the perfect icon of the Church. She, in the divine plan, represents under the Cross redeemed humanity, which, needy of salvation, is made capable of offering a contribution to the development of the saving work."
This is nonsense, of course. The Bible nowhere says that Mary collaborated in salvation. The Bible nowhere says that Mary is the New Eve. To the contrary, the Bible says that the Lord Jesus Christ is the sole mediator between God and men (1 Timothy 2:5) and that He "BY HIMSELF purged our sins" (Heb. 1:3). Christ had absolutely no help in obtaining our salvation. Mary was a sinner and was saved in the same way that all sinners are saved -- by placing her faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. She is not the Mother of God or the Queen of Heaven. The Apostles did not exalt Mary nor did they teach us to pray to her. She cannot answer prayer nor assist anyone in their needs, neither spiritually or physically (David Cloud, 4/27/97, FBIS).
- On 5/7/97, Pope John Paul II dedicated his general audience to "the Virgin Mary" and urged all Christians to accept Mary as their mother. He noted the words spoken by Jesus on the cross to Mary and to John -- "Woman, behold thy son!" and "Behold thy mother!" (John 19:26,27), and he claimed that in this statement "It is possible to understand the authentic meaning of Marian worship in the ecclesial community ... which furthermore is based on the will of Christ" (Vatican Information Service, May 7, 1997).
John Paul II underlined that "the history of Christian piety teaches that Mary is the path that leads to Christ, and that filial devotion to her does not at all diminish intimacy with Jesus, but rather, it increases it and leads it to very high levels of perfection." He concluded by asking all Christians "to make room (for Mary) in their daily lives, acknowledging her providential role in the path of salvation" (Ibid.).
This is heretical and blasphemous. Mary was a sinner who was saved by grace in the same manner of any sinner who trusts Jesus Christ for salvation. The Bible says absolutely nothing about her beyond this. She is not the Mother of God or Ever Virgin or the Queen of Heaven or Co-Redemptress with Christ. She cannot hear or answer prayer, which is a prerogative of Almighty God alone. The Apostles taught absolutely nothing about "Marian worship." Men do not need Mary to bring them to Christ. The needy sinner comes directly to the Lord Jesus Christ, the sole Mediator between God and men: "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time" (1 Tim. 2:5-6). Christ promised, "COME UNTO ME, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). The Bible nowhere invites men to come to Mary or to trust Mary or to pray to Mary (David Cloud, 5/7/97, FBIS).
- Pope John Paul II has visited many of the major Shrines to Mary. He attributed his escape from death at the hands of a would-be assassin and the overthrow of communism in Eastern Europe to the intervention of Mary. In 10/95, he said, "Mary is recognized and venerated as the true Mother of God and the Redeemer ... she contributed effectively to our spiritual birth and to the development of the life of grace within us." In his 12/18/96 general audience, he stated: "Mary intensely and mysteriously unites her life with Christ's sorrowful mission: She was to become her Son's faithful coworker for the salvation of the human race" (2/17/97, Christian News). In his general audience on 6/19/96, he proclaimed that Mary was sinless throughout her life:
"At today's general audience, Pope John Paul continued his catechesis on Mary, recalling that the Church holds, in the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, that she was preserved from original sin at the first moment of her existence and, as well, that 'Mary was free from personal sin and moral imperfection throughout her life.' The Holy Father went on to say that 'the possibility of sinning does not spare even a Christian who is transformed or renewed by grace ... unless, as the Council of Trent stated, a special privilege assures such immunity from sin. This is what happened to Mary.' The council, stating that the Church 'firmly holds this (privilege of Mary), ... confirms its solid doctrinal character'" (6/19/96, Vatican Information Service, Vatican City).1
- The pope is not alone in his veneration of Mary:
(a) A Roman Catholic priest, in the Summer 1991 issue of the Fatima Crusader, said that Mary came to Fatima to save our souls and that Mary herself said that "I will save the world, with my Rosary and My scapular." The priest also said that if a Catholic says the Rosary every day, and always wears the scapular of Mary, then she is bound to save you from hell, a guarantee for salvation!! (Reported in the 9/15/91, Calvary Contender ).
(b) Millions of Catholics are making pilgrimages to the various Marian shrines, seeking and often claiming miracles of healing and answers to their prayers to Mary. New apparitions of Mary and special messages from her are being claimed in various parts of the world [even on the outside glass walls of a Savings & Loan building in Florida in 1996!]. On 6/20/96, more than 1,000 Catholic priests gathered in Fatima, Portugal, for the First International Meeting of Priests. The Vatican Information Service said that the priests gathered at the foot of the statue of Mary and "consecrated themselves to the Immaculate Heart of Mary." (Reported in a 6/28/96 FBIS report.)
(c) The Winter '94 Fatima Crusader (published by Roman Catholics) had the following quotes: "Madonna has a share in the royalty of God ... One rightly calls her Jesus' Queen-Mother, and ... She now takes her place in glory at Her Son's right hand. ... Yes, O Mary, Mother of God, Sovereign Virgin, God's most glorious creature, we want to follow You as our Queen of love, who art all-powerful ... The Holy Mother of God revealed ...: 'I am She who is in the Divine Trinity ... Submit yourself to the authority of the Pope ...' The Madonna brings Jesus to us and takes us to Jesus. That is why we call her Mediatrix. ... Mary came to Fatima to save souls from Hell. ... Mary said, 'Through the Rosary and Scapular I will save the world.'"
- The 6/97 issue of New Covenant magazine features an article by Catholic priest Michael Scanlan entitled, "Mary, Spouse of the Holy Spirit: What God Has Joined Should Remain Joined in Our Hearts." New Covenant is a charismatic Roman Catholic publication which promotes charismatic experiences and traditional Catholic doctrines. Scanlan is the head of the Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio. (The Catholicism of the Franciscan University is even more dangerous than traditional Catholicism, because its adoption of charismatic experience has given it a semblance of Biblical piety and spiritual fervor.) Consider the following amazing excerpt:
"Today, I sense a new oneness, or completion, in my spiritual life as I seek to join Mary and the Holy Spirit in my prayer. I've also seen this new fullness and vitality flow into student groups on our campus and into prayer groups as they've celebrated the spousal unity of our Lady and the Holy Spirit. ... Mary didn't say, 'I was immaculately conceived,' as if it were a past event and she just wanted to reinforce the fact of her sinless conception. Mary identifies herself as the Immaculate Conception in the present tense ... to show that, from her conception forward, her spirit has been totally united and totally subjected to the Holy Spirit. Thus Mary became the spouse of the Holy Spirit when she was conceived, not years later when she gave her consent to the angel Gabriel and conceived Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit. ...
"This spousal union is such that you can't have one without the other: The Holy Spirit is present wherever and whenever He acts. I don't claim to fully understand this mysterious unity, but I know that any attempt to divorce Mary and the Holy Spirit impoverishes us spiritually. It's only to the extent to which Mary and the Holy Spirit are together in our hearts, minds and spirits that we can experience the power and grace of their spousal union....
"I pray the De Montfort Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary every morning. ... I specifically invite our Lady, my Mother and Queen, to oversee, guide and protect my day, consecrating all that I do to her ... At the same time, I invite the Holy Spirit to guide, empower, enlighten and inspire my day. Since I've started consciously uniting Mary and the Holy Spirit, I have experienced new blessings of infused prayer and the presence of the Lord Jesus and the Father. ... Both Mary and the Holy spirit are given to us and for us as advocates. Both Mary and the Holy Spirit serve to mediate grace in our lives" (Michael Scanlan, "Mary, Spouse of the Holy Spirit," New Covenant, June 1997, pp. 16-18).
This is absolute blasphemy. Nowhere in the Scriptures is Mary exalted this way. Not one time do we find the Apostles or early Christians praying to her. None of the Apostolic epistles to the churches even mention her. Everything Scanlan says about Mary is based on human thinking apart from divine revelation, and the Mary that he consecrates his life to exists only in his imagination.
The Franciscan University sponsors annual "Defending the Faith" conferences, in which Catholic dogma is upheld and defended with great boldness. One conference in 1996 was dedicated to "Mary as spouse of the Holy Spirit." The announcement said, "Rediscover Mary's prophetic role through her recent apparitions." The cover of the 1997 issue of the Franciscan University Summer Conference Magazine features this prayer by President Scanlan: "With renewed fervor, we reconsecrate our lives and our work to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary." (Excerpted in part from the 6/10/97 FBIS.)
- The following random quotes from the book Ten Series of Meditations on the Mystery of the Rosary, by John Ferraro, is intended to give an overview of Roman Catholic dogma concerning the Virgin Mary. Ferraro's book was given the Nihil Obstat and the Imprimatur, which is an official statement by the Roman Catholic Church that the book "is free of doctrinal or moral error." Therefore, we can take these quotes as official Roman Catholic doctrine:
(a) She [Mary] is co-Redemptrix of the human race.
(b) The church and the saints greet her thus: "You, O Mary, together with Jesus Christ, redeemed us."
(c) God has ordained that no grace will be granted to us except through Mary. It is a doctrine preached by all the saints that no grace will come to us from heaven without passing through Mary's hands. No one will be saved nor obtain mercy except through You, O' heavenly lady. Remember this well, no one will enter heaven without passing through Mary as one would pass through a door. O' Mary, our salvation is in your hands.
(d) During His passion, Mary suffered in her heart all the pains that Jesus suffered in His body. For this reason, God exalted her so greatly.
(e) Mary is our co-Redemptrix because she gave us Jesus pledge of our salvation. Furthermore, she is co-Redemptrix of the human race, because with Christ she ransomed mankind from the power of Satan.
(f) Jesus redeemed us with the blood of His body, Mary with the agonies of her heart.
(g) We were condemned through the fault of one woman; we are saved through the merits of another woman. Just as Eve was the root of death for everyone, so Mary was the source of life for everyone.
(h) Mary is our co-Redemptrix because she suffered in her heart whatever was lacking in the passion of Christ. Are we obligated to Jesus for His passions? -- so we are indebted to Mary for her participation in His passions. She gave birth to Jesus with joy; she gave birth to us, brothers of Jesus, in anguish and sorrow.
(i) Mary, Queen of the Apostles: She is queen of apostles because she formed them and directed them in their preaching. Mary is Queen of Apostles because by herself she routed all the heresies. Mary is Queen of Apostles because she is mother of grace and channel of mercy. She is Queen of Apostles because in her every hope is life and virtue. She is Queen of Apostles because she is conqueror of the Infernal Dragon. (Emphasis added.)
(j) If we spread devotion to Mary, we will gain heaven -- "Who explains me will have life everlasting."
(k) God shared His power with her [Mary]. "My mother, ask, for I must not turn away your face." Christ speaking to Mary: "Without your command, no one shall move hand or foot in the whole land."
(l) All grace is passed from God to Jesus, from Jesus to Mary, and from Mary to us. The grace of God, cure for our ills, comes to us through Mary like water through an aqueduct.
(m) Mary is the compliment of the Holy Spirit. Before God she asks not -- she commands!
(n) No true devotee of Mary will be damned because she is the terrible conqueror of the devil.
(o) Because she believed in Christ's mission of salvation, she became the co-Redemptrix of the whole human race.
(p) Mary is holier than the saints, loftier than the heavens, more glorious than the cherubim, more venerable than any other creature.
(q) No one can acquire an intimate union with Jesus and a perfect fidelity to the Holy Spirit without being greatly united with Mary.
(r) It is necessary for us to have a mediator besides Jesus as mediator, and we will never find one more qualified than Mary. (Emphasis added.)
(s) It was never written of anyone that he became a saint without having a special devotion to Mary.
(t) When God deeply loves a soul, and finds it stained with sin, He covers it with a beautiful mantle that makes it precious to Him -- that mantle is Mary.
(u) Mary is the ark of salvation built by God on the deluge of our faults so that whoever desires may enter and be saved.
(v) Whoever is enamored of Mary, attaches his soul to a steadfast anchor that will draw him to the port of happiness.
(w) It is important to be devoted to Mary as it is to enter heaven, because no one can enter Paradise who is not devoted to Mary.
(x) In reward for humility, God gave to Mary the power of filling with blessed souls the thrones left empty by the rebellious angels.
(y) Mary is secretary of the King of Heaven. It is she who writes in the Book of Life the names of the predestined, and signs them with the emblem of God. She herself is the Book of Life from which God will read the names of the elect on the day of judgment.
(z) To be devoted to you, O' Mary, is a weapon of salvation which God gave to those whom He positively wants to save.
- There is absolutely no Scriptural foundation for any of the beliefs or practices detailed in this report. Mary was indeed a virgin in fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecy that Christ would be born of a virgin (Isa. 7: 14). She was a godly woman, but not sinless. As with all true believers in Christ, when Mary died, her soul and spirit went to heaven, but her body awaits the resurrection. She did not bodily ascend to heaven as did Jesus Christ. Nothing in Scripture indicates that prayers were ever offered to Mary nor that she was worshiped by anyone. Most of Roman Catholic teaching concerning Mary is based entirely on human tradition and contradicts God's Word.
Wow, Thanks for such a complete report. Praise to you, for enlightening others.
Your Praises We Sing--on the Dogma of the Proclamation of the Immaculate Conception, Dec. 8th
Eastern Christianity and the Immaculate Conception (Q&A From EWTN)
This is one of those leaps of logic that leads nowhere. The "extraction" the angel's words at that moment to the very moment Mary was conceived simply doesn't follow.
While the Orthodox and the Catholic will strongly agree on the issue of Theotokos's ever-virginity, holiness and importance, the agreement breaks down on philosophical rationalizations of just "how" or "how it must have" happened (another example is the same belief in the Eucharistic Real Presence but completely divergent views on "how" it happens).
This is not a new topic and all the rehashing did nothing to bring us closer on this issue. This comes from the fact that we Orthodox do not see, nor have we ever seen, the "original sin" in the Catholic Augustinian eyes and that is the thorn that eventually split the Church. Apparently it is still doing a great job at keeping us apart.
If our very definition of the "original sin" differs, our differences are evident at the very beginning of the Bible and only become more profound.
You are, of course correct. The RC's view of "original sin" does lead them, with a leap or two, to their dogma of the Immaculate Conception, something which, at least to me, calls into question the humanity of Christ, but two other interconnected issues were also being questioned by, I suspect, some Protestants; first whether Christ had brothers in the English sense of the word and therefore, second, the perpetual virginity of the Theotokos. When the RCs are fighting the "good fight", a few words from our side are appropriate and often helpful since non-RCs seem more willing to accept (or at least listen to and think about) the Truth of what The Church has always believed from us rather than from them.
Tsk, Tsk. Dropi sou!
I Tim 3:16-17. Summary: States the bible is sufficient for everything you need, makes one complete, no mention of oral tradition. Catholics contend scripture here means only the OT, but Peter mentions that Paul's writings are scripture.
Yes, really.
At Job 1 and Luke 1, Job, Zecharaiah and Elizabeth all start the show sinless. Job and Zecharaiah sin later on, by doubting and having weak faith, but at the opening, they were sinless.
Obviously this creates a theological problem. For if they were born totally depraved, how was it that they avoided sin up to that point in life? But if they had sinned in their lives, how were those sins wiped clean before the Christian dispensation?
Believe it or not, you are not only reading the wrong Bible, you are mis-interpreting the one you live by.
"Try finding ANY scripture that says to take more than one wife. You can't find any."
I will find Scripture, however, where taking more than one woman is rewarded as part of the divine plan. Most notably, in the case of Abraham and Hagar. There is no condemnatory language in any of this.
Solomon is condemned for taking FOREIGN wives, not for having many wives.
David was married to Saul's daughter, but never had relations with her again after she mocked him for his antics before the Ark of the Covenant. However, he married Bathsheba as well and was blessed with his heir through her.
God was not pleased with the murder of her husband by design, but he certainly did not condemn the marriage that produced Solomon.
The main thrust, that if it's not in the Bible, it's wrong, is interesting. But where does it say that in the Bible?
And where does the Bible even say what books constitute the Bible? It doesn't.
The Bible itself, what constitutes it (and what doesn't) is based on Tradition, not the Bible itself.
Um, you probably mean 2000 years.
Correct. The consequence of the original sin is dying, not sinning.
Our Savior must have inherited the same consequence -- and died. That doesn't mean He commited sin. By the same token, Blessed Mary was born mortal -- yet the Church in the West holds that she never died. If she didn't die, she is divine. Yet, we know that she called her Son her Savior.
If anything, I would say that it is more likely Mary chose not to sin.
Agree completely.
their dogma of the Immaculate Conception, something which, at least to me, calls into question the humanity of Christ
Precisely. The consequence of the Fall was death, not sin. Infants die because they bear the consequence of the Man's Fall from God. Our nature has the propensity to commit sin but one does not have to sin. The fact that Jesus the Man died on the cross means that he was born with that consequence. Yet, He was without sin.
If Mary was conceived immaculate and that is attributed to her sinless life, then her holiness is not an extraordinary effort; she is not ours to claim or to give to God (as we sing). Her holiness is magnified by her humanity and is not a passive and effortless consequence of divine will.
Please read Luke 8:19-21 below:
19 And His mother and brothers came to Him, and they were unable to get to Him because of the crowd. 20 And it was reported to Him, "Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, wishing to see You." 21 But He answered and said to them, "My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it."
If you think that the term brother in this passage is just "spiritual" brother in all instances it would make no sense at all. Jesus was told that His mother and brothers were trying to reach him and Jesus replies that all who follow him are His mother and brothers. It is obvious that He is speaking about "spritual" mother and brothers in the context of verse 21. But this is only to contrast his relation to His real Mother and brothers who are waiting outside for Him (v. 20).
If I understand your interpretation, it would say:
"And it was reported to Him, your real mother and spiritual brothers (cousins, close acquaintances) are standing outside wishing to see you. But He answered and said to them, "My mother and My brothers (i.e. my spiritual family) are these who hear the word of God and do it."
That makes little or no sense because there is no contrast. It removes the emphasis that Christ is trying to communicate. Christ is saying that those who follow the word of God are just as His natural family. Are you saying that the people who heed the word of God are Christ's spiritual cousins?? Or spiritual close friends?
No the emphasis is that Christ truly calls us brothers and sisters. We are heirs to the kingdom of God. I don't think that cousins and good friends would be co-inheritors. Only a true brother, born through the blood of Christ, is a true child of God.
Correction, 2000 years. Thanks
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