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.

[Victoria Delsoul]

Thanks for the ping, Jay.

[P-Marlowe]

God chooses all of us or we would not have been created.

He chose to create you. Did he choose to save you? Or was that your choice?

He has given us free will so that we can choose to reject Him.

Bummer. Can we give that "gift" back?

He does not want us to love Him because we fear Him, but because He is Love itself.

(Proverbs 1:7 KJV)  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge:
 but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

(Proverbs 1:29 KJV)  For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD:

(Proverbs 2:5 KJV)  Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, 
and find the knowledge of God.

(Proverbs 3:7 KJV)  Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the
 LORD, and depart from evil.

(Proverbs 8:13 KJV)  The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: 
pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.

(Proverbs 9:10 KJV)  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom:
 and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.

(Proverbs 10:27 KJV)  The fear of the LORD prolongeth days: 
but the years of the wicked shall be shortened.

(Proverbs 14:26 KJV)  In the fear of the LORD is strong 
confidence: and his children shall have a place of refuge.

(Proverbs 14:27 KJV)  The fear of the LORD is a fountain of 
life, to depart from the snares of death.

(Proverbs 15:16 KJV)  Better is little with the fear of the
 LORD than great treasure and trouble therewith.

(Proverbs 15:33 KJV)  The fear of the LORD is the 
instruction of wisdom; and before honour is humility.

(Proverbs 16:6 KJV)  By mercy and truth iniquity is purged:
 and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.

(Proverbs 19:23 KJV)  The fear of the LORD tendeth to life:
 and he that hath it shall abide satisfied; he shall not be visited with evil.

(Proverbs 22:4 KJV)  By humility and the fear of the LORD
 are riches, and honour, and life.

(Proverbs 23:17 KJV)  Let not thine heart envy sinners: but 
be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long.

(Proverbs 24:21 KJV)  My son, fear thou the LORD and the 
king: and meddle not with them that are given to change:

Predestination is not Scriptural.

(Romans 8:29 KJV)  For whom he did foreknow, he also did 
predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that 
he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

(Romans 8:30 KJV)  Moreover whom he did predestinate, them 
he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified:
 and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

(Ephesians 1:5 KJV)  Having predestinated us unto the 
adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according 
to the good pleasure of his will,

(Ephesians 1:11 KJV)  In whom also we have obtained an 
inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of
 him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

And I do believe the story of Jonah is literal.

Was Jonah able to veto God's choice?

[Campion]

God chose Jonah for a task which he refused to do. What happened to Jonah when Jonah tried to veto God's choice of him as a prophet to the Ninevites? Did God honor his free will choice?

There are two problems with that. One is that it's not about a person's salvation, but about a person's vocation for a particular task. It may or may not be applicable to someone's salvation.

The second problem is that it's anecdotal, in the sense that God is perfectly free to work one way with Jonah, and in another way with someone else, and in a third way with someone else.

And we can be quite confident that all of those ways are perfectly just and merciful.

I think it's odd that you think God cannot offer salvation conditionally if he so chooses. (Obviously he knows everything that is going to happen, so it's not like we really 'veto' his choice; he knows everything that we will do -- and can know it without a priori determining it -- and is free to work around our 'veto' to the extent the he desires to, or not, according to his good pleasure.)

It always seemed to me that strict Calvinism makes God much less sovereign, not more so. He's so sovereign that he's not permitted to make decisions conditioned on our (infallibly foreseen) choices anymore.

[P-Marlowe]

I think it's odd that you think God cannot offer salvation conditionally if he so chooses.

Where did I say that? I'm just asking questions.

What I am concerned with here is the argument that God "chooses everyone" and that we somehow save ourselves by choosing him back.

God does not choose those who reject him. God rejects those who reject him. They were never chosen. By rejecting Christ, those who do so ratify God's decision not to choose them.

[stfassisi]

God does not predestine a person to sin and He certainly does not predestine to Hell,thus it is up to us using our FREE WILL to cooperate with grace, and yet it takes graces to cooperate, to rightly exercise our truly free will.

God operates outside of time(He sees everything as one event one "now". No before and after in His prevision of what we will or will not do with His graces.

The fact is, trying to reconcile free will, predestination to eternal bliss, is futile,quite frankly I think God would rather us help the poor and love others rather then trying to figure out the mind of God

For "My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." (Isa. 55:8-9; Ps. 33:11; 92:5.).

God wills us ALL to be saved,thus it is up to us to come into line with what He has willed for us.

This is my two cents ,I see no point in getting into a boring discussion on predesination(been there done it on other forms).

Good night, and I wish you a Blessed evening

[nanetteclaret]

Your usage of "fear" as exemplified in Proverbs means "awe and respect." I used the term "fear" in the sense of "frightened."

You forgot the 28th verse of Romans 8: "And we know that all things work together for good to them THAT LOVE GOD, to them who are the called according to his purpose." One can't be "the called according to his purpose" unless one loves God. It is a decision. You also forgot the 4th verse of Epheisans 1: "According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be HOLY AND WITHOUT BLAME BEFORE HIM IN LOVE." St. Paul's usage of "predestinated" means that God wills that we should be saved. But we still have the choice to turn our backs on Him. Otherwise, we would be pre-programmed robots. The idea of predestination does not work with free will.

Do you believe the story of Adam and Eve? If they were created without original sin, how do you explain the fact that they disobeyed God?

[Religion Moderator]

Indeed, if a thread is labeled as a "caucus" then Freepers who are not members of the caucus know to stay away, and if they don't then let me know by ping or Freepmail and I will remove the disruptive posts.

Remember this: for a thread to qualify as a caucus it must not contain in the article or in the replies any assertions which are "anti" another confession. If it does, the caucus will be broken and rebuttals are allowed.

And yes, caucuses should be used more often to provide a "safe harbor" for discussion of theology unique to members of the same confession.

[kawaii]

but free wil alone cannot save us.

IF IT COULD THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN NO NEED FOR CHRIST.

[P-Marlowe]

Your usage of "fear" as exemplified in Proverbs means "awe and respect." I used the term "fear" in the sense of "frightened."

(Luke 12:5 KJV) But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.

Gentle Jesus meek and mild...

Do you believe the story of Adam and Eve? If they were created without original sin, how do you explain the fact that they disobeyed God?

The same reason that makes all of us sinners. Even without a sin nature we will sin. We can't be perfect, we can only strive to be perfect. That applies to Mary too. There is no scripture which says she was born without a sin nature and even if she was, she would have eventually come short of the Glory of God.

[P-Marlowe]

The fact is, trying to reconcile free will, predestination to eternal bliss, is futile,quite frankly I think God would rather us help the poor and love others rather then trying to figure out the mind of God

There's a lot of anathemas that have been issued over the the idea that perhaps Mary was not sinless and that she was not immaculately conceived and that she was not assumed into heaven. How does that help the poor? How does that encourage love of others?

Quite frankly it is a box of silly doctrines with no biblical or apostolic support.

[Coleus]

Thank you, Lone Palm..

It makes sense, would God the Father want to put His Son into something unclean?

When the Baby came, Mary was ready, Her heart, Her soul, Her whole being was Immaculate because God the Father wanted the most perfect, first tabernacle for his Son, the Savior He was sending into the world.

[P-Marlowe]

It makes sense, would God the Father want to put His Son into something unclean?

He was born in a manger. It doesn't get more unclean than that. He was descended from a blood line of murderers and prostitutes.

[Coleus]

He was born in a manger. >>

He was conceived by the Holy Spirit in Mary. Life begins at conception, not birth.

[P-Marlowe]

Life begins at conception, not birth.

For God there is no beginning. Christ's life did not begin with conception. His humanity began with conception.

Your whole argument is simply begging the question. You are appealing to emotion. The fact is that Jesus was sent into a fallen world to fellowship with fallen men and in the end to take upon him all the sins of the world. So it does not follow that he would have to be carried in a womb that was unstained by the sin of Adam. He took that sin upon himself at the cross. He died for everyone's sins, including Mary's.

[Coleus]

So it does not follow that he would have to be carried in a womb that was unstained by the sin of Adam. >>>

then the angel Gabriel and the Gospel of Luke was wrong?

[SaltyJoe]

Looks like this article had the effect I thought it would ;-)

I sometimes get tired of the anti-Jesus' Mother crowd. I've even heard someone call Jesus' Mom a "F-n' whore!" Wow! This is Jesus' Mom, people! You'd have more respect for your enemies' mothers than this!

I think the negative attitude against Jesus' Mom is more diabolical in origin. Here's the reason why. She is called "Star of the Sea". The "sea" is another name for the "abyss" or Hell. All manner of punishment/Divine Justice, and evil come from and go into the sea: Leviathan, mill stones around the neck and cast into the sea, the flood.

I love the poetry of it all. I love that Jesus doesn't sink! He's Baptized per obedience to God the Father and initiates the Sacramental life via Baptism. I LOVE that the head Apostle is a fisherman! The imagery is profound! The Apostles become fishers of men rescuing souls from the abyss! St Peter doesn't walk on water, just sinks a little (and it's when we sink to our knees that God rescues us).

So, where does Jesus' Mom fit in all this? How is she the Star of the Sea?

She too, rescues souls from the abyss. Why not? She earned it! Besides John, which other Apostle/disciple was present at Jesus' Death? Both a brave and brazen Mother. "Do whatever he tells you," and watch Jesus make some fabulous wedding wine! So where's the controversy in that? It's in Scripture word for word. Do doubters say that what the guest drank was merely symbolic? Guffaw! They were just too drunk to know the difference?!?! I guess that depends on what your definition of "is" is.

Being the Mother of God gives the woman rights where no one else can barter. Thus, She barters souls from damnation as is Her right. Why would any soul want to deny Her this?!?!?! She's here to keep you from being gobbled up by Satan (mankind suffers death and becomes "dirt", the serpent/Satan must crawl on its belly and eat "dirt" = fallen spirits hunger for and devour human souls via influencing and selling sin to mortal man).

The Blessed Virgin loves you, dear soul. For the sake of your soul, stop insulting Jesus' Mom!

Thus, hatred of the Blessed Virgin is demonic in origin. She removes souls from the abyss--souls who would otherwise be food for the devil. Satan goes hungry because The Blessed Mother is crushing its head. Blessed be Our Lady of Guadalupe!

[P-Marlowe]

then the angel Gabriel and the Gospel of Luke was wrong?

I don't follow your logic, or the lack of it thereof.

What are you implying? Did Gabriel say that Mary was without the stain of Adam's sin? Did Gabriel say that Mary was immaculately conceived? Did Gabriel say that Mary would remain a virgin forever? Did Gabriel say that Mary never sinned and never would? Did Gabriel say that Mary would be assumed into heaven? I can't seem to find those verses.

Does your Bible contain more words than mine? What version are you using?

[TomSmedley]

Being the Mother of God gives the woman rights where no one else can barter. Thus, She barters souls from damnation as is Her right. Why would any soul want to deny Her this?!?!?!

You invite us to deny the God who saved us, and the Gospel of redemption through His blood, and the fellowship with the Father that He invites us into, in order to embrace another means of salvation, an alternate savior, and therefore an alternate deity. A goddess, whose stature is so supreme that even the Blessed and Eternal Second Person of the Trinity becomes her errand-boy.

The salvation you are preaching is damnation, since it is predicated upon something other than what God has provided, at infinite cost to Himself. Those of us who have tasted, and rejoice in, supernatural redemption through the shed blood of Jesus Christ hold your bloodless "gospel" in contempt, as beneath contempt, as a tool of Satan for the eternal destruction of human souls.

[RichardMoore]

When the angel appeared to Mary in the Gospel his name for her was "Full of Grace." Those words come from the Holy Spirit. She is not a goddess, she is the mother of Jesus, our Savior. We are brothers in Christ Jesus and Mary is our mother. What son would not "Honor his mother and Father?"

[RichardMoore]

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