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.

[G Larry]

You don't understand ANYTHING about Catholic beliefs regarding Mary.

I'm sure God appreciates your limiting His grace to the pregnancy. Where did you derive this little bit of wisdom from? "...And that would take all the grace God could muster...
Do you even think before posting this crap?
Mary is NOT a god or godess to anyone in the Catholic Church!

Instead of guessing the order of importance of things to Catholics, you might visit the Apostle's Creed.

[kawaii]

So you speak Koine Greek and Aramaic?

Because the folks who started my church did and do.

[nanetteclaret]

Yes, he complied an account - from oral instructions by the eyewitnesses who had been there who were ministers of the word.

[wagglebee]

Paul had been writing scripture all along...Says so right there in God's word, the bible...It's called epistles...

Epistle means letter. Paul wrote LETTERS to different communities. Others also wrote letters. Not all of these letters were determined by the Church to be part of Canon. Nobody ever went to Paul and said, "write scripture." He was asked for advice either in writing or verbally and he responded. Many of his letters were viewed as so important that they were transcribed and circulated throughout the Church. It wasn't until much later that the Church decided that they were part of Canon.

You got the same problem other folks have...You don't believe what God wrote...

Where does it say that God WROTE these letters? Is this the old "dictation" theory? If God simply wanted to "dictate" the Bible, why not just present it in completed format as He did with the Ten Commandments?

[wagglebee]

Unlike your church, I don't interpret the bible...I believe it as it's written...Try it sometime...

If that bizarre notion worked there would be the Catholic Church and Protestants. There would not be the Catholic Church and an uncountable number of Protestant denominations.

[Iscool]

The Cappadocians, along with St. Athanasius the Great, laid the pattern for formulating the doctrines related to the mystery of the Holy Trinity.

I hate to burst your bubble, but the Trinity is all over the bible...Both Testaments...

Sounds more like Athanasius and the rest of the group didn't figure it out til the 4th century...You can bet the Bereans in Acts knew about it...

[Salvation]

*8Doesn't it seem odd to you that folks that DO take God's Word literally couldn't possible join your church???**

They do all the time.

[Salvation]

**How are you going to lead a bible study when you don't believe it??? You don't believe in the millenial reign of Christ...You don't believe the Bride of Christ get married in Heaven...You somehow think the 'Woman' in Rev. 12 is Mary...**

How do you know this. Have you participated in a Catholic Bible Study on Revelation?

If you have, great. If not, you are spreading rumors. I will pray for you.

[Iscool]

We don't believe your heretical interpretation of it. But we definitely believe the Bible. We wrote it and put it together. Protestants got it from us, remember?

You keep saying that but how do you explain that you wrote the first scripture in 300 something or other that says Paul was writing it in the 1st century???

Epistles, and parchments, remember??? Your bible doesn't jive with your church history...

[nanetteclaret]

You don't get the part that were taught "by word" as well as written. What did St. Paul teach "by word?" He evidently thought the Thessalonians knew what he meant. Might it be things that one can't find in his epistles? It must be or otherwise he would not have said "by word OR epistle."

I'm still challenging you to read the Catechism of the Catholic Church. I also challenge you to read "Faith of the Early Fathers" by William Jurgens, so that you can understand what the traditions were.

[adiaireton8]

You keep saying that but how do you explain that you wrote the first scripture in 300 something or other that says Paul was writing it in the 1st century???

Paul was one of the Apostles who founded the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostlic Church. Paul was a Catholic. Do you think a Protestant church is built over his bones? No. It is a Catholic church that is built over his bones.

-A8

[kawaii]

it was articulated by these Bishops. It is not articulated together in scripture, nor are the natures specifically laid out in one place, that's why Arius was excommunicated for heresey for an interpretation of the trinity which would contradict Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition.

it is a fact that many of the early heresies rose from folks misarticulating the trinity.

[kawaii]

Paul was a Roman citizen but he spoke Greek, and was born in Cilicia in the Greek part of the empire.

I'd say he was an Orthodox Christian. :)))

[xzins]

The following verses testify that there was an AWFUL LOT of writing going on in the New Testament era. Some would have us think that Christians were idiots and could only sit around the campfire and tell tall tales...that writing was beyond them.

The following absolutely destroys such a nonsensical notion. The churches were getting correspondence from so many sources, that one wonders how they kept up with it.

One more important point about the relationship between these early Christians and the Apostles: They WROTE BACK -- "I Corinthians 7:1 'Now for the matter YOU WROTE about...'"


Mr 10:4
They said, "Moses permitted a man TO WRITE A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE AND SEND her AWAY."

Lu 1:3
it seemed fitting for me as well, having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out for you in consecutive order, most excellent Theophilus;

Lu 16:6
"And he said, 'A hundred measures of oil.' And he said to him, 'Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.'

Joh 19:20
Therefore many of the Jews read this inscription , for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Latin and in Greek.

Joh 19:22
Pilate answered, "What I have written I have written."

Joh 20:30
Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name. And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they *were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself *would not contain the books that *would be written.

Ac 15:20
but that we write to them that they abstain from things contaminated by idols and from fornication and from what is strangled and from blood.

Ac 25:26
"Yet I have nothing definite about him to write to my lord. Therefore I have brought him before you all and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that after the investigation has taken place, I may have something to write.

Ro 15:15
But I have written very boldly to you on some points so as to remind you again, because of the grace that was given me from God,

Ro 16:22
I, Tertius, who write this letter, greet you in the Lord.

1Co 14:37
If anyone thinks he is a prophet or spiritual, let him recognize that the things which I write to you are the Lord's commandment.

2Co 13:10
For this reason I am writing these things while absent, so that when present I need not use severity, in accordance with the authority which the Lord gave me for building up and not for tearing down.

Ga 1:20
(Now in what I am writing to you, I assure you before God that I am not lying.)

Ga 6:11
See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand.

Col 4:18
I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. Remember my imprisonment. Grace be with you.

2Th 3:17
I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand, and this is a distinguishing mark in every letter; this is the way I write.

1Pe 5:12
Through Silvanus, our faithful brother (for so I regard him), I have written to you briefly, exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it!

2Pe 3:1
This is now, beloved, the second letter I am writing to you in which I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder,

1Jo 1:4
These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete.

1Jo 2:1
My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;

1Jo 2:7
Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word which you have heard.

1Jo 2:8
On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true Light is already shining.

1Jo 2:12
I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you for His name's sake.

1Jo 2:13
I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I have written to you, children, because you know the Father.

1Jo 2:14
I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.

1Jo 2:21
I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no * lie is of the truth.

1Jo 2:26
These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you.

1Jo 5:13
These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.

2Jo 1:5
Now I ask you, lady, not as though I were writing to you a new commandment, but the one which we have had from the beginning, that we love one another.

2Jo 1:12
Though I have many things to write to you, I do not want to do so with paper and ink; but I hope to come to you and speak face to face, so that your joy may be made full.


3Jo 1:13
I had many things to write to you, but I am not willing to write them to you with pen and ink;

Jude 1:3
Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints.

Re 1:3
Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near.

Re 1:11
saying, "Write in a book what you see, and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea."

Re 22:18
I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book;

Re 22:19
and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book.

[adiaireton8]

Brother, indulge me if you will, that I may use the word 'Catholic' [without the word 'Roman'] to refer at least to that which existed pre-1054, and that which will exist again when you and I are in full communion. In that sense, I hope you will agree, Paul was Catholic, not Protestant.

-A8

[xzins]

That verse does not teach that accounts were not written.

[kawaii]

Ok I'll concede that one. :)

[kawaii]

It teaches to adhere to the doctrine of the church whether it is written down or not.

[xzins]

The eyewitnesses themselves wrote (had written) the accounts.

Many of these people could read and write.

Jesus opened the scroll in the synagogue and began to read. That was not unusual.

[kawaii]

for all this writing not one apostle wrote any book titled 'the clear and full teachings of the church volume 1-etc'.

It was the Apostolic Orthodox Catholic church which assembled together the true gospels and anathemized gnostic heresies.