[NYer]

Mary "heard the Word of God and kept it? Do you mean to say that she was sinless? Is that your point? I realize that you have a Catechism but if I my direct your attention to Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, Where can I find an exception for Mary to that all encompassing statement?

Again, we go back to the original text in Koine Greek. Romans 3:23 and 5:12, (“all have sinned”) use the Greek word “pantes” for “all.”    “Pantes” is a derivative of  “pas,”  which has the following meaning, according to Strong's Lexicon:

MARY  AND  ROMANS  3:23

[gbcdoj]

Catholic theologians have traditionally held that "all have sinned" does apply to the Blessed Virgin. Cornelius a Lapide notes:

"The Blessed Virgin sinned in Adam, and incurred this necessity of contracting original sin; but original sin itself she did not contract in herself in fact, nor had it; for she was anticipated by the grace of God, which excluded all sin from her, in the first moment of her conception."

"All died, namely, in Adam, for in him all contracted the necessity of sin and death, even the Deipara; so that both herself and man altogether needed Christ as a Redeemer and His death. Therefore the Blessed Virgin sinned and died in Adam, but in her own person she contracted not sin and the death of the soul, for she was anticipated by God and God's grace."