The Problem With “Mary Did You Know” (The hymn that cancels Christmas)

Aletelia ^ | December 9, 2015 | FR ROBERT MCTEIGUE, SJ

[NYer]

Can a hymn cancel Christmas? Can the lyrics of a song, if true, make Christmas not true — that is to say, un-real? Oh, yes!

Now, it is a given that honorable people may disagree about which piece of music is more suitable to reverence the birth of Christ. (I myself prefer Handel’s Messiah to “The Little Drummer Boy.”) And while there are any number of “secular” Christmas songs that ignore Christ altogether, they are just distractions. What I have in mind is a song that, if taken seriously, makes impossible what Christians celebrate at Christmas. I might even call that song a “hymn” because I once heard it sung in a parish at Christmas Eve Mass. I am writing about it now for that reason, and also because I’ve heard so many Catholics speak so effusively about it, especially when it is sung at Christmas masses. I’m speaking of a song made popular by former American Idol star Clay Aiken: “Mary Did You Know?”

While the song has the merits of prompting its hearers to reflect on Mary beholding her Divine Son, lines from the very first stanza actually bring Christmas to a screeching halt. Here are the problematic lyrics:

“Did you know that your Baby Boy has come to make you new? This Child that you delivered will soon deliver you.”

Now, those lines make sense if Mary is another sinner just like us, who needs to be delivered from sin. You see, if Mary is a sinner who like us needs a savior, then the lyricist’s play on the word “deliver” (sense 1: “deliver” = “give birth”; sense 2: “deliver” = “liberate from sin”) is both clever and theologically sound. But if Mary is a sinner in need of a savior, then she cannot be the worthy vessel in whom the All-Holy God takes on human nature as the Word-Made-Flesh. In other words the lyrics depend upon the dogma of the Immaculate Conception being false. If Mary needs a Savior, then she cannot be the vessel of the Incarnation. And “No-Incarnation” = “No-Christmas.” How ironic that a song sung with so much gusto as a Christmas hymn logically precludes what it claims to celebrate!

Let’s take a look at the Apostolic Constitution, Ineffabilis Deus, promulgated by Pope Pius IX on December 8, 1854, which defined the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. Pius begins by summarizing this ancient doctrine: “From the very beginning, and before time began, the eternal Father chose and prepared for his only begotten Son a mother in whom the Son of God would become incarnate and from whom, in the blessed fullness of time, he would be born into this world.” Mary was not, and could not have been, just any woman, just any sinner, selected by God to be the mother of His Only Begotten Son.

Pius reflects on the dogma of the Immaculate Conception in a way that shows that sound theology can be eloquent, even poetic:

The Virgin Mother of God would not be conceived by Anna before grace would bear its fruits; it was proper that she be conceived as the first-born, by whom ‘the first-born of every creature’ would be conceived. They testified too that the flesh of the Virgin, although derived from Adam, did not contract the stains of Adam, and that on this account the most Blessed Virgin was the tabernacle created by God himself and formed by the Holy Spirit … she is beautiful by nature and entirely free from all stain; that at her Immaculate Conception she came into the world all radiant like the dawn. For it was certainly not fitting that this vessel of election should be wounded by the common injuries, since she, differing so much from the others, had only nature in common with them, not sin. In fact, it was quite fitting that, as the Only Begotten has a Father in heaven, whom the Seraphim extol as thrice holy, so he should have a Mother on earth who would never be without the splendor of holiness.

How much more beautiful, sublime, and awe-inspiring is the Immaculate Conception as the prelude to Christmas — far more so than the well-intentioned but erroneous sentimentality of the lyrics of “Mary Did You Know?”

Pius sums up the dogma of the Immaculate Conception with this definition:

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 Savior 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.

We are now in the second week of Advent. Prepared or not, we will soon find ourselves in the Christmas season. To find the truth of Christmas, to find the great gift of God which is the real “reason for the season,” we cannot avoid, forget or deny the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. No piece of music, not even Handel’s Messiah can express all of the wonder of Incarnation and the glory of Christmas. Silly, secular songs can distract us from Christmas. Some songs, like “Mary Did You Know,” even if very affecting in a sentimental way, actually preclude Christmas. This Christmas season, let’s give our family and friends the gift of Christmas truth. “O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!”

[metmom]

Protestants reject the notion of ecclesial infallibility, maintaining that no person, church, or denomination has been preserved from error in its teachings. Which means that anyone could be wrong, and no person or institution can be trusted with speaking the truth of divine revelation without error.

That's right. That's why born again believers adhere to the ONLY source of Truth known to mankind.

Scripture.

Jesus says here......John 17:17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.

He never stated that He would protect the Catholic church from errors in doctrine.

The Orthodox state that Mary was not immaculately conceived, and the Roman Catholic church claim she was.

Both claim to be the original Catholic church that Jesus Himself founded with the other being wrong.

Two opposing statements are both true?

Do tell.

Tell us how that works and who's right and why.

[Salvation]

27. God chose to be born of a virgin; centuries earlier He disclosed this through
the prophet Isaiah (cf. Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:22-23). God, “before all ages made
choice of, and set in her proper place, a mother for His only-begotten Son from
whom He, after being made flesh, should be born in the blessed fullness of time:
and He continued His persevering regard for her in preference to all other crea-
tures, to such a degree that for her alone He had singular regard” (Pius IX, “Inef-
fabilis Deus,” 2). This privilege granted to our Lady of being a virgin and a mother
at the same time is a unique gift of God. This was the work of the Holy Spirit
“who at the conception and the birth of the Son so favored the Virgin Mother as
to impart fruitfulness to her while preserving inviolate her perpetual virginity” (”St.
Pius V Catechism,” I, 4, 8). Paul VI reminds us of this truth of faith: “We believe
that the Blessed Mary, who ever enjoys the dignity of virginity, was the Mother of
the incarnate Word, of our God and Savior Jesus Christ” (”Creed of the People of
God”, 14).

Although many suggestions have been made as to what the name Mary means,
most of the best scholars seem to agree that Mary means “lady”. However, no
single meaning fully conveys the richness of the name.

28. “Hail, full of grace”: literally the Greek text reads “Rejoice!”, obviously referring
to the unique joy over the news which the angel is about to communicate.

“Full of grace”: by this unusual form of greeting the archangel reveals Mary’s
special dignity and honor. The Fathers and Doctors of the Church “taught that
this singular, solemn and unheard-of-greeting showed that all the divine graces
reposed in the Mother of God and that she was adorned with all the gifts of the
Holy Spirit”, which meant that she “was never subject to the curse”, that is, was
preserved from all sin. These words of the archangel in this text constitute one
of the sources which reveal the dogma of Mary’s Immaculate Conception (cf.
Pius IX, “Ineffabilis Deus”; Paul VI, “Creed of the People of God”).

“The Lord is with you!”: these words are not simply a greeting (”the Lord be with
you”) but an affirmation (”the Lord is with you”), and they are closely connected
with the Incarnation. St. Augustine comments by putting these words on the
archangel’s lips: “He is more with you than He is with me: He is in your heart,
He takes shape within you, He fills your soul, He is in your womb” (”Sermo De
Nativitate Domini”, 4).

[Salvation]

27. God chose to be born of a virgin; centuries earlier He disclosed this through
the prophet Isaiah (cf. Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:22-23). God, “before all ages made
choice of, and set in her proper place, a mother for His only-begotten Son from
whom He, after being made flesh, should be born in the blessed fullness of time:
and He continued His persevering regard for her in preference to all other crea-
tures, to such a degree that for her alone He had singular regard” (Pius IX, “Inef-
fabilis Deus,” 2). This privilege granted to our Lady of being a virgin and a mother
at the same time is a unique gift of God. This was the work of the Holy Spirit
“who at the conception and the birth of the Son so favored the Virgin Mother as
to impart fruitfulness to her while preserving inviolate her perpetual virginity” (”St.
Pius V Catechism,” I, 4, 8). Paul VI reminds us of this truth of faith: “We believe
that the Blessed Mary, who ever enjoys the dignity of virginity, was the Mother of
the incarnate Word, of our God and Savior Jesus Christ” (”Creed of the People of
God”, 14).

Although many suggestions have been made as to what the name Mary means,
most of the best scholars seem to agree that Mary means “lady”. However, no
single meaning fully conveys the richness of the name.

28. “Hail, full of grace”: literally the Greek text reads “Rejoice!”, obviously referring
to the unique joy over the news which the angel is about to communicate.

“Full of grace”: by this unusual form of greeting the archangel reveals Mary’s
special dignity and honor. The Fathers and Doctors of the Church “taught that
this singular, solemn and unheard-of-greeting showed that all the divine graces
reposed in the Mother of God and that she was adorned with all the gifts of the
Holy Spirit”, which meant that she “was never subject to the curse”, that is, was
preserved from all sin. These words of the archangel in this text constitute one
of the sources which reveal the dogma of Mary’s Immaculate Conception (cf.
Pius IX, “Ineffabilis Deus”; Paul VI, “Creed of the People of God”).

“The Lord is with you!”: these words are not simply a greeting (”the Lord be with
you”) but an affirmation (”the Lord is with you”), and they are closely connected
with the Incarnation. St. Augustine comments by putting these words on the
archangel’s lips: “He is more with you than He is with me: He is in your heart,
He takes shape within you, He fills your soul, He is in your womb” (”Sermo De
Nativitate Domini”, 4).

[ADSUM]

Jesus established His church before His Death and gave His authority to the Catholic Church and His Apostles orally and it was later reported in the written Word.

I thought you knew that the New Testament was written after the Death and Resurrection of Jesus.

[ADSUM]

The references were posted.

[editor-surveyor]

.
You can caution all you want, but that is what the plain word of God says.

It also plainly says that Mary was a sinner.

If Mary could be born sinless we would not need a savior.

Romans 3:

[10] As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
[11] There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
[12] They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
[13] Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:
[14] Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:
[15] Their feet are swift to shed blood:
[16] Destruction and misery are in their ways:
[17] And the way of peace have they not known:
[18] There is no fear of God before their eyes.

Mary was born with the sins of her father.

A clone could not have a spirit, Your ramblings on the machinations of men is typical catholic jibber-jabber, coming from the church that worships man and his idols, art, buildings, and pieces of dead people preserved in the most macabre manner.

[ADSUM]

Jesus said his Church would be “the light of the world.” He then noted that “a city set on a hill cannot be hid” (Matt. 5:14). This means his Church is a visible organization. It must have characteristics that clearly identify it and that distinguish it from other churches. Jesus promised, “I will build my Church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18). This means that his Church will never be destroyed and will never fall away from him. His Church will survive until his return.

Among the Christian churches, only the Catholic Church has existed since the time of Jesus. Every other Christian church is an offshoot of the Catholic Church. The Eastern Orthodox churches broke away from unity with the pope in 1054. The Protestant churches were established during the Reformation, which began in 1517. (Most of today’s Protestant churches are actually offshoots of the original Protestant offshoots.)

Only the Catholic Church existed in the tenth century, in the fifth century, and in the first century, faithfully teaching the doctrines given by Christ to the apostles, omitting nothing. The line of popes can be traced back, in unbroken succession, to Peter himself. This is unequaled by any institution in history.

http://www.catholic.com/documents/pillar-of-fire-pillar-of-truth

[ADSUM]

The facts from Lourdes have been well documented and are posted on their website. They have been verified and many blessings have come.

When someone comments that something is false, then they should have the common courtesy to dispute the facts and provide support for their claim instead just a blanket personal opinion without reason or facts.

Well the provide the evidence. It appears that there is a lot of volume but little substance?

[ADSUM]

Look up the definition of grace before you make untrue statements.

[huldah1776]

Divinity had nothing to do with it. Otherwise, why become a man?

[BlueDragon]

Oh, not this again.

This time from one ROBERT MCTEIGUE, SJ (a Jesuit).

Is there anything as pesky as a pesky Jesuit? There probably is, but I'd prefer to not think about it too much, it could ruin Christmas.

But quick, somebody check that Jesuit's private, uh, water closet cabinets to see if he's hiding foundation make-up used to hide albinoism.

Wouldn't want one of *those* sneaking up on anybody would we?

Or one of these green guys;

Oh you're a mean one
Mr. Grinch
You really are a heel...
either.

[BlueDragon]

"He who is holy has done great things for me!"

Are we to suppose that included that she knew that she had been "immaculately conceived", and was herself (and quite unlike everyone else!) entirely without what can be referred to as "sin nature"?

That fallen nature, although affecting flesh (flesh and blood itself, narrowly considered) is not of flesh itself in origin, but instead is of spirit.

Yet, to say what she is attributed to having spontaneously, joyously exclaimed (said more in full than what is italicized above), she would have had to have known of her own [alleged] immaculate conception when she recognized God as her savior --- provided she was not as most anyone else-- born under the curse of Adam, and knowing that instead.

Note too that among the Hebrews that fallen nature was not said to come from Eve, but from Adam.

Going by Hebrew religious understanding;

Remove earthly father from the equation -- problem solved. No inherited "sin nature".

Who was Jesus's own earthly sire? Oh wait! There wasn't one. Problem solved.

That King of the Jews --- what a guy, huh? None other can be compared to him, Immanuel, God with us.

[BlueDragon]

This will be upon us sooner than most people realize, as humans are propagated by the new reproductive technologies, e.g. cloning and stem-cell-based Y gametes generated from female genetic material.

While we're roaming the wide boulevards of Speculation City, I must say that deriving a y from an x would be a neat trick.

Yet how could any human x chromosome not be (perceived to be) tainted?

Among human beings, males contribute one x in every xx pairing.

Where to find an x (to make a 'perfect' y) that is not copy of an x which was at some time within male xy lineage? We're all stuck (billion year-old carbon, anyone?).

Besides, the fall of Adam was not of the flesh (flesh and blood) but instead was of spirit.

All the physical xy and xx is material realm. We are not condemned for reason of being born physically, but instead are condemned from birth because we inherit Adam's fallen spirit nature/sin nature. (see John, chapter 3 for the cure).

Yet if we are to focus upon the stuff of human material existence, perhaps think of the conception of Christ within Mary ---there being no earthly father, at that moment, contributing genetic materials, right?--- in light of epigenetics ---which theory regards how external influences effect gene expression, which expression derived from DNA coding can result in differing phenotype.

The Spirit "overshadowing" Mary causing her to conceive === the Ultimate in human realm DNA methylation event and histone modification(?) ---resulting in the New Adam.

Tah-dah! All fixed, ship-shape and shiny like new.

Where then need then for perfect vessel not tainted by sin? From the onset of pregnancy, whatever flaws there were, inherited from Adam on Mary's side of the family (Jesus was Jewish on his mother's side, don'tcha' know?) were set a-right by this Great I Am external [ahem] environmental factor that caused Mary to conceive within herself (I would assume, utilizing her own naturally produced ovum).

That's every bit as good speculation as is the insisted upon dogmatic of Mary herself needing to have been immaculately conceived.

[Mom MD]

Try the pentatonix version Its amazing!

[metmom]

Because the focus is taken off Jesus.

That’s the first indicator that the vision is not from God.

[Nervous Tick]

>> you are closing your mind and heart to one of the greatest acts of God in His plan for salvation, the example of perfect Christian love and devotion presented by His mother, Mary.

That’s a straw man of your own invention. I may not agree that Mary was without sin but that doesn’t diminish my love and respect for her. And I worship and praise and thank ALMIGHTY GOD for His perfect plan of salvation every single day.

[metmom]

I suppose then that the RCC has its own handy redefinition of the word *grace* that allows it to make up its own doctrine.

[metmom]

Still trying to get an answer out of the Catholics as to why Mary did not need a sinless mother to carry her, if Jesus was so fragile as to need a sinless mother to carry Him.

She must be tougher and more special than Him.

[metmom]

I didn’t think so.

No Catholic has ever been able to back up that claim and verify it with documented sources.

[I-ambush]

Not of my or the Catholic church’s invention, but part of God’s plan for our salvation from before the beginning of time. As your mind and heart are closed in this matter, we must part, and I hope as friends.