The Immaculate Conception
THE
IMMACULATE CONCEPTION
Mario
D’Couto
Our Blessed Mother is the most noble and perfect of all
existing beings, human or angelic. She holds the highest place among creatures
in the order of grace and glory. Because of Her central position in the plan of
God, the study of Her mission and privileges will necessary widen and deepen
our understanding and appreciation of the various other phases of Catholic
theology. In the true sense, we can say that Mariology is like the compendium
of all other Christian dogmas. Hence, after the study of God Himself, no other
study is nobler and more excellent than that of His Holy Mother. The sources of
Mariology include, Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition. Speaking about Sacred
Scripture, there are many references that we can find in the Old Testament as
in Genesis 3:15, Isaiah 7:14, Jeremiah 31:22, Micah 5:2-3. In the New
Testament, there are other references that one can find as in Luke 1:26-38,
Luke 1:39-56, Matthew 1:18-25, Luke 2:1-7, Luke 2:22-38, John 2:1-11, John
19:25-27, Galatians 4:4 and Revelation 12: 1 – 18.
Sacred Tradition refers to the body of revealed truth not
contained in the Bible but transmitted from generation to generation under the
guidance of the magisterium or teaching authority of the Church. This not only
includes the early Fathers and Doctors of the Church but also the beliefs of
theologians and the faithful of subsequent centuries, including our own times.
Tradition has played a major role in the progressive development of Mariology.
Hence its importance cannot be underestimated.
Many of our separated brethren (Protestants) would like
to think of Our Lady just as a mere instrument who was chosen to bring forth
Our Blessed Lord and nothing else. But they are missing something that we
Catholics believe. To explain this, I would like to quote the following points
taken from St. Louis De Montfort’s book, “True Devotion to Mary” who explains
it in the following points,
1.
It was through the most holy Virgin Mary
that Jesus came into the world and it is also through Her that He will reign in
the world.
2.
Mary was singularly hidden during Her
life. It is on this account, that She is known as the ‘Alma Mater’ which when
translated means, “Mother secret and hidden”. Her humility was so profound that
She had no inclination on earth more powerful or constant than that of hiding
Herself, from Herself as well as from every other creature, so as to be known
to God only [this is clearly seen in the Magnificat where She acknowledges
God’s grace upon Her. Besides, Her constant exhortation is “Do whatever He
tells you” (John 2:5) not ‘what I tell you’]
3.
He heard Her prayers when She begged to be
hidden, to be humbled and to be treated as in all respects poor and of no
account. He took pleasure in hiding Her from all human creatures, in her
conception, birth, life, in Her mysteries, Her Assumption and Coronation.
4.
God the Father consented that She should
work no miracle, at least no public one, during Her life, although He had given
Her the power to do so. God the Son consented that She could hardly every speak,
through He had communicated His wisdom to Her. God the Holy Ghost, though She
was His faithful Spouse, consented that His Apostles and Evangelists should
speak very little of Her and no more than was necessary to make Jesus Christ
known.
5.
Mary is the excellent masterpiece of the
Most High, the knowledge and possession of which He has reserved to Himself.
Mary is the admirable Mother of the Son, who took pleasure in humbling and
concealing Her during Her life in order to favour Her humility, calling Her by
the name ‘woman’ as if She were a stranger, although in His heart, He esteemed
and loved Her above all angels and all men. Mary is the faithful Spouse of the
Holy Spirit to whom He alone has entrance. Mary is the sanctuary and the repose
of the Holy Trinity.
6.
Mary is the terrestrial paradise of the
New Adam, where He was made flesh by the operation of the Holy Spirit, in order
to work the incomprehensible marvels. She is the magnificent of the Most High
where He lived, as in Her bosom, His only Son and in Him all that is most
excellent and precious.
7.
The saints have said admirable things of
the holy city of God; and, as they themselves avow, they were never more
eloquent and more content than when they spoke of Her. Yet, after all they have
said, they go on to state that the height of Her merits, which She has raised
up to the throne of Divinity, cannot be fully seen; that the breadth of Her
charity which is broader than the earth, is in truth immeasurable; that the
length of Her power, which She exercises even over God Himself is
incomprehensible; and finally, that the depth of Her humility and of all Her
virtues and graces is an abyss which never can be sounded.
8.
St. Bonaventure tells us that all the
angels in Heaven cry out incessantly to Her: “Holy, Holy, Holy, Mary, Mother of
God and Virgin” and they offer to Her millions and millions of times a day, the
Angelic Salutation, Ave Maria, presenting themselves before Her, and begging of
Her in Her graciousness to honour them with some of Her commands. Even St.
Michael, as St. Augustine says, although the prince of the heavenly court, is
the most zealous in honouring Her and causing Her to be honoured and is always
anxiously awaiting the honour of going at Her bidding to render service to some
of His servants. The 9 choirs of angels, men and women of all ages, the good
and the bad, even the devils themselves, willingly or unwillingly are compelled
by the force of truth to call Her ‘Blessed’.
9.
The whole earth is full of Her glory,
especially among Christians. Many Cathedrals are consecrated to God under Her
name. There is not a Church without an altar in Her honour nor a country where
there are not some miraculous images where all sorts of evils are cured, and
all sorts of gifts obtained. There is not a child who does not praise Her
through the Hail Mary. There is scarcely a sinner who, even in his obduracy,
has not some spark of confidence in Her. The devils in Hell also respect Her
while they fear Her.
From the above points as mentioned by St. Louis De
Montfort, we can therefore infer that devotion to Our Blessed Mother does not
take away anything from our love for Jesus. It only increases it and enhances
it. Our Lady is the most perfect disciple of Our Lady. For although She is
indeed the Mother of God, as a human being, She was obedient to the will of the
Father and if I may add, even to Our Lord Himself. Let’s not forget that right
throughout Her life, despite given a huge responsibility, She never claimed any
credit but gave it all to God. There is nothing better than that moment where
Our Lord dying on the Cross said, “Son, behold your Mother” (John
19:27). Here Jesus, is giving His Mother to be our own Mother and thus we can
also say that She becomes our Co – redemptrix. She becomes our model in
following our Lord more closely.
Yet we can say that Our Lady’s role in salvation history
starts not just from the birth of Our Blessed Lord but from the time our first
parents fell. For God there is no past or future. Everything is eternally
present to Him including the complete chain of events which will take place, is
foreseen by Him. It is by the divine will that Our Lady was chosen to fulfil a
specific mission entrusted to Her by the Almighty. By this, it is obvious that
this mission is a positive act on the part of God from all eternity. This is
what Christian doctrine would call as the Predestination of Mary.
After the fall of our first parents, God Himself
addresses the serpent and foretells his punishment and utter defeat through the
instrumentality of a ‘woman’ and ‘her seed’ as it is written in the book of
Genesis, “I will put enmity between thee and the woman, between thy seed and her
seed; she shalt bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heel”
(Genesis 3:15).
I am not sure if you have had the experience of going
through a forest or a place where there are a lot of plants and you come across
a snake. Snakes don’t make noise and hence in this sense, it can be a little
dangerous because you’re not sure if a snake is there or whether it is going to
bite. But one thing you can do is to carry a stick or at least if you don’t
have a stick, it is recommended to talk (if you’re in a group) or if you’re
alone to have something in hand if for some reason you are alone, and you are
attacked by a snake. With this being said, we may just say that the devil’s
attacks are very subtle, and he is too shrewd and crafty. Just as a snake, he
will hide himself and bring you down not letting you know that it was him who
led you to sin. The sad part is that there are many people who don’t realize
it. It is like putting a frog in water and boiling it. When a frog is in normal
water it does not make a difference to it but if you heat up the water, it des
not realize that is actually being boiled. Sometimes we can become like that.
Hence we always need the grace and protection of our Blessed Lord and His Holy
Mother against the malicious attacks of the enemy, our eternal foe, who prowls
around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8).
It is in this context that over here God is predicting a
future, perpetual and absolute enmity between the woman and the devil and that
the struggle or enmity will eventually culminate in the utter destruction of
Satan’s empire. Surely, none of this applies to Eve who was, in a sense, a
friend of Satan and who in the subsequent pages of Sacred Scripture is
portrayed as such as is seen in 1 Corinthians 11, 2 Corinthians 11:3, 1 Timothy
2:14, the plain reason being that she gave in to the temptation of Satan which
in a way we could say that she was indirectly following Satan by putting
herself [her desire to become a god knowing good from evil (Genesis 3:5)]
rather by putting God first. Besides, the woman of this prophecy is shown
intimately sharing the victory of her seed over the informal foe. This victory
as we learn from and which is confirmed in later revelation, is embodied in the
redemptive work wrought by Christ. Since Mary, not Eve, was Christ’s co –
worker in the process of Redemption, we can certainly conclude that She is
indeed the Woman referred to in Genesis 3:15.
Having said that it would be necessary for Our Lady to be
conceived and born immaculate and while our separated brethren (protestants)
may not want to accept it, there is every good reason that Our Blessed Mother
was immaculately conceived. They are as follows,
1. Her
divine Motherhood:
Mary was predestined from all eternity to be the worthy Mother of God. Any
guilt of personal sin in Her soul would naturally render Her unworthy of so
sublime a prerogative, for the shame of a parent redounds to the disgrace of
the child.
2. Her role as Co –
redemptrix:
Mary was chosen by God to be the Co – redemptrix of humankind. And, as St.
Bonaventure, explains, “It is fitting
that the Blessed Virgin, through whom the shame of sin was taken away should so
overcome the devil as never to be his victim”.
3.
Her
dignity as Universal Queen:
Mary, by virtue of being the Mother of God
[if you would like to know why Our Lady is truly the Mother of God, feel free to checkout my previous blogpost/reflection called “In defence of Our Lady”, https://insightsfromacommonman.blogspot.com/2018/08/in-defense-of-our-lady.html], She is
also the Queen of all creation. And if She is the Queen of all creation, how
can She require her subjects to observe the laws of God if She Herself had
failed therein?
It
is therefore but obvious that since God had freely chosen Mary for all the
above offices, He owed it to Himself to bestow the grace of sinlessness and
impeccability upon Her soul. Our Blessed Mother therefore by a unique privilege
of God, was preserved free from all actual sin during the entire course of Her
life. This implies that She was never guilty of personal sin, either mortal or
venial, that She was immune even from the slightest moral imperfections or
willful violation or omission of any counsel of God or Her superiors. Yet as
noted earlier, this unique privilege was not due to Her own merit but to a
singular favour from God. She was predestined.
Another
argument in support of Our Lady’s Immaculate Conception can be found in Luke
1:28 where Angel Gabriel greets Our Lady, “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you.”
It must be borne in mind that these words, taken in themselves, do not
necessarily prove that Mary was without sin. They would still be true if our
Lady had been ‘full of grace’ only
from the time of the Annunciation and not from the very beginning of Her
existence. However, understood in the light of Catholic tradition, the words
spoken by the angel do refer to a fullness without time – limit, a fullness of
grace which extends to the very first moment of Mary’s existence. The argument,
therefore, is not purely and exclusively biblical but biblico – traditional.
So
how can we come to this conclusion? The answer lies in the original Greek text.
It has been found in the original Greek text, as written by St. Luke that he
does not use the adjective ‘full’,
but rather the perfect participle of the verb ‘to endow with grace’. Hence, a more accurate translation of the
Greek expression ‘kecharitomene’ would be
‘….. thou who has been graced’. This rendering does not in the least
diminish the force of the argument. On the contrary, it strengthens it, because
according to the Greek construction, the equivalent of this would be, “Hail, Thou, the graced One, par
excellence.”
We
therefore have evidence to show that Our Lady was indeed Immaculately conceived
from scripture, tradition and reason. It is not like Pope Pius IX just got up
one morning and decided to state the Immaculate Conception as a dogma
arbitrarily as if to say he had nothing better to do. We have good reason to
believe it and defend it.
Yet,
Jesus Christ our Savior, true God and true Man, ought to be the last end of
all other devotions else they are false and delusive. Jesus Christ, is the
Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end of all things. It is in Him
alone that the whole plenitude of the Divinity dwells together with all other
plenitudes of graces, virtues and perfections. Hence if we are to establish
devotion to Our Lady, it is only to establish more perfectly devotion to Jesus Christ
and to provide an easy and secure means for finding Jesus Christ and if it
removes us from Jesus, we should reject is an illusion of the devil. But on the
contrary, devotion to Our Lady is necessary for us as a means of finding Jesus
Christ perfectly, of loving Him tenderly and of serving Him faithfully. After
all was not our Blessed Mother the One closest to Him right from His birth? She
is truly indeed His most perfect disciple apart from being the Co – redemptrix
and the Mother of God.
It
was through Mary that God the Father gave His only – begotten to the world. The
world was unworthy says, St. Augustine, to receive the Son of God directly from
the Father’s hands. He gave Him to Mary in order that the world might receive
Him through Her. God the Holy Ghost formed Jesus Christ in Mary; but it was
only after having asked Her consent by one of the first ministers of His court.
During the 30 years of His life, Jesus Christ gave more glory to God the Father
by submission to His Mother than He would have given Him in converting the
whole world by the working of the most stupendous miracles.
Some
of our separated brethren (protestants) may be tempted to say, “Why so many Rosaries, so many confraternities
and so many external devotions to the Blessed Virgin? There is much ignorance
in all this. It makes a mummery of our religion. Speak to us of those who are
devout to Christ. We must have recourse to Jesus, Christ who is our only
Mediator. We must preach Jesus Christ; this is the solid devotion.” In a
certain sense, they are right, for as noted before, if Mary were to be more
than Jesus or equal to Him, that would be an intolerable heresy. But in the application
they make of it, namely to hinder devotion to Our Lady is very dangerous and is
a subtle snare of the evil one. The more we honour the Blessed Virgin, the more
we honour Jesus Christ, because we honour Mary only that we may the more
perfectly honour Jesus, since we go to Her only as the way by which we are to
find the end we are seeking, which is Jesus, as we clearly find it in the ‘Hail
Mary”, “Hail Mary full of grace, the Lord is with You. Blessed are You among
women and blessed is the fruit of Your womb, Jesus.” Notice, we are honouring both Our Lord and Our Blessed
Mother through this wonderful prayer. I think, the feast of the Immaculate
Conception is a good chance for us to prepare ourselves for the coming of Our
Lord as we will soon be celebrating the birth of our Blessed Lord keeping in
mind the words of our Blessed Mother, “Do whatever He tells you” (John 2:5).
Keep Mary in mind and Jesus will grow in your heart. Happy Feast 😊!
