Thursday, November 14, 2024

Day 70: The Immaculate Conception

To become the mother of the Savior, Mary "was enriched by God with gifts appropriate to such a role." The angel Gabriel at the moment of the annunciation salutes her as "full of grace". In fact, in order for Mary to be able to give the free assent of her faith to the announcement of her vocation, it was necessary that she be wholly borne by God's grace. CCC 490


In today's reading, the Catechism briefly covers the Immaculate Conception of Mary. She has been believed to be "free from any stain of sin, as though fashioned by the Holy Spirit and formed as a new creature" (CCC 493). I accept this dogma, one which makes perfect sense to me reading Scripture and within Catholic theology. She is the Theotokos/Mater Dei, the one who carried and gave birth to the Son of God. Christ is the New Adam and by God's grace, Mary is the New Eve, the Ark of the New Covenant.  As the Catechism Companion, Vol I notes:
The Church Fathers proclaimed that "the knot of Eve's disobedience was untied by Mary's obedience" and that we have "death through Eve, life through Mary" (CCC 494). (p. 144)
Some Orthodox accept this dogma, but many don't I believe mainly because of their  objections to Catholic teaching on the papacy. Most Protestants reject it, some referring to passages from Scripture like Romans 3:23. The Catechism Companion explains:
Mary "was redeemed from the moment of her conception". In contemplating how Mary could have been sinless, we must remember that she needed a Savior, too. Due to the sin of Adam and Eve, every human being other than Mary is conceived with original sin. Without the grace that comes from being baptized into Jesus, the life of saving grace would remain closed to us. Whereas original sin is washed away from our souls in Baptism, Mary was preserved from original sin by the merits that Jesus would soon win on the cross... [She] remained free from any personal sin, to be a perfect dwelling place for the Son of God. (p. 145) 
Having said all of this, I do have to wonder at the wisdom of dogmatizing it as Blessed Pope Pius IX did in 1854. There clearly was a belief in this dogma, which became more understood as time went on, but the Church survived for over a millennium with it being held by many and in the liturgy. It just seems to me that dogmatizing it, a stumbling block for some, was unnecessary. Nevertheless, it was, as I said makes perfect sense to me, and is part of the Catholic faith.

The Immaculate Conception (1767–1769)
by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo




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