The
depiction of a crescent moon, halo of 12 stars, blue robe, assumption into
heaven and a serpent underfoot brings to mind the picture of the Immaculate
Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. According to the teaching of the Catholic
Church, the Immaculate Conception was the conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
in the womb of her mother, Saint Anne, free from original sin by virtue of the
foreseen merits of her son Jesus Christ.
1.
Free from
original and personal sin
The
dogma of the Immaculate Conception says that Mary was preserved from any
strain. The Roman Catholic dogma clearly states “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.” Since she
was always free from original sin, the doctrine teaches us that from her
conception she received the sanctifying grace that would normally come with
baptism after birth. The Church holds that Mary was also sinless personally.
The decree of the Council of Trent says, “If anyone shall say that a man once
justified can sin no more, nor lose grace, and that therefore he who falls and
sins was never truly justified; or, on the contrary, that throughout his whole
life he can avoid all sins even venial sins, except by a special privilege of
God, as the Church holds in regard to the Blessed Virgin: let him be anathema.”
2.
Virgin
Conception
Very
often the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception i. e. Mary being conceived
without original sin is confused with the virginal conception of her son Jesus.
The term Immaculate Conception is many times misunderstood in the mass media.
The Holy See in 1677, condemned the belief that Mary was conceived virginally,
which as a belief was frequently coming up since the 4th Century.
The Church teaches that Mary was conceived by normal biological means and not
virginally. The Immaculate Conception deals with the conception of Mary herself
and not her son. Today Catholics believe that Mary wasn’t the product of a
virginal conception but that she was the daughter of human parents; whom we
know by the traditional names of Saint Joachim and Saint Anne.
3.
Redemption
There
is another misunderstanding which says that because Mary was immaculately
conceived she did not need a Savior. Pope Pius IX when defining the dogma in Ineffabilis Deus openly affirmed that
Mary was redeemed in a manner more sublime. He said that Mary was totally prevented from
contracting Original sin in view of the foreseen merits of Jesus Christ, the
Savior of the human race rather than being cleansed after sin. The Church
teaches that even if man would have never sinned and been sinless in the Garden
of Eden, he would still need the grace of God to remain in the state of
sinlessness.
4.
Dogma
Bishops
in various countries began to press for a definition as dogma of the teaching
of Mary’s Immaculate Conception during the reign of Pope Gregory XVI. In 1839,
Mariano Spada, a professor of theology published ‘A critical examination of the
doctrine of St. Thomas Aquinas, the Angelic Doctor, regarding original sin with
respect to the Most Blessed Virgin Mary’. Here Aquinas was interpreted as
dealing with the sanctification of the fetus within Mary’s womb rather than the
Immaculate Conception later formulated in the papal bull. His interpretation
relieved Pope Pius IX of the problem of having to foster a doctrine not in
agreement with Aquinas’ teaching.
At
the beginning of his pontificate and again after 1851, Pope Pius IX appointed
commission to investigate the whole subject. With support of the overwhelming
majority of Roman Catholic bishops, whom he consulted between 1851- 1853, he
promulgated the papal bull Ineffabilis
Deus (Latin- “Ineffable God”) which defined ex cathedra the dogma of the
Immaculate Conception.
We
declare, pronounce and define that the doctrine which holds that the Blessed
Virgin Mary, at the first instant of her conception, by a singular privilege
and grace of the Omnipotent God, in virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior
of mankind, was preserved immaculate from all stain of original sin, has been
revealed by God, and therefore should firmly and constantly be believed by all
the faithful.
— Pope
Pius IX, Ineffabilis Deus, December 8, 1854
The
dogma was defined in accordance with the conditions of papal infallibility, which
would be defined in 1870 by the First Vatican Council.
The
papal definition of the dogma declares with absolute certainty and authority
that Mary possessed sanctifying grace from the
first instant of her existence and was free from the lack of grace caused by
the original sin at the beginning of human history. Mary's
salvation was won by her son Jesus Christ through
his passion, death, and resurrection and was not due to her own merits.
5.
Veneration and
Patronage
The
Immaculate Conception is venerated in the Roman Catholic Church, some Oriental
Orthodox Churches and in the Anglican Communion. Korea, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Philippines, Portugal, Spain, United States, Uruguay are the countries
which are under the patronage of the Immaculate Conception. The Catholic Church celebrates the Feast of the
Immaculate Conception on
December 8; in many Catholic countries, it is a holy day of obligation or patronal feast, and in some a national public holiday.
