The Immaculate Conception of Mary
Written by: Bro. Rey V. Entila
CFD - Diocese of Bacolod
Immaculate Conception is the title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary as sinless at the moment her mother (St. Anne) conceived her in the womb. She enjoyed both freedom from concupiscence or human nature’s tendencies towards sin, and freedom from actual sin.
I. The Teaching of the Church
“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). “Through the centuries the Church has become ever more aware that Mary, "full of grace" through God, was redeemed from the moment of her conception. That is what the dogma of the Immaculate Conception confesses, as Pope Pius IX proclaimed in 1854:
‘The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin’” (CCC 491).
“The ‘splendor of an entirely unique holiness’ by which Mary is ‘enriched from the first instant of her conception’ comes wholly from Christ: she is ‘redeemed, in a more exalted fashion, by reason of the merits of her Son’. The Father blessed Mary more than any other created person ‘in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places’ and chose her ‘in Christ before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless before him in love’” (CCC 492).
“The Fathers of the Eastern tradition call the Mother of God ‘the All-Holy’ (Panagia), and celebrate her as ‘free from any stain of sin, as though fashioned by the Holy Spirit and formed as a new creature’. By the grace of God Mary remained free of every personal sin her whole life long” (CCC 493).
II. Old Testament Prefigurement
The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception is not explicitly revealed in Scripture, but is contained implicitly in the following passages.
“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel" (Gen. 3:15).
The proper context was that God was talking about the enmity between the serpent (the devil) and the woman (Eve). But since Eve was tempted and overpowered by the devil, the early Church Fathers read God’s word as the Protoevangelion (lit. “first good news”) predicting the war between the devil and the woman (Mary), and between the offspring of the devil and the offspring of the woman, Jesus. In contrast to the First Eve who was deceived and stained by sin, the Second Eve who is Mary is never deceived nor stained by sin. Just as the First Adam fell and all humanity fell, the Second Adam who is Jesus never shared in the downfall of man to sin, but overpowered both the serpent and sin to give new life to the fallen humanity. Thus the historic Church in her 2000 years of existence has always believed and therefore taught that Mary is conceived without sin.
The Old Testament Ark of New Covenant Foreshadowed Mary as the New Ark of the Covenant
Just as God commanded Moses to make the Ark of the Covenant made of purest gold to contain the Decalogue (literally, “Ten Words”), Virgin Mary was preserved by God from all stain of sin so that she will be the purest vessel to hold the sinless Word of God in her womb. “And you shall overlay it with pure gold, within and without shall you overlay it, and you shall make upon it a molding of gold round about. And you shall cast four rings of gold for it and put them on its four feet, two rings on the one side of it, and two rings on the other side of it. You shall make poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. And you shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, to carry the ark by them… And you shall put into the ark the testimony which I shall give you. Then you shall make a mercy seat of pure gold; two cubits and a half shall be its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth. And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work shall you make them, on the two ends of the mercy seat. Make one cherub on the one end, and one cherub on the other end; of one piece with the mercy seat shall you make the cherubim on its two ends. The cherubim shall spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, their faces one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubim be” (Ex 25:11-21).
God’s Ark of the Covenant cannot be defiled by mortal man for God punishes the transgressor with immediate death. Virgin Mary was more than the inanimate golden Ark for aside from being made in the image and likeness of God, she was made to be the immaculate container of the all-holy Son of God. Just as God created Adam and Eve immaculate who later succumbed to sin by disobedience, Mary who is the Second Eve was also given the grace of God to be immaculately created. But unlike Eve, she will never lose that grace by pride and disobedence. “And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there because he put forth his hand to the ark; and he died there beside the ark of God” (2 Sam. 6:7). The book of Chronicles repeats what terrible thing that happened to Uzzah, despite Uzzah’s good intention to save the ark from falling into the ground. God’s holiness is mysterious and beyond comprehension. “And when they came to the threshing floor of Chidon, Uzzah put out his hand to hold the ark, for the oxen stumbled. And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah; and he smote him because he put forth his hand to the ark; and he died there before God” (1 Chron. 13:9-10).
David himself, the greatest king of Old Testament Israel, honored (venerated) the Ark as an example to all God’s holy people. The Ark was venerated just as Mary is venerated above all God’s creatures, but adoration is given to God alone. The Catholic Church had through her 2000 years of existence, zealously guarded this great Scriptural and holy tradition of the chosen people of God. “David built houses for himself in the city of David; and he prepared a place for the ark of God, and pitched a tent for it. Then David said, "No one but the Levites may carry the ark of God, for the LORD chose them to carry the ark of the LORD and to minister to him for ever."… And they brought the ark of God, and set it inside the tent which David had pitched for it; and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God” (1 Chron. 15:1-2; 16:1).
The Old Ark of the Covenant and Mary the New Ark of the Covenant
Old Testament Ark of the Covenant Mary as New Ark of the Covenant
1.“And David arose and went with all the people who were with him from Baale-judah, to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the name of the LORD of hosts who sits enthroned on the cherubim.” (2 Sam. 6:2)
“In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a city of Judah” (Luke 1:39).
2.“As the ark of the LORD came into the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window, and saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD; and she despised him in her heart.” (2 Sam. 6:16)
“And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit” (Luke 1:41).
3. “And David was afraid of the LORD that day; and he said, "How can the ark of the LORD come to me?" (2 Sam. 6:9).
“And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?”
(Luke 1:43).
4. “And the ark of the LORD remained in the house of O'bed-e'dom the Gittite three months; and the LORD blessed O'bed-e'dom and all his household.”(2 Sam.6:11/ 1 Chron.13:14) “And Mary remained with her about three months, and returned to her home.” (Lk. 1:56)
There is a striking parallelism in the way the Ark of the Covenant of Old Testament was described and how Mary was described by Luke. First, David arose and the Ark was brought up to Jerusalem as Mary arose and went up to a hill country. Second, As David was in the presence of the Ark that contained God’s Word, he leaped and danced for joy, just as when the baby John the Baptist was in the presence of Mary the new Ark who conceived the Word of God, he leaped for joy. Third, just as David inquired how privileged he is that the Ark should come to him, Elizabeth who was filled by the Holy Spirit, expressed her deep gratitude how the mother (the Ark) of the Lord should come to her. Fourth, the Ark/ Virgin Mary stayed in the house for three months. These are not just mere accidental parallelism, but God’s Providence working in the inspired author of the Gospel.
III. New Testament Fulfillment
a. Synoptics
“And he came to her and said, "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!"…And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God… For with God nothing will be impossible." (Luke 1:28,30, 37). In both Old and New Testaments, it is always the human being who is made lower than the angels (Ps.8:5) who will salute/ greet the angel as a sign of reverence. But in the case of Mary, the archangel Gabriel saluted her with the royal greeting “Hail!”, signifying her greater dignity than him. Next, the angel addressed her with a proper name “full of grace”, an apositive given also to Jesus (Jn.1:14). This signifies her perfection given to her as grace by God, an immaculate perfection not only intensively but also extensively, that is, it will extend throughout her life.
“And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and she exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!” ( Luk 1:41-42). Elizabeth who was filled with God’s Spirit proclaimed Mary’s blessedness side by side with the blessedness of her Son. According to theologian Ludwig Ott (Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, p.201), “This parallelism suggests that Mary, just like Christ, was from the beginning of her existence, free from all sin.”
b. The Book of Revelation by St. John
The book of Revelation written by St. John depicts what he saw in heaven through the visions given to him by God. God’s temple symbolizes the new people of God and the Ark of the Covenant inside the temple is the new Ark who is the Blessed Virgin Mary. “Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple; and there were flashes of lightning, voices, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail” (Rev 11:19).
Since the original book of Revelation had not chapters and verses, John’s vision tells us that after seeing the Ark, he then describes the woman about to give birth to a son who will rule the world. This is undoubtedly Mary. “And a great portent appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; she was with child and she cried out in her pangs of birth, in anguish for delivery” (Rev 12:1-2).
Explanation of The Birth Pains of Mary as Spiritual, not Physical
Fundamentalist churches today, in stark contrast to their 16th century fathers and reformers, are skeptical of the teaching authority of the historic Catholic church and the teachings of their Protestant fathers. They are baffled by the verse in Rev. 12:2 which states “she was with child and she cried out in her pangs of birth, in anguish for delivery.”
Did Virgin Mary experience pangs in delivering the child Jesus? This question might satisfy the confused minds of Fundamentalists, but the Church’s answer is “No, she did not.” First, Isaiah predicted the day when the woman will not physically labor in childbirth. Just as many predictions of Isaiah referred to Jesus, this prediction specifically and traditionally referred to Mary. "Before she was in labor she gave birth; before her pain came upon her she was delivered of a son” (Isaiah 66:7).
Second, a survey of the verses below that what was described in the highly symbolic book of Revelation is not literal physical pain of childbirth, but an anguish for spiritual rebirth of spiritual children.
“Then the dragon was angry with the woman, and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and bear testimony to Jesus. And he stood on the sand of the sea.” (Rev. 12:17) The offspring described here are not physical ones but spiritual children, the thousands of Christians who followed the commandments of God and who resisted the devil. Therefore, the pangs of childbirth above is also spiritual. The Virgin Mary had only one Son, Jesus, but she has thousands upon thousands of spiritual children throughout the world. This is why the Church has always called her mother of all Christians.
St. Paul describes his suffering for Christians “My little children, with whom I am again in travail until Christ be formed in you!” (Gal 4:19). Creation waits for its final restoration for having been marred by sin “We know that the whole creation has been groaning in travail together until now” (Rom. 8:22).
The Old Testament describes the birth pangs used metaphorically for “What will you say when they set as head over you those whom you yourself have taught to be friends to you? Will not pangs take hold of you, like those of a woman in travail?” (Jer. 13:21). “The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up, his sin is kept in store. The pangs of childbirth come for him, but he is an unwise son; for now he does not present himself at the mouth of the womb” (Hos. 13:12-13). “Now why do you cry aloud? Is there no king in you? Has your counselor perished, that pangs have seized you like a woman in travail? Writhe and groan, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail; for now you shall go forth from the city and dwell in the open country; you shall go to Babylon. There you shall be rescued, there the LORD will redeem you from the hand of your enemies” (Micah 4:9-10).
IV. The Protestant Reformers on the Immaculate Conception
As with their strong belief that Mary is the Mother of God, the same Protestant Fathers (Luther, Calvin and Zwingli) also adhered to the Catholic faith that Mary was Immaculately conceived, free from the stain of original sin.
Martin Luther
"But the other conception, namely the infusion of the soul, it is piously and suitably believed, was without any sin, so that while the soul was being infused, she would at the same time be cleansed from original sin and adorned with the gifts of God to receive the holy soul thus infused. And thus, in the very moment in which she began to live, she was without all sin..." (Luther, Volume 4, 694.)
John Calvin
Although John Calvin was not as devoted as Luther to Mary, he called Mary the Holy Virgin.
"It cannot be denied that God in choosing and destining Mary to be the Mother of his Son, granted her the highest honor." (John Calvin, p. 348.)
Ulrich Zwingli
"I esteem immensely the Mother of God, the ever chaste, immaculate Virgin Mary." (Stakemeier, p.456.)
"Christ ... was born of a most undefiled Virgin" (ibid.)
"It was fitting that such a holy Son should have a holy Mother." (ibid.)
V. Objections from Fundamentalist Protestants and Other Sects Against the Doctrine of Immaculate Conception
“There is no scriptural basis for the doctrine (Immaculate Conception), and the earlier Catholic church fathers differed over the matter. Anselm held that Mary was born with original sin. Bernard of Clairvaux contended that she was conceived with original sin, but purified before birth. Thomas Aquinas and the Dominicans held this view, but Duns Scotus popularized the view that Mary was conceived without original sin, and his view eventually prevailed, although Pope Sixtus IV in 1845 and the Council of Trent in 1546 left the issue unresolved.” (Armstrong, p.121).
As to the objection above, it could be answered that, just like the doctrines of Trinity, Incarnation, the two natures of Christ or the hypostatic union which Protestants believe to be true even without the specific word written on the Bible, unknown to many Bible-believing Christians, it was the Catholic Church that coined these words in her centuries of struggles against different heretics in the history of the Church. In the same way, it was the Catholic Church that discerned and proclaimed from both the Bible and Apostolic Tradition the doctrine of Immaculate Conception and the other Marian doctrines.
It is the whole Church, the “pillar and the ground of truth” (1 Tim.3:15), guided “into all truth” by the Holy Spirit (Jn.14:26) and not the individual theologians in their own private opinions on contested matters that can define what is the official doctrine of the Church. St. Bernard of Clairvaux and St. Thomas Aquinas, great theologians they were, differed in their opinions about Mary. Yet, both of them were faithful and obedient children of the Church who would certainly succumb to the Pope when he officially proclaims the Immaculate Conception. If previous Popes and previous Church ecumenical councils did not define the Immaculate Conception, it doesn’t mean that the Church did not believe in it, in the same way that we cannot say that the Church only began believing in the Divinity of Christ and the Trinity only when these doctrines were officially proclaimed in 325 AD in the Council of Nicea. It was only in 1854 that the Pope officially proclaimed the dogma of Immaculate Conception, faithful and true to the teachings of both the Bible and Apostolic Tradition.
Fundamentalist Objections Based on the Erroneous Interpretation of Romans 3:23 ("All have sinned")
The verse that is often quoted out of context by Fundamentalists is “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23) to demolish the doctrine of the immaculate conception of Mary, stating that Mary was also subject to sin.
First, the Church agrees that she could have been had not for the “prevenient grace” of God that freed her from original sin before she was born. All other human beings are born with original sin but are saved by God later with his “restorative grace”. It is like that God washes through baptism the mudstains of sin all human beings but He specially prevented Mary from being stained by the mudstains before she comes into this world.
Second, the term “all have sinned” which indicates actual sin done in the past does not include everyone because the infants, the mentally retarded and severely senile could not commit sin since they have not reached or have lost mental discretion for knowing what is good or bad.
Third, this does not include Mary or Jesus either, because the former was graced by God to be free from original and actual sin, and the latter is the sinless lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (Jn.1:29).
Fourth, the word “all” (Gk. “pantes”) does not mean all without exception. The same Apostle writes, “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.” (1 Cor. 15:22). Yet, the Bible tells us that there were two men of God who did not die but were taken by God to heaven, Enoch and Elijah (Gen.5:24; 2 Kgs.2:11).
Fifth, the word “all” (“pantes”) is interchanged by Paul in the same chapter with the word “many” (Greek “polloi”). “Therefore as sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all men sinned.” (Rom. 5:12). “For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by one man's obedience many will be made righteous” (Rom. 5:19). Since many and not all are made sinners through the disobedience of Adam, the Church is correct in her belief and practice that Mary is an exception by the power of the grace of God as the angel said to Mary for with God nothing is impossible.
The next verse that Fundamentalists “prove” in futility against the exception of Mary from sin is: “…as it is written: "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands, no one seeks for God. All have turned aside, together they have gone wrong; no one does good, not even one." (Rom. 3:10-12)
The verse above was taken by St. Paul from Ps.14:1-3/Ps.53:1-3 where the Psalmist laments “The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds, there is none that does good. The LORD looks down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there are any that act wisely, that seek after God. They have all gone astray, they are all alike corrupt; there is none that does good, no, not one.” Note that proper exegesis tells us that we need to consider the proper context of the verse before interpreting or applying it correctly. This is the point when Fundamentalists commit a fatal flaw because the context does not talk about good and obedient people of God but “fools”, atheists, corrupt ones, not the righteous ones.
The Jews have the common figurative language which is called hyperbole or exaggeration to drive their point home. It should not be interpreted literally but as a figure of speech or literary style. Even Jesus who is well familiar of the Jewish customs employed hyperbole in his teachings. One example is when he said, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone” (Luke 18:19). Yet in another passage he said “The good man out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil man out of his evil treasure brings forth evil” (Mt.12:35). Moreover he said, “And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven” (Matt.23:9). Yet few chapters before he said, Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Matt.19:19).
VI. The Testimony of the Early Church Fathers
The early Fathers of the Church bravely held on to the constant Apostolic Tradition that the Mother of Jesus was specially graced by God from all men and women to be the pure vessel of His dearly beloved Son. As such, Mary was saved by God by prevention from sin and from committing sin, whereas all other men and women are saved by restoration from original sin to original sanctifying grace.
Immaculate Conception
Hippolytus. "He was the ark formed of incorruptible wood. For by this is signified that His tabernacle was exempt from putridity and corruption" (Orat. Inillud, Dominus pascit me(ante A.D. 235).
Origen. "This Virgin Mother of the Only-begotten of God, is called Mary, worthy of God, immaculate of the immaculate, one of the one" (Homily 1(A.D. 244).
Ambrose. "Mary, a Virgin not only undefiled but a Virgin whom grace has made inviolate, free of every stain of sin" (Sermon 22:30(A.D. 388).
Augustine. "We must except the Holy Virgin Mary, concerning whom I wish to raise no question when it touches the subject of sins, out of honour to the Lord; for from Him we know what abundance of grace for overcoming sin in every particular was conferred upon her who had the merit to conceive and bear Him who undoubtedly had no sin" Nature and Grace,42[36](A.D.415).
John of Damascus. "O most blessed loins of Joachim from which came forth a spotless seed! O glorious womb of Anne in which a most holy offspring grew" Homily I in Nativ.(ante A.D. 749).
St. Thomas Aquinas on Mary's state of grace
"I answer that, God so prepares and endows those, whom He chooses for some particular office, that they are rendered capable of fulfilling it, according to 2 Cor. 3:6: '(Who) has made us fit ministers of the New Testament.' Now the Blessed Virgin was chosen by God to be His Mother. Therefore there can be no doubt that God, by His grace, made her worthy of that office, according to the words spoken to her by the angel (Lk. 1:30,31): 'Thou has found grace with God: behold thou shall conceive,' etc. But she would not have been worthy to be the Mother of God, if she had ever sinned. First, because the honor of the parents reflects on the child, according to Prov. 17:6: 'The glory of children are their fathers': and consequently, on the other hand, the Mother's shame would have reflected on her Son. Secondly, because of the singular affinity between her and Christ, who took flesh from her: and it is written (2 Cor. 6:15): 'What concord has Christ with Belial?' Thirdly, because of the singular manner in which the Son of God, who is the 'Divine Wisdom' (1 Cor. 1:24) dwelt in her, not only in her soul but in her womb. And it is written (Wis. 1:4): 'Wisdom will not enter into a malicious soul, nor dwell in a body subject to sins.'
"We must therefore confess simply that the Blessed Virgin committed no actual sin, neither mortal nor venial; so that what is written (Cant 4:7) is fulfilled: 'Thou art all fair, O my love, and there is not a spot in thee,' etc" (Summa Theologiae III:27:4).
