Taken from this weekend's bulletin of a local church....
From The Friar's Desk
The truth about Mary's Immaculate Conception thanks to
the Franciscans a new discovery for the
Protestants!
.....even household duties, which she saw as the will of the Father
for her, were supremely valuable.....
by Friar Joseph Nasanathan,
ofm
In teaching that Mary was conceived immaculate, the Catholic Church
teaches that from the very moment of her conception, the Blessed
Virgin Mary was free from all stain of original sin. This simply
means that from the beginning, she was in a state of grace, sharing
in God's own life, and that she was free from the sinful
inclinations which have beset human nature after the fall.
History of the Doctrine
There are two passages in Scripture which point us to this truth.
We look first at Genesis 3.15, in which we see the parallel between
Mary and Eve of which the early Church Fathers already spoke: "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." The Jews saw this passage as referring to the struggle
between Christ and Satan, and so the Church sees in "the woman" a
prophetic foreshadowing of the Virgin Mary (Vatican II, Lumen
gentium, # 55).
If there is to be complete enmity between the woman and the
serpent, then she never should have been in any way subject to
Satan even briefly. This implies an Immaculate conception.
We can also reason from the text of Lk 1:28, in which the angel
calls her "full of grace". If we can validate the translation, then
in this verse we can see even more strongly the complete enmity
with the serpent--for God's grace is completely opposed to Satan's
reign. But if Mary was "full of grace," it seems that she must have
been conceived immaculate.
We turn to the early Fathers of the Church. First, many, not all of
them, make sweeping statements about her holiness. That could imply
an Immaculate Conception. Secondly, very many of them speak of her
as the New Eve. They could have reasoned: the first Eve had an
immaculate start in life--no sin was yet committed. So the New Eve,
who was to share in undoing the harm of original sin, should have
also an immaculate start. However, none of the Fathers actually
followed this line of reasoning.
The theological foundation for this truth was especially credited
to the great Franciscan school of theology of the middle ages. Here
especially to the work of Blessed Friar John Duns Scotus. He showed
that for God to preserve Mary from original sin was a greater
redemption than to allow her to fall into it and then rescue her.
Scotus wrote (cited from J. B. Carol, Mariology I, 36
: "Either God was able to do this, and did not will to do
it, or He willed to preserve her, and was unable to do so. If able
to and yet unwilling to perform this for her, God was miserly
towards her. And if He willed to do it but was unable to accomplish
it, He was weak, for no one who is able to honor his mother would
fail to do so."
Since then the Popes began to make statements of varying clarity.
Here especially we need to take note of Pope Sixtus IV a Franciscan
who became a Pope in 1477, praised the liturgical celebration of
the Immaculate Conception. The same Pope added further support in
1483 (DS 1425-26), condemning those who said it was sinful to
preach and believe the Immaculate Conception. The Council of Trent
explicitly declared in its decree on original sin (DS 1516)
followed by which it spoke about the Constitutions declared by pope
Sixtus IV on Marys Immaculate Conception to be observed.
Pope Pius IX, in the document, Ineffabilis Deus, defining the
Immaculate Conception in 1854 wrote: "He [God] attended her with
such great love, more than all other creatures, that in her alone
He took singular pleasure
that she, always free from absolutely
every stain of sin, and completely beautiful and perfect, presented
such a fullness of innocence and holiness that none greater under
God can be thought of, and no one but God can comprehend it."
We have said that Mary needed redemption, although she was never
subject to original sin. Nor did she have an "obligation" to
contract it, as some have foolishly said: there can be no
obligation to any sin. We can merely say she would have been in
original sin in the sense just explained, i.e. she would have been
born without grace, were it not for the preventive redemption. The
word "preventive" means anticipatory: the grace she received at her
conception was given in anticipation (Latin praevenire) of Christ's
merits, which earned that grace.
What about the words of Jesus in Lk 11:27-28 (cf. Mt. 12:46-50 and
Mk 3:35)? A woman in the crowd exclaimed: "Blessed is the womb that
bore you...." He replied: "Rather blessed are they who hear the
word of God and keep it."
The dignity of being Mother of God is a quasi infinite dignity, as
we just saw from the words of Pius XI. Yet here, our Lord is
teaching us that the holiness coming from hearing the word of God
and keeping it is something greater still. Her holiness must indeed
be great--so great that "none greater under God can be thought of,
and no one but God can comprehend it."
Even though Mary was full of grace at the start of her life, yet
she could still grow, for, as it were, her capacity for grace could
increase. The greater the love, the greater the merit. Love of God
means the attachment of our will to His. Her will adhered
supremely, with no obstacle at all, so that even ordinary household
duties, which she saw as the will of the Father for her, were
supremely valuable.
Joint statement by Anglican and Roman Catholic
Commission
A recent (May 2005) Joint Declaration of ARCIC (Anglican- Roman
Catholic International Commission) entitled: Mary, Grace and Hope
in Christ, makes the same point but in different context. For
several centuries, Mary the Mother of Jesus was a flashpoint of
controversy and of much pain in a relationship between Roman
Catholics and protestant. This document affirms that the Catholic
teachings on the Immaculate Conception and on the Assumption of our
lady are consonant with the teaching of scriptures and the ancient
common traditions. In other words, Christians on both sides
(Catholics and Protestants) are admitting that even in dogmas
specifically connected with body of Mary, one can in fact recognize
the deeper mystery of who Mary is, She is much more than the
biological mother of Jesus whom, as St Augustine pointed out, she
first was conceived in her spirit before he was conceived in her
body.
An ex-protestant who was a pastor and preacher now a
Catholic parishioner of St Marys once told me what the
Catholics honor in the Blessed Virgin Mary is a privileged truth
about our faith of which the Protestants are now slowly beginning
to discover. Thanks to the Franciscans who brought this truth to
the Church not just in theological statement of truth but also the
various ways in which the Church has honored Mary in the liturgical
celebrations and devotions.
The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of Mary is celebrated on
the 8th of December by the entire Church. I presume the Anglicans
would have something to celebrate this year. It is truly a feast
for all faithful, for what Mary is, for what she has done for us,
for what she is continuing to do in the redemptive work of Her Son
Jesus Christ leading sinners back to grace by her powerful
intercession.
Fr Joseph Nasanathan, ofm
19th/20th November 2005