THE DOCTRINE

In the Constitution Ineffabilis Deus

December 8, 1854

Pius IX pronounced and defined that the Blessed Virgin Mary

"in the first instance of her conception,

by a singular privilege and grace granted by God,

in view of the merits of Jesus Christ,

the Savior of the human race, was preserved exempt from all stain

of original sin."Immaculate Conception

Immaculate Conception

"The Blessed Virgin Mary . . ."

The subject of this immunity from original sin is the person of Mary at the moment of the

creation of her soul and its infusion into her body.

• The term conception does not mean the active or generative conception by her parents. Her body was formed in the womb of the mother, and the father had the usual share in its formation.

• The question does not concern the immaculateness of the generative activity of her parents. Neither does it concern the passive conception absolutely and simply (conceptio seminis carnis, inchoata), which, according to the order of nature, precedes the infusion of the rational soul.

The person is truly conceived when the soul is created and infused into the

body. Mary was preserved exempt from

all stain of original sin at the first moment of her animation, and sanctifying grace was given

to her before sin could have taken effect in her soul.

". . .in the first instance of her conception . . ."

• The formal active essence of original sin was not removed from her soul, as it is removed from others by baptism; it was excluded, it never was in her soul.

Simultaneously with the exclusion of sin. • The state of original sanctity,

innocence, and justice, as opposed to original sin, was conferred upon her, by which gift every stain and fault, all depraved emotions, passions, and debilities, essentially pertaining to original sin, were excluded.

But she was not made exempt from the temporal penalties of

Adam -- from sorrow, bodily infirmities, and

death.

”. . .was preserved exempt from all stain

of original sin. . ."

The immunity from original sin was given to Mary by a singular exemption from a universal law through the same merits of

Christ, by which other men are cleansed from sin by baptism.

Mary needed the redeeming Savior to obtain this exemption, and to be delivered

from the universal necessity and debt (debitum) of being subject to original sin. The person of Mary, in consequence of her

origin from Adam, should have been subject to sin, but, being the new Eve who was to be the mother of the new Adam, she was, by the eternal counsel of God and by the

merits of Christ, withdrawn from the general law of original sin.

Her redemption was the very

masterpiece of Christ’s redeeming wisdom.

". . .by a singular privilege and grace

granted by God, in view of the merits of Jesus

Christ, the Savior of the human race."

But the first scriptural passage which contains the promise of the redemption,

mentions also the Mother of the Redeemer.

Genesis 3:15 • The sentence against the first parents was

accompanied by the Earliest Gospel (Proto-evangelium), which put enmity between the serpent and the woman:

"and I will put enmity between thee and the woman and her seed; she (he)

shall crush thy head and thou shall lie in wait for her (his) heel."

PROOF FROM SCRIPTURENo direct or categorical and

stringent proof of the dogma can be brought forward from Scripture.

The conqueror from the seed of the woman, who should crush the serpent's head, is Christ;

The woman at enmity with the serpent is Mary.

God puts enmity between her and Satan in the same manner and measure, as there is enmity between Christ and the seed of the serpent.

Only the continual union of Mary with

grace explains sufficiently the enmity between her and Satan.

The Proto-evangelium, therefore, in the original text contains a direct promise of the Redeemer, and

in conjunction therewith the manifestation of the masterpiece of His Redemption, the perfect

preservation of His virginal Mother from original sin.

Mary was ever to be in that exalted state of

soul which the serpent had destroyed in man,

i.e. in sanctifying grace.

PROOF FROM SCRIPTURE

chaire kecharitomene, Hail, full of grace

indicates a unique abundance of grace,

a supernatural, godlike state of soul,

which finds its explanation only in the

Immaculate Conception of Mary.

But the term kecharitomene (full of grace) serves only as an illustration, not as a proof of the

dogma.

Luke 1:28 The salutation of the

angel Gabriel

The Ark was the holiest object in the OT

It was sacred because it carried the stone tablets of the Law that God gave Moses on Mount SinaiGod gave meticulous instructions

for constructing the Ark

• Made of indestructible acacia wood• Plated inside and outside with pure gold• Kept free from impurity and profanation

(Ex 25)God struck Uzzah dead because

he dared to touch the Ark(2 Sam 6:6-7)

Mary as the New Ark of the Covenant

A cloud of glory covered the tabernacle and Ark (Ex 40:34-35; Num 9:15)

Ark spent three months in the house of Obededom the Gittite (2 Sam 6:11)

King David asked: “How can the ark of the Lord come to me?

David leaped and danced before the Lord when the Ark arrived in Jerusalem (2 Sam 6:14-16

“And the angel said to her; ‘The holy spirit will come upon you, and the power of the most high will overshadow you’” (Lk 1:35)

Mary spent three months in the house of Zechariah and Elizabeth (Lk 1:26, 40)

Elizabeth asked Mary, “why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me” (Lk 1:43)

John the Baptist leaped for joy in Elizabeth’s womb when Mary arrived (Lk 1:44)

PROOF FROM SCRIPTURE

From the texts Proverbs 8 and Ecclesiasticus 24

(which exalt the Wisdom of God

and which in the liturgy are applied to Mary,

the most beautiful work of God’s Wisdom),

or from the Canticle of Canticles 4:7

"Thou art all fair, O my love, and there is not a spot in thee",

no theological conclusion can be drawn.

These passages, applied to the Mother of God, may be

readily understood by those who know the privilege of

Mary,

but do not avail to prove the doctrine dogmatically,

and are therefore omitted from the Constitution

"Ineffabilis Deus".

For the theologian it is a matter of conscience not to take an

extreme position by applying to a creature texts

which might imply the prerogatives of God.

Protestant Objections1. Not supported by scripture and contradicts Rom 3:232. They maintain the early church Fathers did not teach this doctrine.3. The doctrine means Mary did no need redemption through Jesus

Jack Chick

Obvious exceptions are children below the age of reason,

Jesus and Adam and Eve before the fall.

We consider Mary to be another exception.

Romans 3:23Paul is speaking of personal sins

people commit, as opposed to original sin we inherit.

Paul does not mean ”all” in an absolute sense, which would include every single person.

Rom 3:9-10Paul quotes David who is using all in the collective , (a whole group

gathered together), sense not in the distributive,

(each and every individual) sensePaul is saying there is no distinction

between circumcised and uncircumcised gentiles:

Both groups commit personal sins and both need to be justified by

faith.

This doctrine only deals with original sin.

However the Church also teaches that Mary was

never touched by personal sin.

The early church Fathers did not just teach Mary’s

freedom from original sin they taught Mary’s complete

sinlessness.

Mary as Second EveThe early Church Fathers realized

that individual players in the Fall of man had NT counterparts

•The devil a fallen angel brought the words of death to Eve

•Eve our mother in the flesh, disobeyed God and cooperated greatly in Adam’s sin, which caused the fall of the human race

•The angel Gabriel brought the words of life to Mary

•Mary was Jesus mother and perfect disciple, who obeyed God and contributed greatly to Christ’s redemptive mission.

The Fathers made the obvious connection: as Christ is the new Adam (1 Cor 15:45), Mary is the new Eve.

Mary as Second Eve

The early Church Fathers including St Justin and St.

Irenaeus were quick to realize this:

• The human race fell through Adam but Eve’s role was crucial

• Jesus redeemed the human race but Mary’s role was likewise crucial.

Sacred Scripture continually shows Jesus and Mary together in the pivotal

events of salvation

Jesus definitively

crushed Satan’s head on Calvary.

Mary was at Christ’s side on Calvary

Jesus refers to her not as mother

but as woman the new Eve.• Mary is the woman of Gn

3:15• The woman of Jn 2 who

launched Jesus’ ministry at Cana

• The woman at the foot of the cross in Jn 19

• And the woman of Rev 12 who fights against Satan with Jesus until the end.

The new Adam and the New Eve are on the same

victorious team.

Church Fathers Teach Sinlessness

St. Justin Martyr and St. Irenaeus:

Implicitly teach Mary’s freedom from all sin when they show her as the new Eve who reversed the first

Eve’s disobedience.• When Eve disobeyed she was

free from all sin and concupiscence (the inclination to sin)

• Her no was a perfect choice of the will

• For Mary’s obedience to undo Eve’s disobedience, Mary’s yes to god must be as perfect as Eve’s no

This can only be true if Mary were free from both sin and inclination to sin.

Later Father’s explicitly teach Mary’s sinlessness

St. Augustine (Nature and Grace)“Having excepted the Holy virgin Mary, concerning whom, on account of the honor of the Lord, I wish to have absolutely no

question when treating of sins—for how do we know what abundance of grace for the total overcoming of sin was conferred upon her, who

merited to conceive and bear Him in whom there was no sin?”

St. Ephraim (The Nisibene Hymns)“You Christ alone and your Mother are more beautiful than any other; for there is no blemish in you, nor any stains upon your Mother, who of my children can compare in beauty to these.”

St. Ambrose (Commentary on Psalm 18)“Lift me not up from Sara but from Mary, a Virgin not only undefiled but a Virgin whom grace has made inviolate, free from every stain of

sin.”

The Immaculate Conception seems to imply that Mary didn’t need a savior.

Sts. Bernard, Thomas Aquinas, Bonaventure and others felt this issued needed to be resolved before

the Church could dogmatically define what Scripture and tradition seemed to already teach:

Mary’s total sinlessness.

Duns Scotus:Proved that Mary’s preservation

from original sin did not remove her need for a redeemer.Mary’s preservation required a more perfect redemption: a preservative redemption.

Immaculate Conception

If a man pulled you out of quicksand he would be said to have saved you.If the same man stopped you from

falling in at all he simply saved you more perfectly.

Christ’s merits keep Mary from falling in at all.

On his merit the original sin of OT saints as well as any other sin

was forgiven.

Immaculate Conception

With this insight all debate over the

Immaculate Conception and Christ’s universal Redemption ceased.

Mary said yes to God with a perfect human nature which excludes

all sin and concupiscence.