4:3 Immaculate Conception of Mary

The two dogmas Immaculate Conception and Assumption turned to the person of Mary. With these two
dogmas Mary takes a different turn. It is with regard to her personal sanctity and holiness. Some theologians
put these two under the holiness of Mary. This turn to the person of Mary seems to disturb the Christocentric
orientation. If so then, Mary becomes theologically irrelevant. Does this actually happen?
Theology is a reflection on the entire mystery of salvation begins with God, includes man and in Christ man
becomes a new creation. Therefore, Christ is the source and center of this renewed humanity. It isa new
creation in Christ. Mary is the type of this renewed humanity because Mary was personally involved in
Christ’s life and work in a unique manner. Mary becomes the type because the entire Church sees in Mary the
pattern of Christian calling. Thus, turn into the person of Mary does not in anyway discard the Christocentric
orientation rather it very strongly relates it to the human reality.
The Immaculate Conception is the most popular and in the mind of the faithful perhaps it can be the most
beautiful title of all the titles given to Mary. This dogma is defined by Pope Pius ix on 08 th Dec. 1854. At this
juncture one has to distinguish between the Immaculate Conception of Mary and Virginal Conception of
Mary.
The Immaculate Conception of Mary is the conception of Mary in the womb of her mother. It is not
understood as the virginal conception. Mary is the fruit of her love of her parents. The virginal conception of
Jesus is the conception of Jesus in the womb of Mary without the cooperation of Joseph. Incidentally the
conception of Jesus is both virginal and Immaculate. The conception of Jesus is Immaculate because Jesus
was also sinless from the moment of His becoming human in the womb of Mary. However ordinarily the title
Immaculate Conception is reserved for Mary.

4:3:1 Mary’s Holiness

divine Holiness means all the life and goodness that God possesses. It is an attribute belongs to God.
Holiness is something beyond creation. In the OT Israel became God’s people not because they were good
but because of God’s will. In the NT followers of Jesus called Holy temple of God. Therefore, holiness is
ascetical way of living and ethical way of life. All holiness in Church is coming through Jesus Christ. It is
based on the free invitation of God to share in His life. This invitation of God has to be responded and to
realise in the newness of life.
Holiness we speak of first realised in Mary. Mary’s holiness therefore does not isolate her from the Christian
community, but makes her the model of the whole Church. All holiness is rooted in God’s free choice. The
unique holiness of Mary celebrated in the Immaculate Conception of her in special ways in God’s plan of
salvation. Her holiness consists in the uniqueness and the totality of her union with God. The individuals
touched by God may accept or refuse the invitation to true life in holiness.
It is different with Mary. She is absolutely included in God’s plan of salvation as the mother of the saviour.
She is included in it from the beginning. Beginning here signifies more than time but, the first moment of
earthly existence. It means in view of her unique vocation God’s love envelops her entire being from her
conception through all stages of her life. It expresses the wholeness of her being, the wholeness given from
the beginning.
However, this wholeness, totality and absoluteness did not remove Mary from our earthly situations and
struggles. She remains human. Holiness does not make her path of faith smooth and easy. Her way leads
through doubts; it reminds evermore radical renunciation of all earthly hopes; it even leads her into the utter
darkness of Golgotha; abiding grace calls for unflinching faithfulness. Through her years of her earthly life
of splendour, the Immaculate Conception remains hidden and it diminishes in no way the agony of her
motherhood who witnesses the ruin of her child. In her holiness Mary remains our sister, our companion on
the path of faith.

4:3:2 Mary’s Holiness in Tradition

Mary’s holiness was acknowledged by the early fathers of the Church and already from early times the
religious writers spoke of the sinlessness of Mary. The deacon Ephrem the Syrian is the most eloquent
witness of Mary’s holiness. ‘Truly you (Lord) and your mother are the only ones who are totally beautiful
because in you Lord there is no stain nor is there any blame in your mother’. St. Ambrose refers to Mary, ‘as
free from all stains of sin’. The tradition of Mary’s holiness is expressed in the liturgy too. In the 7 th century
the feast of Mary’s nativity and conception was introduced in the Western Church. The Oriental Church too
accepted the Immaculate Conception of Mary from the 11th century.
The Western tradition soon got entangled in the controversies on original sin which caused serious problems.
Hence the theological formulation of the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception was wrought with
difficulties from the 4th century onwards with the influence of Neo-Platonism and Manicheism. Christian
writers including St. Augustine taught that the sexual act (even in the Christian marriage) was a disorder
which transmitted original sin. Given such a view how could Mary born of a father and a mother escape
original sin.
Added to these problems, there was the most important theological and biblical problem. Christ is the
redeemer of all human kind. If Mary was to exempt from all sins including original sin, then Jesus can not be
said to be the redeemer of Mary, in which case Jesus in not the redeemer of the universal human kind. St.
Augustine taught the universality of sin in all the descendants of Adam. Theologically he had to place Mary
and all the saints under sin. But, according to St. Augustine Mary was given a greater measure of grace to
conquer sin. But all the other saints are under sin.
But still in the mind of St. Augustine conquering implied that Mary at the beginning was subjected to sin. St.
Augustine was criticized putting Mary under the law of sin. Augustine defends this in his thesis of sin. In the
Middle Ages many theologians like Sts. Bernard, Peter Lombard, Alexander of Hales, Bonaventure, Albert
the great, Thomas Aquinas had theological faith concerned views for the definition to the effects of
Immaculate Conception.
Intending to protect Christ’s absoluteness as the universal redeemer they preferred to uphold their ‘Maculist’
position which held that it was necessary to state that Mary was affected by original sin( even if only for an
instant) before her election. And therefore she too stood in need of redemption.
Grace has not healed her but prevented her from being tainted by sin. This makes a comparison between the
blessed Virgin Mary and our selves. W entered the world with sin. But we are subsequently freed and it is
liberative redemption for all of us. Blessed virgin Mary is like us. A member of the human family. Therefore
as a member of the human family she should have been stained with sin of the world. But this adds that God
the Father willed that Mary be otherwise. So, the Father shielded her from the sinfulness that would
otherwise have been hers. The term ‘preventive redemption’ brings out that she is redeemed in a sublime and
lofty manner. So in her Christ’s redemptive role is not diminished. This form of redemption is higher.
She would have been contracted original sin in account of the common propagation, had not this prevented
by the grace of the mediator. Others needed Christ that through his merit sin which was already in them
should be forgiven. She did need even more the mediator so that she should not be affected by sin.
Dane Scot’s argument was,
1. Mary was conceived in a natural manner but protected from original sin. All others are saved after
contracting original sin.
2. The same redeemer can prevent one from falling into sin and also heal one after falling into sin.
3. ‘Deus potait De cuit ergo Deus fecit’; ‘God was able to do it, God thought it fit to do it therefore He did
it’. Seemingly relying on the angel’s words, ‘nothing is impossible for God’.
Mary’s soul was preserved from original sin at the moment of conception does not mean that Mary had no
need of redemption for Jesus. Rather Mary owed more to the redemption of Jesus than anyone else. In fact
Mary received from her Son a higher form of redemption than all of us.
One can still ask how Jesus who was not yet born could prevent his mother falling into sin. The answer is
that Jesus Christ is not only man but also Son of God. As man his actions take place in space and time. As
God His actions have an eternal dimension. In that His actions can have repercussions both before and after
and not only in the present. The omnipresence of the divine hence His redemptive action could have its
influence at the moment of the conception of His own mother.
The feast of the Immaculate Conception was approved in 1477 by Pope Sextus iv. Ecumenical council of
Trent defined the dogma of original sin. But council did not explicitly speak about the Immaculate
Conception of Mary. Pope Pius ix in 1854, 8 th Dec. declared the Immaculate Conception as a dogma in the
Catholic Faith. The definition as follows,
Freedom from all sin is due to the merits of Jesus Christ, the saviour of the human race. It was fitting that the
Father bestows a sublime holiness on the woman who would bear His son by the agency of the Holy Spirit to
cooperate in the work of redemption to overpower evil.
‘In virtue of the merits of Christ’ is the official stamp of the approval of the opinion of Scotus. This is the
answer to the main objection of Medieval theology of the Immaculate Conception that Mary’s freedom from
original sin would imply that she has not been redeemed. In fact, Mary is redeemed in a more perfect manner
by her been preserved from sin. Since the redemptive work has become fruitful in her, she could now share in
her son’s work of redemption.
In fact, sin is above all alienation, primarily alienation from God. Consequently, alienation from other people
and even alienation with the individual self. Sin is therefore a lack of right relationships. Hence the title
Immaculate Conception implies something very positive. Mary from the first moment of birth existence as a
human being in her mother’s womb was in right relationship with God. Mary was preserved from sin by
God. Mary would consent to this gracious act of God towards her at the appropriate moment. That moment
would be annunciation.
4:3:3 Mary’s holiness and the holiness of the Church
Mary’s holiness is God’s free gift bestowed on her in view of her unique relationship to Jesus as virgin and
mother of the saviour. The church both virgin and mother embodying the mystery of Mary in her life and
mission. Thus, the Church also shares in Mary’s holiness. Tradition seizes them together through their
sharing in Jesus’ saving presence.
‘…do we not recognize in Mary’s figure with the image of the Church’, St. Chrysostom puts forcefully,
‘she(church) called virgin who before had been a harlot. This is the wonder of the bridegroom; he found a
harlot and made her a virgin’.
Christian holiness is endowed in Mary and must be recognized in the Church. It is God’s transforming
presence which must become fruitful in life and work. When people pray before the image of Mary they
enter in to God’s presence. In today’s Church holiness is more than moral correctness. The Holy Catholic
Church must offer the world the consciousness of God’s presence elevating and powerful in its’ silence. On
December 8th, 1854, Pope Pius IX officially defined the dogma of the Immaculate Conception in these words: “The
Most Holy Virgin Mary was, in the first moment of her conception, by a unique gift of grace and privilege of Almighty
God and in view of the merits of Jesus Christ the Redeemer of mankind, preserved free from all stain of original sin.”

 Three Key Points:

1) Mary was preserved from original sin from the first moment of her existence. She was never, even for a brief
instant, stained by original sin.

2) The Immaculate Conception only deals with original sin. However, the Church also teaches the doctrine that Mary
was never touched by personal sin.

3) This privilege was given to Mary in view of Christ’s merits. Jesus was Mary’s Savior. She was redeemed by Jesus
Christ just as we are, except that Mary’s redemption was unique: it was a proactive redemption. The fruit of Christ’s
redemption was applied to preserve Mary from sin, as it is applied to us to remove sins contracted.

 Scriptural Evidence for Mary’s Sinlessness

o Genesis 3:15: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike at
your head, while you strike at his heel.”

 The word “enmity” in this context means absolute opposition.  This enmity is total; the devil never ensnared Jesus
in sin as he did Adam and Eve. Therefore, the woman, the mother of Jesus, would also never be ensnared by sin
because she, too, is at total enmity with the serpent.

o Luke 1:28: “Hail, full of grace”

 Fullness of grace would be impossible if Mary were touched by any sin, because every sin diminishes grace.  The
Angel Gabriel does not call her “Mary.” He substitutes the title “full of grace” for her name to indicate how
exceptional and unique Mary’s fullness of grace is.

 Typology Teaches Mary’s Sinlessness

o The Ark of the Old Covenant prefigured Mary, the Ark of the New Covenant.

 Mary spent three months in Zechariah and Elizabeth’s house (Luke 1:26, 40), just like the Ark spent three months in
the house of Obededom the Gittite (2 Samuel 6:11)

 Elizabeth asked Mary, “How does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” (Luke 1:43).
This echoes King David’s question: “How can the ark of the Lord come to me?” (2 Samuel 6:9).  When Mary arrived,
John the Baptist leaped for joy in Elizabeth’s womb (Luke 1:44), just as David leaped and danced before the Lord when
the Ark arrived in Jerusalem (2 Samuel 6:14-16)

 The Church Fathers Teach Mary’s Sinlessness.