December 8th~ The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
This is the first in chronological order of the Church's obligatory feastdays, and one of the most important. But what is of greater magnitude, is what this feast is and why it's here.
Here is an excellent lowdown from the Catholic Encyclopedia; put clearly and extremely convenient. I need not state further:
"...In the Constitution Ineffabilis Deus of 8 December, 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 Saviour of the human race, was preserved exempt from all stain of original sin."
"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.
". . .in the first instance of her conception . . ." 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.
". . .was preserved exempt from all stain of original sin. . ." 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.
". . .by a singular privilege and grace granted by God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the human race." 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 Saviour 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. He is a greater redeemer who pays the debt that it may not be incurred than he who pays after it has fallen on the debtor.
Such is the meaning of the term "Immaculate Conception."..."
As most know, there is endless controversy about this dogma of the Roman Catholic Church. Some seem to think that it was added into the Catholic Faith, others that there is no scriptural backup for it, still others that it's pointless, impossible and therefore didn't happen. There is an answer to these objections.
It can be seen with the early church fathers that this doctrine was believed and taught from the very beginning. And such early writers as St. Justin the Martyr (100-165), Irenaeus and St. Cyril of Jerusalem (315-386) mention it in their works and describe it very clearly, likening and linking it to the concept of the 'second Adam'; if there is a second Adam to undo the wrongs of the first, so also must there be a 'second Eve'.
There is plenty of evidence in Sacred Scripture vouching for the Immaculate Conception. Take the words of the Annunciation, "Hail, full of Grace. The Lord is with thee." (Luke 1:28). In the days before Baptism, no soul could be full of grace unless by some special favor. You may say, well, this was before the Redemption so Mary was not baptized. That is correct. Mary couldn't have received the sacrament at that point; but the point is, she didn't need to. Her soul was shining with divine grace the moment she was conceived. No, God did not cleanse her of original sin; better. He spared her any contact with the sin, period. He is God, isn't He? Surely He could look ahead and, in view of what was to come, use the merits earned to redeem her 'before the time', if He so chose. God is not subject to time; He created it. To be sure, the Blessed Virgin was in need of redemption, as we all are. But as a special privilege, and to ensure that the Mother of God would be sinless, the Redeemer in a sense, pre-paid the Grace, for "he is a greater redeemer who pays the debt that it may not be incurred than he who pays after it has fallen on the debtor." Also the passage "the Lord is with thee" can be taken in its literal sense; such that "the Lord resides within thy soul, now, this very moment". Were it not for her Immaculate Conception, this would have been impossible, as sanctifying grace was not yet available to man.
Consider also in the garden of Eden when God first promised the Redeemer. He speaks to Satan :"I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush they head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel" (Gen. 3:15). How could Mary crush the head of the Devil if she herself were subject to his slavery? How contradictory this would be, were it true. It stands to reason that the only way to conquer something is to be superior in some way. If Satan could at anytime convince the Virgin to sin, she would hardly be his superior, and would therefore be incapable of defeating him in this role.
Further, Christ, the spotless One, chose to make His abode in one spotless, like unto Himself. How should He house Himself alongside sin and fault? We read in Scripture: "...[T]hou would not leave my soul in hell; nor wilt then give thy Holy One to see corruption" Ps.15:10. This refers to His three days in the tomb; how much more for nine months in an iniquitous dwelling! Impossible!
Our Lord is true God, true Virtue, true Innocence; His body as well as His soul must be immaculate. This means that His divine Blood, the Blood of our salvation, the Blood untainted with the corruption of sin, must be pure and perfect; the source of which must likewise be pure and perfect. Hence, our redemption would be complete.
Mary, conceived without sin,
Pray for us who have recourse to thee.
