THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION AND THE SINLESSNESS OF MARY
"The Blessed Virgin never committed any actual sin, not even a venial one. Otherwise she would not have been a Mother worthy of Jesus Christ; for the ignominy of the Mother would also have been that of the Son, for He would have had a sinner for His Mother." - St. Thomas Aquinas (1274 A.D.)
If Mary is "blessed among women," does that not mean that she is greater than any woman that is born, had been born, or will be born? If this is so, why would she not be free from original sin? If she is greater than Eve and Eve was created without original sin, then why wouldn't Mary ALSO be conceived (created) without original sin? Where does Scripture state that every grace has to be given while on this earth? Mary was given grace as the Mother of God before she was even born (prevenient grace). YES, God is her Savior (Luke 1:47) - He saved her from every sin, including original sin.
Let us examine the phrase "full of grace" as it is applies to Mary (Luke 1:28. For the Greek word used in this passage is "kecharitomene" which means not just "highly favoured one" (as commonly interpreted in Protestant versions of the Bible), but "completely, perfectly, enduringly endowed with grace." Thus, the word "full" means that Mary cannot encompass any more of God's graces. If God cannot give her anymore graces than she already has, then He must have given her every grace possible. Is it even possible for Mary to sin after receiving all of these graces from God? Conceivably, no.
Scripture also states that angels are superior to men (Luke 20:36; Hebrews 2:7; 2 Peter 2:11) so why would a superior being (St. Gabriel) "hail" (salute, honor or praise) Mary (a "supposed" inferior being)? If this honor is given to Mary as Scripture states, then Mary must be greater than the angels.
Who else can the following passage be speaking of except Mary? The woman in this passage is "spotless" (i.e., immaculate; without sin): "Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee." (Song of Solomon 4:7)
Mary is the TABERNACLE of God. Her womb is the Tabernacle, the place of abode of God, where God chooses to rest himself. Because Mary is the Tabernacle of God her womb MUST be pure and stainless. We learn this from the Old Testament.
The tabernacle where God's presence resided before the nation of Israel was a place "set aside" (blessed) and made pure. The Ark of the Covenant itself was made of the purest materials and could not be allowed to be contaminated by any means. It could not be touched by unconsecrated hands. We know of the story of when then Ark was brought to the temple. In the procession it began to fall. A soldier naturally reached out and touched the Ark to keep it from falling. He was struck dead. Although he did a good deed, although he did what was natural to do, his touch to the Ark, the Ark that must be pure, unblemished, and untouched, caused his immediate death.
Mary, to carry the presence of God in her womb, must also be without blemish and be untouched for her womb is the Ark of the New Covenent in the same way the Ark of the Old Testament was the Ark of the Covenent with Moses.
Even after the birth of Jesus, she must remain unblemished and untouched (she did not have children after Jesus). We know from the tradition and teaching of the Jews and the Church that once an object is made sacred it cannot ever be returned to secular purposes. Mary was made sacred -- she was FULL of Grace -- she was set-aside as the tabernacle through which our Lord would reside for nine months. She HAD to be made pure, unblemished, and untouched. Our Lord could not have resided in a tabernacle (a womb) that did not have this purity.
To understand this, one must understand how God works -- His economy. To understand how God works, one MUST understand the Old Testament. Protestants tend to abandon the Old Testament and take little heed of it. Thus it is no wonder they cannot understand this dogma, let alone a host of other important teachings about God. Some Fundamentalist nearly rip the Old Testament out of the Bible. They proudly proclaim themselves, "We are a New Testament Church". Well, in reality, that means they are not a church at all.
One CANNOT understand the New Testament without understanding the Old Testament; and the Old Testament cannot be understood without the New. It is ONE BOOK and must be read and understood it as ONE BOOK. When we take the Bible in its proper manner as ONE BOOK, then we can more easily see the issues such as why and how the immaculate conception was necessary.
Finally, in some Greek manuscripts and other early manuscripts, Luke 1:28 includes the following at the end of the verse: "Blessed are you among women!". This means that God shall exalt Mary above and over all women. She is more excellent that Sarah, Hannah, Deborah, etc. Only she has the supreme honor of being chosen to be the Mother of God.
Because she is so chosen, she must be prepared to receive that honor. She must be free from all stain of original sin and its consequences so that her womb shall be perfect, unblemished, untouched, so as to be the perfect and pure tabernacle to house the Lord God in the Second Person of the Trinity.
Mary was conceived by a human father and a human mother in the marriage bed like the rest of us. She was not divinely conceived like Jesus. It was a purely natural conception. And as a result of that, if it were not for God's INTERVENTION Mary would have had the stain of original sin like the rest of us. But God had plans for Mary. And thus God intervened in a miraculous way to preserve our Mother from original sin at the very moment of her conception. This HAD TO BE in order to make her the unblemished tabernacle she was to become later in conceiving Jesus in her womb.
This the Church proclaims this Good News that had been taught since the earliest times in the Church. A feast to the immaculate conception was known as early as the 7th century in the East and the 9th century in the West. At the Council of Trent Mary's exclusion from original sin is the Council's teaching on original sin. But the dogma was not yet fully defined. Finally the Church, in her wisdom put the matter to rest forever, by formal definition:
"...the Blessed Virgin Mary was preserved, in the first instant of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of God omnipotent and because of the merits of Jesus Christ the Savior of the human race, free from all stain of original sin" (from the declaration of the dogma by Pope Pius IX, December 8, 1854)
Praise God Almighty. Our Mother is the Ark of Covenant, pure, unstained, untouched and thus worthy of reception of the presence of God within her womb and within her heart.
She is the pre-cursor of what we will be ourselves someday. Cleansed of all sin, made perfect and glorified, and brought into the presence of God Himself in heaven.
Thus Mary's immaculate conception honors Jesus as it is a preparation for his presence in Mary's womb. It would not be proper for God to lower himself to mankind in the Incarnation and be born from a dirty and used womb. This "ark" had to be perfect, unblemished, untouched, and undefiled.
Thus God granted this singular grace to Mary in which she was saved from original sin by the retroactive grace of the Cross.
"Pray for us sinners oh Holy Mother"
Peace
"Oh my Jesus I love you to the point of madness" St Foustina