M&C Question: Catholic Doctrine on the Conception of Christ
Posted by guest on December 21st, 2006
[ed. note. Rich Horrell of www.utahmission.com has posted the following after a request was made for an analogous Catholic response to the question posed in an earlier entry. Thanks Rich!]
From the CCC CHAPTER TWO, ARTICLE 3:
I. CONCEIVED BY THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. . .484 The Annunciation to Mary inaugurates “the fullness of time”,119 the time of the fulfillment of God’s promises and preparations. Mary was invited to conceive him in whom the “whole fullness of deity” would dwell “bodily”.120 The divine response to her question, “How can this be, since I know not man?”, was given by the power of the Spirit: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you.”121 485 The mission of the Holy Spirit is always conjoined and ordered to that of the Son.122 The Holy Spirit, “the Lord, the giver of Life”, is sent to sanctify the womb of the Virgin Mary and divinely fecundate it, causing her to conceive the eternal Son of the Father in a humanity drawn from her own.
486 The Father’s only Son, conceived as man in the womb of the Virgin Mary, is “Christ”, that is to say, anointed by the Holy Spirit, from the beginning of his human existence, though the manifestation of this fact takes place only progressively: to the shepherds, to the magi, to John the Baptist, to the disciples.123 Thus the whole life of Jesus Christ will make manifest “how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power.”124
II. . . .BORN OF THE VIRGIN MARY
487 What the Catholic faith believes about Mary is based on what it believes about Christ, and what it teaches about Mary illumines in turn its faith in Christ.
Mary’s predestination
488 “God sent forth his Son”, but to prepare a body for him,125 he wanted the free co-operation of a creature. For this, from all eternity God chose for the mother of his Son a daughter of Israel, a young Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee, “a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary”:126
The Father of mercies willed that the Incarnation should be preceded by assent on the part of the predestined mother, so that just as a woman had a share in the coming of death, so also should a woman contribute to the coming of life.127
489 Throughout the Old Covenant the mission of many holy women prepared for that of Mary. At the very beginning there was Eve; despite her disobedience, she receives the promise of a posterity that will be victorious over the evil one, as well as the promise that she will be the mother of all the living.128 By virtue of this promise, Sarah conceives a son in spite of her old age.129 Against all human expectation God chooses those who were considered powerless and weak to show forth his faithfulness to his promises: Hannah, the mother of Samuel; Deborah; Ruth; Judith and Esther; and many other women.130 Mary “stands out among the poor and humble of the Lord, who confidently hope for and receive salvation from him. After a long period of waiting the times are fulfilled in her, the exalted Daughter of Sion, and the new plan of salvation is established.”131
The Immaculate Conception
490 To become the mother of the Savior, Mary “was enriched by God with gifts appropriate to such a role.”132 The angel Gabriel at the moment of the annunciation salutes her as “full of grace”.133 In fact, in order for Mary to be able to give the free assent of her faith to the announcement of her vocation, it was necessary that she be wholly borne by God’s grace.
491 Through the centuries the Church has become ever more aware that Mary, “full of grace” through God,134 was redeemed from the moment of her conception. That is what the dogma of the Immaculate Conception confesses, as Pope Pius IX proclaimed in 1854:
The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin.135
492 The “splendor of an entirely unique holiness” by which Mary is “enriched from the first instant of her conception” comes wholly from Christ: she is “redeemed, in a more exalted fashion, by reason of the merits of her Son”.136 The Father blessed Mary more than any other created person “in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” and chose her “in Christ before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless before him in love”.137
493 The Fathers of the Eastern tradition call the Mother of God “the All-Holy” (Panagia), and celebrate her as “free from any stain of sin, as though fashioned by the Holy Spirit and formed as a new creature”.138 By the grace of God Mary remained free of every personal sin her whole life long.
“Let it be done to me according to your word. . .”
494 At the announcement that she would give birth to “the Son of the Most High” without knowing man, by the power of the Holy Spirit, Mary responded with the obedience of faith, certain that “with God nothing will be impossible”: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be [done] to me according to your word.”139 Thus, giving her consent to God’s word, Mary becomes the mother of Jesus. Espousing the divine will for salvation wholeheartedly, without a single sin to restrain her, she gave herself entirely to the person and to the work of her Son; she did so in order to serve the mystery of redemption with him and dependent on him, by God’s grace:140
As St. Irenaeus says, “Being obedient she became the cause of salvation for herself and for the whole human race.”141 Hence not a few of the early Fathers gladly assert. . .: “The knot of Eve’s disobedience was untied by Mary’s obedience: what the virgin Eve bound through her disbelief, Mary loosened by her faith.”142 Comparing her with Eve, they call Mary “the Mother of the living” and frequently claim: “Death through Eve, life through Mary.”143
Mary’s divine motherhood
495 Called in the Gospels “the mother of Jesus”, Mary is acclaimed by Elizabeth, at the prompting of the Spirit and even before the birth of her son, as “the mother of my Lord”.144 In fact, the One whom she conceived as man by the Holy Spirit, who truly became her Son according to the flesh, was none other than the Father’s eternal Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity. Hence the Church confesses that Mary is truly “Mother of God” (Theotokos).145
Mary’s virginity
496 From the first formulations of her faith, the Church has confessed that Jesus was conceived solely by the power of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary, affirming also the corporeal aspect of this event: Jesus was conceived “by the Holy Spirit without human seed”.146 The Fathers see in the virginal conception the sign that it truly was the Son of God who came in a humanity like our own. Thus St. Ignatius of Antioch at the beginning of the second century says:
You are firmly convinced about our Lord, who is truly of the race of David according to the flesh, Son of God according to the will and power of God, truly born of a virgin,. . . he was truly nailed to a tree for us in his flesh under Pontius Pilate. . . he truly suffered, as he is also truly risen.147
497 The Gospel accounts understand the virginal conception of Jesus as a divine work that surpasses all human understanding and possibility:148 “That which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit”, said the angel to Joseph about Mary his fiancee.149 The Church sees here the fulfillment of the divine promise given through the prophet Isaiah: “Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son.”150
498 People are sometimes troubled by the silence of St. Mark’s Gospel and the New Testament Epistles about Jesus’ virginal conception. Some might wonder if we were merely dealing with legends or theological constructs not claiming to be history. To this we must respond: Faith in the virginal conception of Jesus met with the lively opposition, mockery or incomprehension of non-believers, Jews and pagans alike;151 so it could hardly have been motivated by pagan mythology or by some adaptation to the ideas of the age. The meaning of this event is accessible only to faith, which understands in it the “connection of these mysteries with one another”152 in the totality of Christ’s mysteries, from his Incarnation to his Passover. St. Ignatius of Antioch already bears witness to this connection: “Mary’s virginity and giving birth, and even the Lord’s death escaped the notice of the prince of this world: these three mysteries worthy of proclamation were accomplished in God’s silence.”153
Mary - “ever-virgin”
499 The deepening of faith in the virginal motherhood led the Church to confess Mary’s real and perpetual virginity even in the act of giving birth to the Son of God made man.154 In fact, Christ’s birth “did not diminish his mother’s virginal integrity but sanctified it.”155 And so the liturgy of the Church celebrates Mary as Aeiparthenos, the “Ever-virgin”.156
500 Against this doctrine the objection is sometimes raised that the Bible mentions brothers and sisters of Jesus.157 The Church has always understood these passages as not referring to other children of the Virgin Mary. In fact James and Joseph, “brothers of Jesus”, are the sons of another Mary, a disciple of Christ, whom St. Matthew significantly calls “the other Mary”.158 They are close relations of Jesus, according to an Old Testament expression.159
501 Jesus is Mary’s only son, but her spiritual motherhood extends to all men whom indeed he came to save: “The Son whom she brought forth is he whom God placed as the first-born among many brethren, that is, the faithful in whose generation and formation she co-operates with a mother’s love.”160
Mary’s virginal motherhood in God’s plan
502 The eyes of faith can discover in the context of the whole of Revelation the mysterious reasons why God in his saving plan wanted his Son to be born of a virgin. These reasons touch both on the person of Christ and his redemptive mission, and on the welcome Mary gave that mission on behalf of all men.
503 Mary’s virginity manifests God’s absolute initiative in the Incarnation. Jesus has only God as Father. “He was never estranged from the Father because of the human nature which he assumed. . . He is naturally Son of the Father as to his divinity and naturally son of his mother as to his humanity, but properly Son of the Father in both natures.”161
504 Jesus is conceived by the Holy Spirit in the Virgin Mary’s womb because he is the New Adam, who inaugurates the new creation: “The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven.”162 From his conception, Christ’s humanity is filled with the Holy Spirit, for God “gives him the Spirit without measure.”163 From “his fullness” as the head of redeemed humanity “we have all received, grace upon grace.”164
505 By his virginal conception, Jesus, the New Adam, ushers in the new birth of children adopted in the Holy Spirit through faith. “How can this be?”165 Participation in the divine life arises “not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God”.166 The acceptance of this life is virginal because it is entirely the Spirit’s gift to man. The spousal character of the human vocation in relation to God167 is fulfilled perfectly in Mary’s virginal motherhood.
506 Mary is a virgin because her virginity is the sign of her faith “unadulterated by any doubt”, and of her undivided gift of herself to God’s will.168 It is her faith that enables her to become the mother of the Savior: “Mary is more blessed because she embraces faith in Christ than because she conceives the flesh of Christ.”169
507 At once virgin and mother, Mary is the symbol and the most perfect realization of the Church: “the Church indeed. . . by receiving the word of God in faith becomes herself a mother. By preaching and Baptism she brings forth sons, who are conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of God, to a new and immortal life. She herself is a virgin, who keeps in its entirety and purity the faith she pledged to her spouse.”170
IN BRIEF
508 From among the descendants of Eve, God chose the Virgin Mary to be the mother of his Son. “Full of grace”, Mary is “the most excellent fruit of redemption” (SC 103): from the first instant of her conception, she was totally preserved from the stain of original sin and she remained pure from all personal sin throughout her life.
509 Mary is truly “Mother of God” since she is the mother of the eternal Son of God made man, who is God himself.
510 Mary “remained a virgin in conceiving her Son, a virgin in giving birth to him, a virgin in carrying him, a virgin in nursing him at her breast, always a virgin” (St. Augustine, Serm. 186, 1: PL 38, 999): with her whole being she is “the handmaid of the Lord” (Lk 1:38).
511 The Virgin Mary “cooperated through free faith and obedience in human salvation” (LG 56). She uttered her yes “in the name of all human nature” (St. Thomas Aquinas, STh III, 30, 1). By her obedience she became the new Eve, mother of the living.
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119 Gal 4:4.
120 Col 2:9.
121 Lk 1:34-35 (Gk.).
122 Cf. Jn 16:14-15.
123 Cf. Mt 1:20; 2:1-12; Lk 1:35; 2:8-20; Jn 1:31-34; 2:11.
124 Acts 10:38.
125 Gal 4:4; Heb 10:5.
126 Lk 1:26-27.
127 LG 56; cf. LG 61.
128 Cf. Gen 3:15, 20.
129 Cf. Gen 18:10-14; 21:1-2.
130 Cf. 1 Cor 1:17; 1 Sam 1.
131 LG 55.
132 LG 56.
133 Lk 1:28.
134 Lk 1:28.
135 Pius IX, Ineffabilis Deus (1854): DS 2803.
136 LG 53, 56.
137 Cf. Eph 1:3-4.
138 LG 56.
139 Lk 1:28-38; cf. Rom 1:5.
140 Cf. LG 56.
141 St. Irenaeus, Adv. haeres. 3, 22, 4: PG 7/1, 959A.
142 St. Irenaeus, Adv. haeres. 3, 22, 4: PG 7/1, 959A.
143 LG 56; Epiphanius, Haer. 78, 18: PG 42, 728CD-729AB; St. Jerome, Ep. 22, 21: PL 22, 408.
144 Lk 1:43; Jn 2:1; 19:25; cf. Mt 13:55; et al.
145 Council of Ephesus (431): DS 251.
146 Council of the Lateran (649): DS 503; cf. DS 10-64.
147 St. Ignatius of Antioch, Ad Smyrn 1-2: Apostolic Fathers, ed. J. B. Lightfoot (London: Macmillan, 1889), II/2, 289-293; SCh 10, 154-156; cf. Rom 1:3; Jn 1:13.
148 Mt 1 18-25; Lk 1:26-38.
149 Mt 1:20.
150 Isa 7:14 in the LXX, quoted in Mt 1:23 (Gk.).
151 Cf. St. Justin, Dial., 99, 7: PG 6, 708-709; Origen, Contra Celsum 1, 32, 69: PG 11, 720-721; et al.
152 Dei Filius 4: DS 3016.
153 St. Ignatius of Antioch, Ad Eph. 19, 1: AF II/2 76-80; SCh 10,88; cf. 1 Cor 2:8.
154 Cf. DS 291; 294; 427; 442; 503; 571; 1880.
155 LG 57.
156 Cf. LG 52.
157 Cf. Mk 3:31-35; 6:3; 1 Cor 9:5; Gal 1:19.
158 Mt 13:55; 28:1; cf. Mt 27:56.
159 Cf. Gen 13:8; 14:16; 29:15; etc.
160 LG 63; cf. Jn 19:26-27; Rom 8:29; Rev 12:17.
161 Council of Friuli (796): DS 619; cf. Lk 2:48-49.
162 1 Cor 15:45,47.
163 Jn 3:34.
164 Jn 1:16; cf. Col 1:18.
165 Lk 1:34; cf. Jn 3:9.
166 Jn 1:13.
167 Cf. 2 Cor 11:2.
168 LG 63; cf. 1 Cor 7:34-35.
169 St. Augustine, De virg., 3: PL 40, 398.
170 LG 64; cf. 63.
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December 21st, 2006 at 2:00 am
Again thanks Rich, I went and read your selections all the way through. I thought I would share a few reflections.
“Full of grace” is an interesting phrase. I wonder how much of it represents Mary’s state beyond the time interval she experienced the heavenly manifestation. In Christ’s mortal situation, Mormon scripture has him progressing from grace to grace during his lifetime, voluntarily emptying himself of some of his divinity, especially so at his birth. But I get the impression that Catholic thought sees divinity and humanity of fixed sets of complementary properties that one either fully has or doesn’t. But I am probably mix and matching concepts of grace and divinity here. I wonder how much Mary’s role in both Catholic and Mormon theology show that other persons besides the members in the Godhead(Trinity) can be partakers of the divine nature.
#493 is a puzzler to me that “Mary remained free of every personal sin her whole life long.” Does that mean she never committed any sin and was essentially perfect?
While Mormon thought doesn’t accept some of the details, I can admire what some of high respect for Mary accomplishes and how it protects the circumstances of Jesus’s birth from non-Christian mockery. I get offended by accusations that denigrate Mary.
I think Catholics catch an undue amount of flack for asking Mary to pray for them. I personally, as most Mormons, address all my heavenbound communiques to the Father, but I am always looking for ways to make my petitions more likely to be granted. I would hope saints and angels pray for me of their own accord and that God makes use them as a means of answering prayers, when possible.
I suppose that much work is required maintaining the heavenly society and that Mary has an honored position, but perhaps a fraction of her (or their) labors and spiritual energy is left over to help prepare mansions for us and us for our mansions. My way of trying to win them over to my cause is to try to make a better world for their living kin groups (I assume that the righteous that have passed on keep special watch over surviving family and that benefiting one group benefits the other.) I also try to do my part to make their job easier as far as evangelizing the dead (part of their heavenly labors), praying for their success and standing by to vicariously perform sacraments(ordinances) to get their pupils out the door (or through the gates) when they are ready and willing.
Some fascinating theology in the CCC as it analyzes some Biblical symbolism of virginity and the relation of Eve to Mary.
December 21st, 2006 at 6:49 pm
Don’t have much time right now but I can’t wait to respond.
1.#493 is a puzzler to me that “Mary remained free of every personal sin her whole life long.†Does that mean she never committed any sin and was essentially perfect?
Yes, this is our belief. But Mary was still made perfect because of the merits of Christ, by the way of the cross.(She is Creature, Created by God) I could go deeper into that but can’t right now. Adam and Eve were also made perfect / sinless before the fall. Christ has always been perfect as he is God the eternal Son. He is / has always been perfection / Love. Any perfection / Grace we have is gifted, it is from God. Think of the Moon, it has no light yet the light from the Sun reflects off of it. We are like the moon. The Son of God is the light. All glory is His alone.
While Mormon thought doesn’t accept some of the details, I can admire what some of high respect for Mary accomplishes and how it protects the circumstances of Jesus’s birth from non-Christian mockery. I get offended by accusations that denigrate Mary.
Yes, this is Good. She is very special to us, blessed among women. She is the mother of our Church, the mother of Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us. But she is never to be worshipped, just adored and loved.
I think Catholics catch an undue amount of flack for asking Mary to pray for them.
Yes, but this is just a lack of understanding. It’s ok…..
We ask all of the angels and saints to pray for us, heaven is very much open, very much alive. More so at Mass than any other time as they are with us there for sure. It is a very big family.
I personally, as most Mormons, address all my heavenbound communiques to the Father, but I am always looking for ways to make my petitions more likely to be granted. I would hope saints and angels pray for me of their own accord and that God makes use them as a means of answering prayers, when possible.
All of our prayers as Catholics are directly to God through Jesus. Praying together, for each other is all within the Circle, the one body of Christ. God being the creator of such Circle. We are the body of Christ you know, each parts of it.
Got to go… if you get the time come to the late night Mass. As you know it is for all, it is Christ-Mass / Christmas. God Bless
God Bless
Rich
December 22nd, 2006 at 6:06 pm
As usual, I’m late to the party. I should point out, after reading the previous post, that the “Immaculate Conception” refers to the dogma that Mary herself was conceived without the stain of original sin; she did not suffer its effects, and her humanity was never marred in any way by sin. God saved her from sin by preserving her from it for her entire existence. It was fitting that He do this, as He was the only person ever to not only choose but create His own mother!
Grace and divinity are not the same, but you’re thinking rightly in that they’re very related. Grace (ask any third grader in a Catholic school) is a share in God’s life. That is, it’s His divinity given to us the way we’re able to receive it, sanctifying us, making us partakers of His nature. When we receive divinity we do so in a mode according to our finite nature; as finite beings we cannot possess divinity in its fullness. Only God does (He is the definition of divinity, if I may put it that way).
It is true that Jesus progressed in His humanity. We do hold that humanity and divinity are not the same; or not on one continuum as in Mormonism. The human nature of the Son of God was a real and true human nature. He didn’t begin walking and preaching right out of the manger. He didn’t exercise the powers of His divinity to skimp on anything. He was truly a man, and man do progress during their lives.
I don’t know about Mary (or the veiled Heavenly Mother) in Mormonism. However, in Catholic theology, Mary is the perfect model of partaking in the divine nature. Yes, she was free of sin her entire life. She perfectly reflected God’s life, and is our prime example of being a Christian. Part of the dogma of the Assumption is to show the destiny of human creatures, what Mary has already fully attained in body and soul, the fullness of grace in Heaven.
December 23rd, 2006 at 10:55 am
Here are a few prayers on intercession.
Most Holy and Immaculate Virgin, Help of the Christians, we place ourselves under your motherly protection. Throughout the Church’s history you have helped Christians in times of trial, temptation and danger. Time and time again, you have proven to be the Refuge of sinners, the Hope of the hopeless, the Consoler of the afflicted, and the Comforter of the Dying. We promise to be faithful disciples of Jesus Christ, your Son, to proclaim His Good News of God’s love for all people, and to work for peace and justice in our world. With faith in your intercession, we pray for the Church, for our family and friends, for the poor and abandoned, and all the dying. Grant, O Mary, Help of Christians, the graces of which we stand in need. (Mention your intentions.) May we serve Jesus with fidelity and love until death. Help us and our loved ones to attain the boundless joy of being forever with our Father in heaven. Amen.
The “Canticle of Mary” or “Magnificat” is sung in the celebration of Evening Prayer each day. The text is taken from the Gospel according to Luke 1:46-55.
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm,
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel
for he remembered his promise of mercy,
the promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children for ever.
The “Alma Redemptoris Mater,” which dates from the eleventh century, is one of the four antiphons sung after Night Prayer. It is used in the Advent Season.
Loving mother of the Redeemer,
gate of heaven, star of the sea,
assist your people who have fallen yet strive to rise again.
To the wonderment of nature you bore your Creator,
Yet remained a virgin after as before.
You who received Gabriel’s joyful greeting,
have pity on us poor sinners.
The “Salve, Regina” is one of the four Marian antiphons sung at the end of Night Prayer, according to the season. It was possibly written by Hermann the Lame, a monk of Reichenau (1013- 1054), or by Adhemar, bishop of Le Puy (d. 1098). The “Salve, Regina” was also used as a processional antiphon at the Abbey of Cluny (France) from around 1135.
Hail, holy Queen, Mother of mercy,
hail, our life, our sweetness, and our hope.
To you we cry, the children of Eve;
to you we send up our sighs,
mourning and weeping in this land of exile.
Turn, then, most gracious advocate,
your eyes of mercy toward us;
lead us home at last
and show us the blessed fruit of your womb, Jesus:
O clement, O loving, O sweet virgin Mary.
May 15th, 2007 at 10:09 am
I am thrilled to have found this blog, where Catholics and Mormons share their beliefs in a fellowship of kindness and astute knowlege. I am a Catholic who has had a remarkable experience with Mormons while living in Tokyo and in Syracuse. (Not so, when “sharing” with Evangelical Protestants- see Right Reason, “MY Return to the Catholic Church” Dr. Francis J. Beckworth).
I haven’t been able to bring back my walk with Christ in the manner I had with sharing with the LDS… Even with fellow Catholics. I am pleased with the news that the Pope is allowing the Latin mass to be celebrated. I love the Mass and I know that it is true. But I also love the strength of testamony, Womens Institute, Relief Society….If Joseph Smith had been a Catholic lad in Ireland, say….would he be St. Joseph now?
April 18th, 2008 at 5:49 pm
Civil dialogue about religion on the Internet? I’m impressed! I stumbled across this blog because I read that 2 American Idol contestants this season are Mormon, and I wondered what the Catholic Church’s relationship is with Mormonism. I’m a born-and-bred Catholic committed to my faith. I was watching some of the interfaith service held by the Pope the other day and wondered whether the Catholic Church and Mormon Church were engaged in any kind of formal dialogue like Catholics and Protestants. While I’m sure there are theological differences, it seems that Catholics and Mormons share similar values on things like the importance of a strong family, pro life issues, etc. It would be good if that served as a basis for some kind of engagement. If there isn’t an official dialogue, at least there’s an informal one here. I commend you again for the civility and respect on this site. Those qualities are often lacking online. I hope to see more new entries some time soon.