On the 8th of December, 1854, the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary was solemnly defined and proclaimed by Pope Pius IX as follows: “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, Saviour of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin”. The Immaculate Conception is the Virgin Mary’s glorious privilege of being preserved by a special grace of God from Original Sin through the future merits of Jesus Christ. Protestants and other non-Catholic Christians (Pentecostals, etc.) assert that the Virgin Mary could not have been immaculately conceived and that if She were conceived without sin, She would not have needed redemption as She herself acknowledged that She needed in Her own words in the Magnificat when She said “my spirit rejoices in God my saviour” (Luke 1:47). They also maintain that St. John clearly states that “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8).
They therefore wonder how Catholics can claim that the Virgin Mary was sinless. Another Biblical text which protestants and other non-Catholic Christians often cite as being negated by the Catholic Church’s teaching on the Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God is found in St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans: “Sin entered the world through one man, and through sin, death and this death has spread through the whole human race because everyone has sinned” (Rom. 5:12). These texts raise a question: Does the Catholic teaching on the Immaculate Conception indicate that Mary was not in need of salvation? The Church believes that God’s Son who was to come into the world through Mary’s consent was Himself her saviour. Mary as a member of the human race was in need of salvation. However, her salvation was “singular” (unique). In order to help us understand Mary’s need for salvation, theologians distinguish between a “liberative salvation” and a “preservative salvation”. Every member of the human race with the exception of Mary, was liberated from sin and eternal damnation by the Cross of Jesus. In virtue of the Cross of Jesus, Mary was preserved from sin and eternal damnation. Two illustrations might be helpful in coming to understand the significance of this distinction: If you are wounded by a bullet and I remove it and help you to heal the wound, you might correctly call me your “saviour”.
However, would I not be more properly your “saviour” if I had preserved you from being shot in the first place? Again, I might save you from being burned to death in a fire. I could liberate you from the flames and save your life. Would I be any less your “saviour” if I preserved you from even falling into the destructive flames? Every member of the human race, except Mary, is wounded by the sin of Adam. We are liberated from Adam’s sin by the grace of Jesus Christ. Mary, also by Christ’s grace, was preserved from being wounded by the sin of the race in her conception. In this way, Jesus saved her from sin and the effects of sin. You and I and all mankind are liberated from the “fire” of sin and eternal death in hell through the saving grace of Our Lord Jesus. We receive this grace in baptism and if we fall into mortal sin, through sacramental confession. Baptism, so to speak, “pulls us out of the fire”. When we deliberately fall into the fire again through our deliberate mortal sins, the Lord rescues us through Confession (Sacrament of Reconciliation). Mary by Jesus’ grace, was preserved from ever falling into that fire. The Catholic Church does not deny that the Virgin Mary needed redemption, for She was a child of Adam together with the rest of humanity. However, Her redemption was effected in another, “more sublime manner”, namely, “redemption by pre-emption”.
Consequently, in reference to Mary, the Church strongly affirms these Scriptural truths: Mary is indeed saved from sin and Jesus is her saviour! The Immaculate Conception has always been the belief of the Church, being implicitly contained in the Church’s teaching of the Virgin Mary’s absolute purity and sinlessness. Just as Our Lord “grew in grace and wisdom”, that is, manifested increasing signs of wisdom as He increased in age, so the Church, which possesses the wisdom of God from Her origin, manifests it only according to the order of Providence and Her children’s needs. In the centuries before 1854, the Popes and Councils made continuous and explicit references to the Immaculate Conception in their pronouncements: (i) Pope St. Martin I, Lateran Council (649), Canon 3 on the Trinity; (ii) Pope Sixtus IV, Constitutions Cum Praeexcelsa (1476); Grave Nimis (1483); (iii) Pope Paul III, Council of Trent (1546), Decree on Original Sin; (iv) Pope St. Pius V, Bull Ex Omnibus Afflictionibus, (1567); (v) Pope Alexander VII, Bull Sollicitudo Omnium Eccl. (1661). The Church finds support for the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception in the words of the Angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary: “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou amongst women” (Luke 1, 28 [Douai]). She, who was to conceive the Son of God, the Holy of holies, must Herself be supremely holy, and therefore
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