The
Immaculate Conception
This is the third Dogma pronounced by the Church on Virgin Mary, in 1854: The Dogma of the Immaculate Conception of Blessed Virgin Mary, "preserved free from all stain of original sin".
This is the heart of the declaration of the dogma:
"We declare, pronounce, and
define that the doctrine which holds that the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first
instance of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in
view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race, was preserved free from
all stain of original sin, is a doctrine revealed by God and therefore to be believed
firmly and constantly by all the faithful."
Hence, if anyone shall dare--which God forbid!--to think
otherwise than as has been defined by us, let him know and understand that he is condemned
by his own judgment; that he has suffered shipwreck in the faith; that he has separated
from the unity of the Church; and that, furthermore, by his own action he incurs the
penalties established by law if he should are to express in words or writing or by any
other outward means the errors he think in his heart.
You may read in full The bull Ineffabilis Deus by Pope Pius IX, issued on December 8, 1854, it is a most glorious page of Christian doctrine and life.
... When Pope Pius IX had written the bull, he felt it was missing something... and after days of prayer, the answer came, "a singular privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ"... and now he felt it was all right!, though Jesus, of course, had not been born when Mary was conceived!... but the merits of Jesus were retroactive, applying to all human race, since Adam himself!.
Jesus was the only man in the history of mankind who had the opportunity to make his own mother!... if you and I would have had the opportunity to make our own mother, for sure we would have made the most beautiful woman, the most kind, and perfect, and pure... in everything the most and the best!...
... Well, Jesus did what you and I would have done:
- The Bible says that Virgin Mary was the "Mother of God" (Matt.1, Lk.1)... though she calls herself only "the servant of the Lord", in Lk.1:38... and ten verses later she gives herself a still more distinguished title: "the humble servant of the Lord" (Lk.1:48).
- The Bible calls her "the spouse of the Holy Spirit" (Matt.1, Lk.1)... though the only title she gives herself in the Bible is "the humble servant of the Lord" (Lk.1:48).
- God the Father said: Mother and Virgin!... the most glorious wonder ever seen! (Matt.1, Lk.1)... though she only calls herself "the humble servant of the Lord" (Lk.1:48).
- God made her "full of grace" (Lk.1:28)... that's what "Mary" means!... the most beautiful and pure and holy and saint that can ever be... though she calls herself only "the humble servant of the Lord" (Lk.1:48).
- The Bible says, "the most blessed among women" (Lk.1:42)... the most pure, the most holy... though she calls herself only "the humble servant of the Lord" (Lk.1:48).
- Again the Bible says, "the Mighty One has done great things for Mary" (Lk.1:49)... though she calls herself only "the humble servant of the Lord" (Lk.1:48).
- The Bible then makes a prophecy about her in her
own words, the same prophecy made in the last verse of Psalm 45 by the Holy Spirit about
the spouse: "all generations shall call me blessed" (Lk.1:48,
Ps.45:18)... and this prophecy has been fulfilled to the letter during he last 2000 years:
Mary is the woman in the world to whom more poems and songs and statues and chapels and
cathedrals and basilicas have been dedicated, to praise her with all kind of human art, by
the best poets and painters and artists of all kind...
... And every minute for last 2000 years someone in the word has been
repeating the same praise of the Bible, "blessed are you among women"... it is a
prophecy of the Bible!, and like any other prophecy had to be fulfilled, and in this case
in superabundance!, praise the Lord!.
... And still more: The Holy Spirit
is the only person in the world who had the opportunity to make his own wife!, because
Mary conceived Jesus from the Holy Spirit (Lk.1:35)... she was actually the human Spouse
of the Holy Spirit...
... if you and I could have done our own Spouse, for sure she would
have been he most beautiful and pure, in everything the most and the best!...
... and that's exactly what the Holy Spirit did on Virgin Mary!... and
He made her the most humble!... and that's why the only title she gives to herself is
"the humble servant of the lord", because her humility is the reason of her
greatness... in her own words: "Because God saw the humility if her servant, that's
why all generation shall call me blessed, and that's why the Might One did great things
for me" (Lk.1:48-49).
Psalm 45, the Psalm of the King and the Queen, is
glorious, but like a riddle, I don't know how the Jews could understand it:
The first nine verses talks about the King, and the last nine about the
Queen, and it says that the Queen is the Spouse of the King, and the Mother of the King,
and the Daughter of the King... who is she?... for us it is easy: Virgin Mary is the
Mother, Spouse, and Daughter of the King... the Mother of Jesus the King of the universe,
the pure Spouse of the Holy Spirit the King of our hearts, and the humble Daughter of God
the Father the King of creation... and the last verse is a copy or a prophecy of Luke
1:48, "all generations shall call me blessed", "shall praise me", says
Mary.
... Oh, another thought: Every time the Bible makes a prophecy about Mother Mary it can be applied to the Church, and every prophecy about the Church can be applied to Virgin Mary... that's why Genesis 3:15 and Revelation 12:1-5 can be applied both to Virgin Mary and to the Church... and, of course, that's how the Jews understood Psalm 45, in which the Queen is the "People of God", made by God, for God, to live in God.
"My
spirit rejoices in God my Savior," Mary said in the Magnificat (Luke
1:47).
Fundamentalists quote this passage against Mary's Immaculate
Conception, arguing that since she needed a savior, she couldn't have been free of sin.
But it was precisely he opposit: Because God was her savior, Mary was free of sin.
God saved her from sin in advance, through the saving powe of Christ's
redemption, which was even retroactive, for all menand women, since Adam.
The Immaculate Conception, then, was a preemptive strike against sin,
the full spiritual benefits of Christ's sacrifice on Calvary having been communicated to
Mary in anticipation of the Incarnation.
And the Assumption was God's way of finishing the job he started at
Mary's Immaculate Conception, redeeming her body from the effects of sin as well.
Every Child looks like his Mother:
Every Christian is a Child of Mary, brother of Jesus... Jesus himself gave Mary to us as Mother at Calvary, when he said to John, "Here is your mother" (Jn.19:27)...Jesus knew that Mary was not the mother of John, and Jesus was not telling a lie on the Cross, rather he was proclaiming a most practical and beautiful truth: John was representing all Christians at Calvary, and to every Christian Jesus was saying, "Here is your mother"... and rather, he was telling that to every men and women since Adam, because the redemption of Christ was retroactive, for every men and women since Adam, and so was the gift of his Mother as our Mother, though only many take full advantage of both facts (Rom.5:18-19).
Now, every child looks like his or her mother... so, each Christian has to be pure and immaculate and holy, like his Mother Mary... and in fact, Paul tells us that "God chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him", in Ephesians 1:4 "pure and immaculate", translate another bibles...
We have to be holy and blameless, like our Mother... and, in fact, this is what we were created and chosen for!... nobody can enter in Heaven until he is holy and blameless... and we can do it!, with the merits of the Blood of our brother Jesus Christ, praise the Lord... and when the Lord sees us pure and holy, he send us the glorious death, to go to eternal Heaven!... and that's life on earth, the process of our holiness and purification.
You were created perfect... like your Mother Mary!
If you could have the change to make your own child, for sure you would have made a perfect child, the most beautiful and strong, the most kind and perseverant and understanding, in al the best and the most...
... Well, the one who really made you, your real father was God the Father, and like any father would have done, he made you perfect, in all things the best and the most for you, to do what you have to do. There is no one in the world who has anything better than you to do what you have to do!:
... If you could have chosen your eyes, may you would have chosen those of an eagle, because they can see further and finer than yours, and you would have been mistaken!, because the eyes you have are the very best to do what you have to do, those of an eagle are the best for what the eagle has to do.
... If you would have chosen a taller frame, or a stronger one, or a more beautiful one, you would have mistaken, because your height and frame and shape are the very best to do what you have to do... and if you would have chosen a prettier face, or a different color of your skin, you would have been completely mistaken, because what you have is the very best and most perfect to do what you have to do, not to do what your neighbor has to do...
... and whenever you envy the face or body or mind of some other person, you are insulting God your Father, you actually blaspheming against God, who created you the most perfect person to accomplish your mission in life... there is no other person in the history of the world who has or had nor even a hair better than those you have, to accomplish your mission in life, praise the Lord!
And I don't know your mission in life, as I don't know the mission of every star, but you can be sure that your mission in this life is great, given to you in person by God your Father, and the missions that God gives are always very important ones, more important that the mission the President of your country could entrust to you!
And still more: You, yourself, were created like God!... not just like your mother Mary, but like God Almighty Himself, "God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness" (Gen.1:26-27)... you were created in the image and likeness of God Himself!...
Image and likeness of God:
- "Image": Your picture is your image.
- "Likeness": If your picture could smile like you, and think
like you, and love like you... then it would be "like you", your
"likeness"... and you were created "in the likeness of God",
"like God Himself"...
The great problem is that we only see our body in the mirror, our
soul is seen by God and the Devil... that's why both, God and the Devil want us so
much!...
The Apparitions of the Immaculate Conception:
Guadalupe:
One of the first apparitions of Virgin Mary as the
Immaculate Conception was in Mexico, as Our Lady of Guadalupe, in 1531. There she is
"pregnant", "encinta", we say in Spanish, which means "with a
ribbon around her waste", the sign of pregnancy in the old Spanish world... and in
most apparitions of the Immaculate Conception she is also 3 or 4 months pregnant, as you
can see in Lourdes, the Miraculous Medal...
The Miraculous Medal:
In 1830, 3 centuries later, she appeared in Paris, as Our Lady
of the Miraculous Medal, and on the Medal the inscription: "Mary conceived without
sin, pray for us", 15 years before Pope Pius IX declared the dogma of the Immaculate
Conception, Mary conceived without original sin... it was like saying, please, proclaim
the dogma!
Lourdes:
In 1858, she appeared in Lourdes, France, with the name The
Immaculate Conception, four year after the declaration of the dogma, like saying thanks to
the Church for its declaration... again, she is a 3-4 months pregnant.
Conclusion:
The Immaculate Conception is a unique glory of God... but also each one of us is a unique glory of God, created in the image and likeness of God Himself, to be perfect as God is perfect, and to be pure and immaculate as pure as our Mother is... we are the children of God, brothers of Jesus Christ, and not bastard brothers, but brothers of Father and of Mother...
Yes, the Immaculate Conception is your Mother, know it or not, believe it or not... and if you have any difficulty in life, any important problem that looks impossible to solve, try Mary!... if you are not a Christian, try Her!... you don't have to believe in anything, nor to renounce to anything... it cost you nothing!... and you will see wonders in your life as I have seen in mine, praise the Lord!. Try Her!.
Christian Art Gallery Immaculate Conception: Murillo Velázquez Art in the Apparitions of Jesus and Mary (Spanish)