Quo Vadis Youth

Mary as the Immaculate Conception
By Mary Clare Piecynski
“So, what have you done today” your Mom asks. To be perfectly honest, you would have to recite the litany of petty quarreling, gossiping and complaining that you’ve done on and off all day. Now why is it that we fall into sin so often? The brief answer to that question is that because of the fall of the first man, Adam, human nature is wounded and now subject to things such as sin and death.   Because of Adam’s fall, personal sin is now a continual issue that mankind has to deal with. There were, however, two individuals in the history of the world who were free from all sin. One, as you might have guessed, is Jesus Christ, true God and true man while the other is His mother Mary. Mary was preserved from sin from the moment of her conception in light of the fact that she was to be a tabernacle for the living God. Though entire books have been written on this singular grace given to Mary, we will content ourselves at looking Biblically at the basis for this sinlessness and examine why in 1854 Pope Pius IX infallibly proclaimed Mary to be sinless, the Immaculate Conception.
            First, however, you might pull out your Bible and point to Romans 3:23 where Saint Paul writes that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Doesn’t that seem to disprove the idea that Mary is sinless? Well, not exactly. A Catholic Apologist would answer and say that for one, Jesus was fully human but did not sin. Further, children below the age of reason do not have the capacity to sin. How then could they have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God? Or again, there are handicapped individuals who are not capable of committing personal sin. It is also interesting that the state of sinlessness is not one unknown to mankind. Adam and Eve were both sinless before the fall. One should also note that the Bible often speaks in general not strictly literal terms. For instance, does the verse that reads “all Israel will be saved” (Romans 11:26) really mean that every last person will go to heaven? Most likely not. Thus, it would be a mistake to take every single word of the Scriptures and exclusively use their literal meaning.
            Perhaps though you insist, it doesn’t say anywhere in the Bible that Mary was without sin, so why should I believe something invented by a 19th century pope?   Well, before anyone jumps to any conclusions, let’s examine Mary’s sinlessness from a Scriptural standpoint. First of all, in Luke 1:28 Mary is saluted by the angel as “full of grace.” This phrase, “full of grace” was addressed to Mary as a title or a name, something that is applied her exclusively. So what does this term full of grace mean exactly? Essentially, grace is the opposite of sin (Eph 2:8, Romans 3:24, Titus 2:11, Romans 5:17, Romans 6:14) since grace is God’s life while sin deprives us of this life. Consequently, one who is “full of grace” would be full of God’s life and have no room for sin. Hence, Mary who is full of grace is also sinless.
            The beginning pages of the Scripture also have something to say about Mary’s being sinless. After Adam and Eve had sinned God punishes them but in the same breath promises redemption, brought about by a woman. The words in Genesis read “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers (Genesis 3:15).” The verse goes on to state that the woman’s offspring will crush the serpent’s head. Since the Person who crushes Satan is Jesus Christ, that would make Mary the woman, since Jesus is her offspring. Now, one should ask, how can there be enmity between the woman Mary and the serpent if Mary is sinful, since “he who does what is sinful is of the devil” (1 John 3:8). There obviously cannot be enmity between Mary and the devil if Mary belongs to the devil through sin. Consequently, Mary must be without sin.
But, you object, doesn’t this idea of Mary’s sinlessness prevent Jesus from being her Savior? Actually, Jesus saves Mary just as much as he saves anyone else. In fact, the Immaculate Conception, Mary being born without sin, is one of the greatest acts of God. For saving a person from sin takes as great of an act of God’s grace as later forgiving a person after he’s sinned. Remember, this state of a person being created in the state of grace isn’t unique to Mary, both Adam and Eve were created without sin. Further, there is the example of a person falling into a pit and being saved by another man. But for a moment imagine that the man saw the pit the person was walking towards and warned him ahead of him. The man saved the person either way, once by pulling him out of the pit and once by foresight. It is the same with Christ. Whether a person is saved after incurring sin or before he or she is still saved by Christ. Pope Pius IX explained Mary’s Immaculate Conception in this way “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.” (emphasis added) Therefore, Mary was only saved because of Christ, not without His saving merits.
            In essence, Mary as the Immaculate Conception is a Biblical concept solemnly proclaimed by the pope as an infallible dogma. From the first pages of Genesis to the beginning of Luke, Mary is seen as a person set aside by God for the privilege of bearing the Son of God, a privilege that warranted Mary being Immaculately Conceived without sin. Mary is the woman at enmity with the devil, the one full of grace whose offspring forever crushes the serpent. In conclusion, the Immaculate Conception is a Biblically based fact that shows forth God’s great mercy, power and love.

Pius IX Inneffabilis Deus, 1854.