A reader asks:

Hello. A few months ago I heard the deacon say that Mary was conceived without original sin, and then he said that she was born without sin. I had always thought that when people spoke of the Virgin conceived without sin, they were referring to the conception of Jesus by the Holy Spirit and therefore that He was the one born without sin.

What reasons can we give to explain this to Catholics and non-Catholics?

Answer:

It is a fact that God created each of us with different ways of being, and He also calls us to a different ministry or service to Him and to our neighbor. In this case, the Blessed Virgin Mary was created expressly (and she alone) to be the mother of the Son of God, with all the consequences that this would bring.

One of the wonderful and principal consequences is what we will consider in this topic, and it will help you give reasons for what we believe.

The Immaculate Conception of Mary

When we use this title, what we mean is that the Virgin Mary was conceived without original sin. The reasons why we are certain of this great truth are the following:

1.- The principal reason.

Jesus Christ, the promised Savior (Gen 2:15; Is 11:2), necessarily had to come to us through a most pure act, free from every defect or sin (Phil 2:6-7). For this to be so, He had to be born of a woman totally pure from the supernatural and moral point of view.

Let us say, then, that God, as a display of His honor and power, brought us the Virgin Mary, begotten and born totally free from defect, that is, free from the slightest trace of original sin, which is the only thing that could stain her. This was possible through the merits of Jesus Christ.

Let us use an example to explain it more simply: when a person is taken to jail, the lawyer can go later and, by paying bail or a sum of money, manage to get him out of there. The person was inside and perhaps did something wrong to deserve that; nevertheless, thanks to the bail, he was able to leave.

But there can also be the case of another person who is about to be taken to jail, and the lawyer files a protective legal measure beforehand and manages to ensure that this person does NOT enter and never sets foot in jail.

Something similar to this second case happened with the Blessed Virgin Mary: normally, like all human beings, she would have deserved to be born with original sin; but through the merits of Jesus Christ, because she was chosen to be His mother and accepted it, thanks to the merits of Jesus — like that prior protection — she was freed by God so that the Son of God, who is perfect and holy, would be born of a woman who had been conceived without the stain of Original Sin.

2.- The biblical reason.

The foregoing helps us to go deeper into the biblical text of Lk 1:28. The Greek word used by the codex is Kecharitomene = most highly graced. In turn, this word comes from a Hebrew word such as “Kedesh” = pious, or “holy” in one of its superlatives or highest degree, and “Gratia plena” (from the Latin text).
The angel came to her and said:

“Rejoice, full of grace, the Lord is with you.”

Lk 1:28

Literally translated, it says “fullness of grace,” or, in the Hail Mary in English: “full of grace” (supernatural perfection to such a degree that no human being can possess it except Jesus Christ, who is Man-God).

What the Bible and its authors wanted to tell us with that word is something tremendous. She is: “the Blessed Virgin Mary.” Therefore, if she was the “Most Holy,” she had to have been born without any stain of sin.

Another example is found in Judges 6:12, which says: “The angel of Yahweh appeared to him and said: ‘Shalóm lac, gibor hehayil’”

(Hebrew text meaning: “most exceedingly valiant.” And the person mentioned, named Gideon, is called by the angel (sent by God [v.11]) “valiant in the highest degree.”

Thus, in the same way, in Lk 1:28 the angel sent by God called Mary this: “possessor of graces in the highest degree,” both in quantity and in quality; and one of them would be to be born immaculate.

This sheds light on Gen 3:15, where the enmity between the serpent and the woman signifies a struggle, that is: the Evil One, who is “the sum of wickedness,” fighting against the “sum of holiness,” who is Mary, mother of the Savior.

That is what the Bible wanted to tell us. For this reason Mary had to be born without the stain of Original Sin.

3.- The ecclesial reason.

Our faith is not based only on what is written in the Bible, but also on the Church, which is the pillar and foundation of the Truth (1 Tim 3:15). That is why Jesus did not command anyone to write, nor did He write anything Himself.

In the order of time, the Church comes before the Bible. For this reason, let us look here at the voice of the authority of the Catholic Church on this topic:

On December 8, 1854, Pope Pius IX defined the “Immaculate Conception of Mary” as a dogma in his bull “Ineffabilis Deus.”

Let us thank God for the marvelous gift of sending us His Son Jesus Christ through the Immaculate Conception of Mary.

Author: Martin Zavala M.P.D.

Source: Defiendetufe.org