Immaculate Conception
The Immaculate Conception of Mary is, according to Catholic doctrine, the conception of the Virgin Mary without any stain ("macula" in Latin) of Original Sin.[1] It is one of the four dogmas in Roman Catholic Mariology. Under this aspect Mary is sometimes called the Immaculata (the Immaculate One), particularly in artistic contexts.[2]
The doctrine states that, from the first moment of her existence, Mary was preserved by God from the Original Sin and filled with sanctifying grace that would normally come with baptism after birth. Catholics believe Mary "was free from any personal or hereditary sin".[3][4] Mary's immaculate conception should not be confused with the Incarnation of her son Jesus Christ; the conception of Jesus is celebrated as the Annunciation to Mary. Catholics do not believe that Mary, herself, was the product of a Virgin Birth.[5]
From early on in the history of the Catholic Church, numerous places in the writings of the Catholic Church Fathers the belief is implicitly stated. In various places the feast of the Immaculate Conception, had been celebrated for centuries on 8 December , when, on 28 February 1476, Pope Sixtus IV[6] extended it to the entire Latin Church. He did not define the doctrine as a dogma, thus leaving Roman Catholics free to believe in it or not without being accused of heresy; this freedom was reiterated by the Council of Trent. However, the feast was a strong indication of the Church's traditional belief in the Immaculate Conception.[7][8] On 6 December 1708 Pope Clement XI decreed that the feast of the Immaculate Conception be a Holy Day of Obligation.[9] throughout the entire Catholic Church.
The Immaculate Conception was solemnly defined as a dogma by Pope Pius IX in his constitution Ineffabilis Deus on 8 December 1854.[10] The Catholic Church teaches that the dogma is supported by Scripture (e.g., Mary's being greeted by the Angel Gabriel as "full of grace") as well as either directly or indirectly by the writings of Church Fathers such as Irenaeus of Lyons and Ambrose of Milan.[11][12] Catholic theology maintains that since Jesus became incarnate of the Virgin Mary, it was fitting that she be completely free of sin for expressing her fiat.[13] In 1904 Pope Saint Pius X also addressed the issue in his Marian encyclical Ad Diem Illum on the Immaculate Conception.[14]
Contents |
History of the dogma
The Eastern Christian Church first celebrated a feast of the Conception of the Most Holy and All Pure Mother of God on December 9 perhaps as early as the 5th century in Syria. By the 7th century it was widely known feast in the East. However, the early use of the term achrantos or "spotless" with reference to the Virgin Mary is somewhat misleading. While the Eastern Church called Mary achrantos (spotless or immaculate), it did not define exactly what this meant. Today the majority of Orthodox Christians would not accept the Scholastic definition of Mary’s preservation from original sin before her birth that subsequently evolved into the Catholic doctrine of the Immaculate Conception after the Great Schism of 1054.[15][16][17][18]
Islamic tradition acknowledges Mary's "spotlessness" in the Qur'an, written in the 7th century. George Sale reports, in his translation of the Qur'an that the immaculate conception had long been an Islamic tradition.[19][20] Among Christians, the doctrine of her "holy" or "immaculate" conception was first formulated in a tract by Eadmer, companion and biographer of the better-known St. Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury (1033–1109), and later popularized by the archbishop's nephew, Anselm the Younger.[21]
It was rejected by Bernard of Clairvaux, Alexander of Hales, and St. Bonaventure (who, teaching at Paris, called it this foreign doctrine), and by St. Thomas Aquinas who expressed questions about the subject, but said that he would accept the determination of the Church. Aquinas and Bonaventure, for example, believed that Mary was completely free from sin, but that she was not given this grace at the instant of her conception.[22]
Despite this formidable array of tradition and scholarly opinion, the Oxford Franciscans William of Ware and especially Blessed John Duns Scotus defended the doctrine. Scotus proposed a solution to the theological problem involved of being able to reconcile the doctrine with that of universal redemption in Christ, by arguing that Mary's immaculate conception did not remove her from redemption by Christ; rather it was the result of a more perfect redemption that was given to her on account of her special role in history.[23] Furthermore, Scotus said that Mary was redeemed in anticipation of Christ's death on the cross. This was similar to the way that the Church explained the Last Supper (since Roman Catholic theology teaches that the Mass is the sacrifice of Calvary made present on the altar, and Christ did not die before the Last Supper). Scotus' defence of the immaculist thesis was summed up by one of his followers as potuit, decuit ergo fecit (God could do it, it was fitting that He did it, and so He did it). Following his defence of the thesis, students at Paris swore to defend the position, and the tradition grew of swearing to defend the doctrine with one's blood. The University of Paris supported the decision of the (schismatic) Council of Basel in this matter. Duns' arguments remained controversial, however, particularly among the Dominicans, who were willing enough to celebrate Mary's sanctificatio (being made free from sin) but, following the Dominican Thomas Aquinas' arguments, continued to insist that her sanctification could not have occurred at the instant of her conception.[24][25]
Popular opinion remained firmly behind the celebration of Mary's conception. The doctrine itself had been endorsed by the Council of Basel (1431–1449), and by the end of the 15th century was widely professed and taught in many theological faculties. However, the Council of Basel was later held not to have been a true General (or Ecumenical) Council with authority to proclaim dogma; and such was the influence of the Dominicans, and the weight of the arguments of Thomas Aquinas (who had been canonised in 1323 and declared "Doctor Angelicus" of the Church in 1567) that the Council of Trent (1545–63)—which might have been expected to affirm the doctrine—instead declined to take a position.[26][27][28]
Dogmatic definition
It was not until 1854 that Pope Pius IX, with the support of the overwhelming majority of Roman Catholic bishops, whom he had consulted between 1851–1853, promulgated the papal bull Ineffabilis Deus (Latin for "Ineffable God"),[29] which defined ex cathedra the dogma of the Immaculate Conception:[30]
We declare, pronounce and define that the doctrine which holds that the Blessed Virgin Mary, at the first instant of her conception, by a singular privilege and grace of the Omnipotent God, in virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of mankind, was preserved immaculate from all stain of original sin, has been revealed by God, and therefore should firmly and constantly be believed by all the faithful.—Pope Pius IX, Ineffabilis Deus, December 8, 1854[31]
The dogma was defined in accordance with the conditions of papal infallibility, which would be defined in 1870 by the First Vatican Council.
The papal definition of the dogma declares with absolute certainty and authority that Mary possessed sanctifying grace from the first instant of her existence and was free from the lack of grace caused by the original sin at the beginning of human history. Mary's salvation was won by her son Jesus Christ through his passion, death, and resurrection and was not due to her own merits.[32][33]
For the Roman Catholic Church the dogma of the Immaculate Conception gained additional significance from the reputed apparitions of Our Lady of Lourdes in 1858. At Lourdes a 14-year-old girl, Bernadette Soubirous, claimed that a beautiful woman appeared to her and said, "I am the Immaculate Conception". Many believe the woman to have been the Blessed Virgin Mary and pray to her as such.[34][35]
In this sense the dogma of the Immaculate Conception defined by Pope Pius IX is also viewed as a key example of the use of sensus fidelium shared by believers and the Magisterium rather than pure reliance on Scripture and Tradition.[36] The Vatican quotes in this context Fulgens Corona, where Pius XII supported such a faith:
If the popular praises of the Blessed Virgin Mary be given the careful consideration they deserve, who will dare to doubt that she, who was purer than the angels and at all times pure, was at any moment, even for the briefest instant, not free from every stain of sin?[37]
The Roman Catholic tradition has a well-established philosophy for the study of the Immaculate Conception and the veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the field of Mariology, with Pontifical schools such as the Marianum specifically devoted to this.[38][39][40]
Scriptural sources
 A series of articles on |
|---|
|
General articles |
|
Devotions |
| Dogmas and Doctrines Mother of God • Perpetual virginity • Immaculate Conception • Assumption • Mother of the Church • Mediatrix • Co-Redemptrix |
|
Expressions of devotion |
|
Key Marian apparitions |
In his Apostolic Constitution Ineffabilis Deus (8 December 1854), which officially defined the Immaculate Conception as dogma for the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Pius IX primarily appealed to the text of Genesis 3:15, where the serpent was told by God, "I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your seed and her seed". According to the Roman Catholic understanding, this was a prophecy that foretold of a "woman" who would always be at enmity with the serpent—that is, a woman who would never be under the power of sin, nor in bondage to the serpent. Some Roman Catholic theologians have also claimed the angel Gabriel's salutation to Mary at the Annunciation (Luke 1:28) as scriptural evidence for the Immaculate Conception.[41] The verse "Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee", "Tota pulchra es, amica mea, et macula non est in te" (Vulgate[42]), from the Song of Solomon (4.7) was also regarded as a scriptural confirmation of the doctrine, and as macula is Latin for "spot" or "stain", is probably responsible for its name.[43]
The early Church Fathers compared Mary to Eve. St. Justin Martyr said that Mary was a kind of New Eve, "in order that the disobedience which proceeded from the serpent might receive its destruction in the same manner in which it derived its origin". (Dialogue with Trypho, 100) Tertullian argued in a similar manner: "As Eve had believed the serpent, so Mary believed the angel. The delinquency which the one occasioned by believing, the other by believing effaced". (On the Flesh of Christ, 17) St. Irenaeus declared that Mary became "the cause of salvation, both to herself and the whole human race", because "what the virgin Eve had bound fast through unbelief, this did the virgin Mary set free through faith". (Against Heresies, Book III, cap. 22, 4) St. Jerome coined the phrase, "Death came through Eve, but life has come through Mary", (Letter XXII, To Eustochium, 21). This may well be inspired by the original explanation in the Bible, in Romans chapter 5, that while death came through one man (Adam), life and grace have been brought through one man (Jesus Christ).[44][45]
The Catholic Encyclopedia of 1907, however, states that these scriptures merely serve as corroborative evidence assuming that the dogma is already well established, and that there is insufficient evidence to prove the dogma to someone basing their beliefs solely on biblical interpretation:
No direct or categorical and stringent proof of the dogma can be brought forward from Scripture. ... The Proto-evangelium [Genesis 3:15], therefore, in the original text contains a direct promise of the Redeemer, and...the perfect preservation of His virginal Mother from original sin. The salutation of the angel Gabriel—chaire kecharitomene, Hail, full of grace...finds its explanation only in the Immaculate Conception of Mary. But the term kecharitomene (full of grace) serves only as an illustration, not as a proof of the dogma. ―[46]
Other verses sometimes used to defend the Immaculate Conception include:
And you shall make the ark of testimony of incorruptible wood, and you shall gild it with pure gold, you shall gild it within and without; and you shall make for it golden wreaths twisted round about.—Exodus 25:10-11 Brenton LXX
So I made an ark of boards of incorruptible wood, and I hewed tables of stone like the first, and I went up to the mountain, and the two tables were in my hand.—Deuteronomy 10:3 Brenton LXX
Other translations use the words "setim", "acacia", "indestructible", and "hard" to describe the wood used. In any case, Moses used this wood because it was regarded as very durable and "incorruptible". Mary is regarded by Catholic and Orthodox Christians as being the Ark of the Covenant in the New Testament and therefore claim it is fitting that the New Ark likewise be made "incorruptible" or "immaculate". Their basis for calling the Virgin Mary the Ark of the Covenant is based partly on the parallels of the Ark in Second Samuel 6 with the Nativity narrative of the Gospel of Luke. The early Church Fathers called Christ, the Church, and the Virgin Mary each at one point as being symbolized by the Ark.[47]
Other churches
For differing reasons the doctrine in its particular Catholic form is generally not shared by either Eastern Orthodox Churches, the Anglican Communion, or by the various Protestant communities.
Anglicanism
Belief in the Immaculate Conception is not a doctrine within Anglicanism, although it is believed by some Anglicans and most Anglo-Catholics.[48] In Common Worship 8 December is designated a Lesser Festival in honor of the Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.[49] This feast includes no specific mention of the Roman Catholic dogma of the Immaculate Conception, but bears witness to the unique gift of grace of Mary.[50]
The report "Mary: Faith and Hope in Christ" by the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission, concluded that the teaching about Mary in the two definitions of the Assumption and the Immaculate Conception can be said to be consonant with the teaching of the Scriptures and the ancient common traditions.[51] But the report expressed concerns that the Roman Catholic dogmatic definitions of these concepts implies them to be "revealed by God" and stated that: "The question arises for Anglicans, however, as to whether these doctrines concerning Mary are revealed by God in a way which must be held by believers as a matter of faith."[52]
Eastern and Oriental Orthodox
Orthodox Christians say that Mary was without sin for her entire life, but they generally do not share the Augustinian and Medieval Roman Catholic Church's views on original sin.[53] In Ethiopian Orthodox tradition, which is Oriental Orthodox rather than Eastern Orthodox, there is some suggestion that Mary was created immaculate, as seen in the following:
He cleansed eve's body and sanctified it and made for it a dwelling in her for adam's salvation. She [i.e., mary] was born without blemish, for He made her pure, without pollution, and she redeemed his debt without carnal union and embrace...Through the transgression of eve we died and were buried, and by the purity of mary we receive honour, and are exalted to the heights.[54]
Old Catholicism
Old Catholics do not reject the Immaculate Conception of Mary, but Rome's dogma regarding it, because Old Catholics reject Papal infallibility and do not believe the Pope can, by himself, define a dogma.[55]
Some Old Catholic parishes venerate Mary as the Immaculate Conception and celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. Old Catholics hold that the faithful whose conscience does not bind them to belief in the Immaculate Conception, who do not believe it in good conscience, cannot be required to believe it because it has not been infallibly defined as dogma by the Church, the Pope having no authority to act in the capacity of the Church. This may also apply to the teachings of the various branches of the Liberal Catholic Church
Protestantism
Martin Luther, the founder of Lutheranism, who initiated the Protestant Reformation initially agreed with the Roman Catholic dogma of the Immaculate Conception by saying: "Mary is full of grace, proclaimed to be entirely without sin. God's grace fills her with everything good and makes her devoid of all evil".[56] However, as of 1532 Luther stopped celebrating the feast of the Assumption of Mary and also discontinued his support of the Immaculate Conception.[57]
Most Protestants, besides Lutherans and other similar branches, reject the doctrine because they do not consider the development of dogmatic theology to be authoritative apart from biblical exegesis, and because the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, is not taught in the Bible.[58] The formal pronouncement of Mary' s Immaculate Conception by the Catholic Church in 1854 alienated some Protestant Churches partly due to its implication that not all have sinned.[59]
Islam
The third chapter of the Qur'an states beliefs in both the Immaculate Conception of Mary and the Virgin birth of Jesus.[60][61] The Qur'an mentions Mary over 30 times, traces her genealogy to Abraham and Noah and states the belief in her Immaculate Conception.[62]
George Sale reports, in his translation of the Qur'an, that the Immaculate Conception had long been an Islamic tradition.[63] William Bernard Ullathorne, a 19th century Catholic bishop stated that it is possible that the prophet Muhammad interacted with Christians in the great fair of Bosra and learned of the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception there.[64]
In the Islamic tradition of Muhammad, Mary and her Son were the only children who could not be touched by Satan at the moment of their birth, for God imposed a veil between them and Satan.[65] According to author Shabbir Akhtar, the Islamic perspective on Mary's Immaculate Conception is compatible with the Catholic doctrine of the same topic.[66]
Prayers and hymns
The Roman Missal includes the following:[67]
Alleluia, alleluia. Tota pulchra es, Maria, et macula originalis non est in te. Alleluia. (i.e. Thou art all fair, O Mary, and the stain of original sin is not in thee).
The Immaculata prayer is a Roman Catholic Marian prayer composed by Saint Maximillian Kolbe and is a prayer of consecration to the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. [68]
Some Roman Catholics recite Novenas to the Immaculate Conception. The Immaculata Novenas usually include a specific prayer for each of the nine days of the novena.[69]
The Immaculate Mary is a Lourdes hymn, directed to the Immaculate Conception.[70]
Artistic representations
The 1476 extension of the feast of the Immaculate Conception to the entire Latin Church reduced the likelihood of controversy for the artist or patron in depicting an image, so that emblems depicting The Immaculate Conception began to appear.[71]
Many artists in the 15th century faced the problem of how to depict an abstract idea such as the Immaculate Conception, and the problem was not fully solved for 150 years. Piero di Cosimo was among those artists who tried new solutions, but none of these became generally adopted so that the subject matter would be immediately recognisable to the faithful.
The definitive iconography for the Immaculate Conception, drawing on the emblem tradition, seems to have been finally established by the master and then father-in-law of Diego Velázquez, the painter and theorist Francisco Pacheco (1564–1644). Pacheco's iconography influenced other Spanish artists such as Bartolome Murillo, Diego Velázquez, and Francisco Zurbaran, who each produced a number of artistic masterpieces based on the use of these same symbols.[72][73]
The popularity of this particular representation of The Immaculate Conception spread across the rest of Europe, and has since remained the best known artistic depiction of the concept: in a heavenly realm, moments after her creation, the spirit of Mary (in the form of a young woman) looks up in awe at (or bows her head to) God. The moon is under her feet and a halo of twelve stars surround her head, possibly a reference to "a woman clothed with the sun" from Revelation 12:1-2. Additional imagery may include clouds, a golden light, and cherubs. In some paintings the cherubim are holding lilies and roses, flowers often associated with Mary.[74]
Common misinterpretations
There is a widespread misunderstanding of the term immaculate conception: many believe it refers to Mary's conception of Jesus, a confusion frequently met in the mass media. In the sense in which the phrase "Immaculate Conception" is used in Roman Catholic doctrine, it is not directly connected to the concept of Mary's "virginal conception" of the Incarnation of Christ. The Church celebrates the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on 8 December, exactly nine months before celebrating the Nativity of Mary. The feast of the Incarnation of Christ, also known as The Annunciation, is celebrated on 25 March, nine months before Christmas Day. Mary was not the product of a Virgin Birth herself; Christian tradition identifies her parents as Saints Joachim and Anne. In fact, both Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy have condemned the belief that Mary was the product of a virgin birth.[75][76][77]
Another misunderstanding is that by her immaculate conception, Mary did not need a saviour. On the contrary, when defining the dogma in Ineffabilis Deus, Pope Pius IX affirmed that Mary was redeemed in a manner more sublime. He stated that Mary, rather than being cleansed after sin, was completely prevented from contracting Original Sin in view of the foreseen merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race. In Luke 1:47, Mary proclaims: "My spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior." This is referred to as Mary's pre-redemption by Christ. In Catholicism since the Council of Orange II against semi-pelagianism, has taught that even had man never sinned in the Garden of Eden and was sinless, he would still require God's grace to remain sinless.[78][79]
Gallery
.jpg) Murillo Immaculate Conception, 1650 |
Murillo Immaculate Conception, 1660 |
 Murillo Immaculate Conception, 1678 |
 Juan Antonio Escalante 17th century |
 di Cosimo Immaculate Conception, 1505 |
 Zurbarán Immaculate Conception, 1630 |
 Carlo Maratta, 1689 |
 Santa Maria degli Angeli, Rome |
 Caxias do Sul museum, Brazil |
 Statue, Porto Alegre, Brazil, 19th century |
See also
- Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception
- Feast of the Immaculate Conception
- Immaculate Mary
- Immaculata prayer
- Marian doctrines of the Catholic Church
- Original sin
- Perpetual virginity of Mary
- Roman Catholic Marian art
- Virgin birth of Jesus
References
Notes
- ↑ Vatican website
- ↑ Mark Miravalle, 1993, Introduction to Mary, Queenship Publishing ISBN 9781882972067 page 64-70
- ↑ Council of Trent Denzinger Enchiridion Symbulorum, definitionum et declarationum , Freiburg, 1957, document 833; "she was free from any personal or hereditary sin", Pius XII, Encyclical Mystici Corporis, 1943 in Dentzinger, D2291
- ↑ Creeds of the churches: a reader in Christian doctrine by John H. Leith 1983 ISBN 0804205264 page 442-446
- ↑ The Catholicism Answer Book by John Trigilio, Kenneth Brighenti 2007 ISBN 1402208065 page 59-62
- ↑ Catholic encyclopedia
- ↑ Mark Miravalle, 1993, Introduction to Mary, Queenship Publishing ISBN 9781882972067 page 66-69
- ↑ Mary by Sarah Jane Boss, Neil Warmsley 2004 ISBN 0826457886 page 139
- ↑ [1]
- ↑ EWTN
- ↑ Irenaeus of Lyons, Adversus haereses Book V, 19,3
- ↑ Ambrose of Milan, Expositio in Lucam 1640
- ↑ Ludwig Ott, Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, Bk 3, Pt. 3, Ch. 2, §3.1.e.
- ↑ Ad Diem Illum at the Vatican website [2]
- ↑ Catholic encyclopedia
- ↑ Butler's lives of the saints, Volume 12 by Alban Butler, David Hugh Farmer pages 2000 ISBN 0860122611 72-74
- ↑ Catholic, Lutheran, Protestant: a doctrinal comparison by Gregory Lee Jackson 1993 ISBN 9780615166353 page 220
- ↑ A Catholic Dictionary Containing Some Account of the Doctrine by William E. Addis, Thomas Arnold pages 2004 ISBN 0766193799 440-443
- ↑ EWTN
- ↑ The Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God by William Bernard Ullathorne 2009 ISBN 1110899777 pages 132-135
- ↑ Catholic encyclopedia
- ↑ Mary's Immaculate Conception
- ↑ Encyclopedia of theology: a concise Sacramentum mundi by Karl Rahner 2004 ISBN 0860120066 pages 896-898
- ↑ Catholic encyclopedia
- ↑ Butler's lives of the saints, Volume 12 by Alban Butler, David Hugh Farmer pages 2000 ISBN 0860122611 72-74
- ↑ Catholic encyclopedia
- ↑ The Everything Mary Book by Jenny Schroedel 2006 ISBN 1593377134 page 180-181
- ↑ A Catholic Dictionary Containing Some Account of the Doctrine by William E. Addis, Thomas Arnold pages 2004 ISBN 0766193799 440-443
- ↑ Creeds of the churches: a reader in Christian doctrine by John H. Leith 1983 ISBN 0804205264 page 442-446
- ↑ The Creeds of Christendom by Philip Schaff 2009 ISBN 1115468340 page 211
- ↑ "Papal Definition of the Immaculate Conception". Ewtn.com. http://www.ewtn.com/faith/teachings/marye1.htm. Retrieved 2010-09-13.
- ↑ The Everything Mary Book by Jenny Schroedel 2006 ISBN 1593377134 page 180-181
- ↑ Mark Miravalle, 1993, Introduction to Mary, Queenship Publishing ISBN 9781882972067 page 64-70
- ↑ EWTN
- ↑ Vatican website
- ↑ "Agenzia Fides - Congregazione per l'Evangelizzazione dei Popoli". Fides.org. http://www.fides.org/eng/approfondire/totustuus/immacolata02.html. Retrieved 2009-05-05.
- ↑ Fulgens Corona, 10
- ↑ Mariology Society of America http://mariologicalsocietyofamerica.us
- ↑ Centers of Marian Study http://www.servidimaria.org/en/attualita/promotori2/promotori2.htm
- ↑ Publisher’s Notice in the Second Italian Edition (1986), reprinted in English Edition, Gabriel Roschini, O.S.M. (1989). The Virgin Mary in the Writings of Maria Valtorta (English Edition). Kolbe's Publication Inc. ISBN 2-920285-08-4
- ↑ Mark Miravalle, 1993, Introduction to Mary, Queenship Publishing ISBN 9781882972067 pages 65-66
- ↑ Vulgate text
- ↑ A Catholic Dictionary Containing Some Account of the Doctrine by William E. Addis, Thomas Arnold pages 2004 ISBN 0766193799 440-443
- ↑ "Passage Lookup: Romans 5:12-15". BibleGateway.com. http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%205:12-15;&version=31;. Retrieved 2009-06-05.
- ↑ The creed: the apostolic faith in contemporary theology by Berard L. Marthaler 2007 ISBN 0896225372 133-136
- ↑ "Immaculate Conception - Original Catholic Encyclopedia". Oce.catholic.com. 1904-02-02. http://oce.catholic.com/index.php?title=Immaculate_Conception#II._THE_HOLY_SCRIPTURE. Retrieved 2009-05-05.
- ↑ Immaculate Conception in Church Fathers
- ↑ Our Lady Saint Mary by J G H Barry 2008 ISBN 0554243326 pages 25-27
- ↑ Butler's lives of the saints, Volume 12 by Alban Butler, David Hugh Farmer 2000 ISBN 0860122611 page 74
- ↑ A Catholic Atlas by Charles Chapman Grafton 2009 ISBN 1110726848 page 231
- ↑ Ecumenical Affairs - Dialogues - Anglican Roman Catholic Paragraph 78 - Accessed 8th December 2008
- ↑ Ecumenical Affairs - Dialogues - Anglican Roman Catholic Paragraph 60 - Accessed 8th December 2008
- ↑ Antony Hughes, M.Div., 2004, Ancestral Versus Original Sin: An Overview with Implications for Psychotherapy. Retrieved 2007-12-28.
- ↑ Kebra Nagast, Chapter 96:Concerning the Prophecy about christ
- ↑ "Old Roman Catholic Church of North America - What IS Catholic?". Orccna.org. http://www.orccna.org/ourfaith/meetultra.htm. Retrieved 2009-05-05.
- ↑ Luther's Works, American edition, vol. 43, p. 40, ed. H. Lehmann, Fortress, 1968
- ↑ Catholic, Lutheran, Protestant: a doctrinal comparison by Gregory Lee Jackson 1993 ISBN 9780615166353 page 249
- ↑ The Protestant faith by George Wolfgang Forell 1962 ISBN 0800610954 page 23
- ↑ 'Jesus in history, thought, and culture: an encyclopedia, Volume 1 by James Leslie Houlden 2003 ISBN 1576078566 page
- ↑ The Bible and the Qur'an by Jacques Jomier 2002 ISBN 0898709288 page 133
- ↑ Islam, a Christian perspective by Michael Nazir-Ali 1984 ISBn 0664245277 page 110
- ↑ Home of the Assumption: Reconstructing Mary's Life in Ephesus by V. Antony John Alaharasan 2006 ISBN 1929039387 page 66
- ↑ EWTN
- ↑ The Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God by William Bernard Ullathorne 2009 ISBN 1110899777 pages 132-135
- ↑ The Koran by J. M. Rodwell 2009 ISBN 0559131275 page 505
- ↑ The Quran and the secular mind: a philosophy of Islam by Shabbir Akhtar 2007 page 352
- ↑ Maiden and Mother: Prayers, Hymns, Devotions, and Songs to the Beloved Virgin Mary Throughout the Year by Margaret M. Miles 2001 ISBN 0860123057 page 17 [3]
- ↑ University of Dayton Marian prayers
- ↑ EWTN Immaculata Novenas
- ↑ Immaculate prayers
- ↑ Emblems for Immaculate Conception http://campus.udayton.edu/mary/meditations/immac_con_images.html
- ↑ Ésotérisme, gnoses & imaginaire symbolique: mélanges offerts à Antoine Faivre by Richard Caron, Antoine Faivre 2001 ISBN 9042909552 page 676
- ↑ Divine Mirrors: The Virgin Mary in the Visual Arts by Melissa R. Katz and Robert A. Orsi 2001 ISBN 0195145577 page 98
- ↑ Our Lady in Art by Katherine Lee Rawlings Jenner 2009 ISBN 1103326899 pages 3-9
- ↑ The Catholicism Answer Book by John Trigilio, Kenneth Brighenti 2007 ISBN 1402208065 page 59-62
- ↑ What Every Catholic Should Know about Mary by Terrence J. McNally ISBN 1441510516 pages 104-108
- ↑ A Catholic Dictionary Containing Some Account of the Doctrine by William E. Addis, Thomas Arnold pages 2004 ISBN 0766193799 440-443
- ↑ Council of Orange II, Canon 19 "That no one is saved except by God's mercy. Even if human nature remained in that integrity in which it was formed, it would in no way save itself without the help of its Creator; therefore, since without the grace of God it cannot guard the health which it received, how without the grace of God will it be able to recover what it has lost?"
- ↑ Theology for beginners by Francis Joseph Sheed 1958 ISBN 0722074255 pages 134-138
External links
- The Immaculate Conception in Art (Painting)
- Ineffabilis Deus (Apostolic Constitution of Pope Pius IX defining the dogma of the Immaculate Conception)
- St. Alphonsus Liguori's writing on the Immaculate Conception in his book The Glories of Mary
- Catholic Encyclopedia entry on the Immaculate Conception
- Catholic Encyclopedia entry on Original Sin
- The Immaculate Conception. A study by a Melkite archimandrite
- The Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God based on Juniper Carol's Mariology and William Bernard Ullathornee's book
- "St. Augustine and Original Sin" — a short article on the different understandings of Original Sin in Eastern and Western Christianity, without distinguishing Protestant theology from Roman Catholic. The latter holds that "original sin does not have the character of a personal fault in any of Adam's descendants" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 405).
- Original Sin According To St. Paul by John S. Romanides
- Catechism of the Catholic Church "Conceived by the Power of the Holy Spirit and Born of the Virgin Mary"
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pope Portal 
Catholicism Portal