Marian Dogmas & Doctrine — Part 3: The Immaculate Conception

02-16-2025Weekly ReflectionJen Arnold, M.A.

We have reached the third week of our Marian series. Today, we will have another in-depth look at the Church’s teachings about Mary as we examine the dogma of the Immaculate Conception.

It is not uncommon for people to think the Immaculate Conception refers to the conception of Jesus Christ in Mary’s womb by the Holy Spirit. That was certainly a miraculous conception, but it is not what we mean by the Immaculate Conception. Using the Magisterium as our first source of authority, on December 8, 1854, Pope Pius IX gave us a very succinct yet meaty definition of the Immaculate Conception in his apostolic constitution entitled Ineffabilis Deus, which reads:

We declare, pronounce, and define that the doctrine which holds that the most Blessed Virgin Mary, at the first instant of her conception, was preserved immune from all stain of sin, by a singular grace and privilege of the omnipotent God in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the savior of the human race, was revealed by God and therefore must be firmly and constantly believed by all the faithful.

Now, let’s explore what this means and why it’s important.

First, we must understand what it means to be born with the stain of original sin. Before the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, humanity had three preternatural gifts: infused knowledge, absence of concupiscence, and bodily immortality. That means, firstly, we were intended to have an intimate understanding and knowledge of God, his plan, and supernatural realities. Secondly, we were intended to have a perfect balance of our passions, senses, emotions, intellect, and will, to aid us in avoiding sin. Finally, it means our bodies were not meant to become ill or die. The first sin resulted in the loss of these preternatural gifts, not just for our first parents, but as a condition to be passed on to every generation afterward. I’m sure you can see in your own life, as I can in mine, how the loss of these gifts has affected humanity over time. The stain of that original sin and its consequences is present at the moment of everyone’s conception, and we deal with it as quickly as possible in the Sacrament of Baptism.

In the case of the Blessed Virgin Mary, this stain of original sin was withheld from her soul at the moment of her conception, allowing her to maintain all the preternatural gifts that were intended for us from the beginning. Since her preternatural gifts were preserved at conception, she was able to remain free from sin her entire life, and therefore, Jesus and Mary were the only two humans on Earth to have never sinned.

If we go back to Pope Pius’ definition, we see that Mary was spared from the stain of original sin and its effects by the merits of her Son, Jesus Christ. Skeptics of this dogma ask how this is possible since Mary was conceived long before Jesus was ever born and, indeed, before he completed His saving work in His Passion and Resurrection. If Mary was saved before she was born, wouldn’t this negate Jesus as the Savior of the World? The Church answers this with a term called “preservative redemption.” Indeed, Mary needed to be saved as a member of humanity. However, there are two ways one can be saved. One is that you can fall and then have the grace restored at your Baptism, and the other is that you can be prevented from falling in the first place. Think of it this way: You can fall into a hole in the ground, and your savior can rescue you from that hole, or your savior can prevent you from falling into the hole in the first place by pulling you back before you fall. You are saved either way. Since God is outside of time and exists on an eternal plane, the merits of Christ’s saving work were applied to Mary in a preservative way, and she was spared from original sin and its effects long before Christ was born.

Now, why was it necessary that Mary be conceived without sin? We can first look to Scripture for some answers. Beginning with Genesis 3:15, we read that God tells Satan that He will fix the mess that was made in Eden by putting a woman and her seed at enmity with Satan and his seed. Satan’s seed is sin, and the woman and her seed that will defeat them is Mary and Jesus. If Mary and Jesus are to be directly pitted against Satan and sin, there is no room for sin to exist in either of them. Jesus and Mary must be in direct opposition to Satan and sin for the battle to be clearly good vs. evil. Secondly, when the Angel Gabriel comes to Mary in Luke 1:28, he says, “Hail, full of grace.” There are two things to note here. Gabriel uses “Full of Grace” as a title. He does not say, “You, who are full of grace.” Secondly, there is no room for anything else when something is full of something. So, if Mary is full of grace, there is no room for sin. This title effectively translates back to the title of the Immaculate Conception, which represents the same reality.

As I move on to the next scriptural reference in defense of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, please remember that what the Church teaches about Mary protects what is true about Jesus. If you recall from the Old Testament, the Ark of the Covenant was the most holy object of the Israelites, and in it were kept the Ten Commandments (representing the law), the rod of Aaron (the priesthood), and the manna from the desert (the bread of life). Because the Ark was supremely holy, God forbade anyone to touch it directly, requiring it be carried by poles to preserve its sanctity. In 2 Samuel 6:6, we see the Ark of the Covenant being moved improperly (on a cart), and the oxen stumble, causing the Ark to shake. Uzzah instinctively reached his hand out to steady the Ark, and God struck him dead then and there for even daring to touch it. In the New Testament, we have Jesus — the new law, the new priesthood, and the new bread of life. He is the fulfillment of everything contained in the most holy Ark of the Covenant. This means that Mary became the New Ark of the Covenant. It would make very little sense if the earthly items representing the Old Covenant could not be touched by sinful humans, but then the Son of God — the fulfillment of the New Covenant — would be carried around for nine months in a dirty, stained, unworthy vessel. Having been given the privilege of being the Immaculate Conception, Mary protects the truth about who Jesus is, therefore providing an immaculate vessel so as not to defile his holy body.

Of course, our other source of authority is Tradition. Let’s review a few quotes from early Christianity that indicate the Church has always considered the Immaculate Conception a fitting dogma of Mary rather than a recent development in a modern Church.

“Mary was not infected by the venomous breath of the serpent.”

- Origen, In Div. hom. 1 (d. 254)

“…Lift me up not from Sarah but from Mary, a virgin not only undefiled, but a virgin whom grace had made inviolate, free of every stain of sin.”

- St. Ambrose, Commentary on Psalm 118, 22:30 (387 AD)

“Come, let us wonder at the virgin most pure, wondrous in herself, unique in creation, she gave birth, yet knew no man; her pure soul with wonder was filled, daily her mind gave praise in joy at the twofold wonder: her virginity preserved, her child most dear. Blessed is He who shone forth from her.”

- St. Ephraim the Syrian: Songs of Praise (d. 373)

This week meditate on the dogma of the Immaculate Conception and consider why it was fitting for Jesus to be carried in a worthy vessel, preserved holy and blameless. Contemplate what it might be like to have all the preternatural gifts and perfect balance of your passions and senses. Find opportunities to imitate Mary when you feel imbalances creep up.