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On the Necessity of Mary’s Immaculate Conception

Brent Maher

            On December 8, 1854, Pope Pius IX, with the Bishops of the world, pronounced and defined that “the doctrine which holds that the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instance of her conception...was preserved free from all stain of original sin, is a doctrine revealed by God and therefore believed firmly and constantly by all the faithful.”[1]  The solemn definition finished the work of those popes who had been building up to it for many years before its definition, the most important of these being Sixtus IV, Paul V, Gregory XV, and Alexander VII.[2]  But why did all of these men feel it necessary to accentuate and define this belief in Mary’s immaculate conception?  What role does it play in the larger picture that is the Christian Faith?  One finds the answer in one simple word: salvation.  It was necessary that Mary be immaculately conceived, in order that we may attain redemption and salvation through Jesus Christ, in accordance with God’s plan for our deliverance from sin and darkness. 

            In discussing Mary’s Immaculate Conception, one can show the necessity in four ways: via the protoevangelium in the Book of Genesis, through the annunciation from the angel Gabriel, in understanding the correlation between Mary and the Ark of the Covenant, and by understanding Mary as the New Eve.  The first way, via the protoevengelium, illustrates the necessity of the Immaculate Conception in that Mary participates in Jesus Christ’s sanctity.  In Chapter 3 of the Book of Genesis, Eve is tempted by the serpent to eat of the fruit of the forbidden tree.  When she eats of the fruit and gives it to Adam, the Fall of Man ensues and consequently the entry of sin and death into the world. (Gen 3, 6-9, 17-20)[3]  For this reason, God says to the serpent, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel.” (Gen 3, 15)  The serpent in this case is clearly seen to be the devil, the ‘father of lies’. (Jn 8, 44)  Jesus Christ is the one who crushes the head of the serpent, who defeats the devil, and therefore his mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, is the one between whom there was placed enmity with the serpent.[4]  Therefore, the enmity that exists between Mary and the serpent is the same as that which exists between Jesus and the serpent.  Christ and Mary are therefore set against the serpent and his offspring.  In Jesus’ defeat of the serpent, the devil, Mary will share in Jesus’ triumph over evil.  Pope Pius IX illustrates this correspondent victory in Ineffabilis Deus, saying that Mary, “united with [Jesus] by a most intimate and indissoluble bond, was, with him and through him, eternally at enmity with the evil serpent, and most completely triumphed over him”.[5]  Because Mary shares in the same enmity with Jesus, she can in no way be tainted by sin, as this would mean that at some point “Satan would have triumphed over her, and she would have been, at least temporarily, his friend and ally”.[6]  If she were at one point the ally of the devil, it would necessarily follow that there be no truth in the Protoevangelium.  So, through Mary’s Immaculate Conception, she was at enmity with the devil, who her son Jesus was able to crush.

            The second way to argue the necessity of Mary’s immaculate conception is through the annunciation by the angel Gabriel.  The Gospel of Luke has Mary being greeted by Gabriel, “Hail, full of grace” (Lk 1, 28) and Elizabeth, “most blessed are you among women”. (Lk 1, 42)  Gabriel’s greeting “full of grace” shows the level of grace that she has.  He reveals to her that she is the favored one who will bear the Son of the Most High, humanity’s redeemer.  Mary, full of grace, was thus preserved from all stain of sin from the moment of her conception.  But were she to have experienced sin for even the shortest time, she “would not have received complete fullness of grace”.[7]  This indicates the necessity of her absolute freedom from sin.  Likewise, Elizabeth’s divinely inspired greeting stands out because Mary is greeted not as ‘blessed’ but as the superlative ‘most blessed’.  This too is indicative of Mary’s fullness of grace, since Elizabeth proclaims that Mary is the chosen one of God, the one who is to bear the Son of God.  Pius IX describes the gifts of grace bestowed upon her by God, saying, “the most glorious Virgin…was resplendent with such an abundance of heavenly gifts, with such a fullness of grace and with such innocence, that she is an unspeakable miracle of God – indeed the crown of all miracles and truly the Mother of God”.[8]

            The argument for the Immaculate Conception is rooted in the Christian Faith dating back to the early Church Fathers of the first century, including Tertullian and Saint Irenaeus.[9]  One way that the Early Church Fathers understood the necessity of the Immaculate Conception is via the relationship between Mary and the Ark of the Covenant.  The Ark of the Covenant is the ark in the Old Testament which held the commandments of the Lord. (Ex 25, 22)  This ark was made of indestructible wood and so was symbolic of Christ, who was resistant to decay and free from all corruption of sin.[10]  Saint Hippolytus says that Christ “was sinless, because, according to His humanity, He was fashioned from indestructible wood… out of the Virgin and the Holy Ghost”.[11]  Lumen Gentium notes that Mary is the Mother of Jesus, “who gave to the world the Life that renews all things, and who was enriched by God with gifts appropriate to such a role.”[12]  Thus, it is shown that Mary was given gifts appropriate to being the Mother of God, namely that she was conceived immaculately and thus preserved from all stain of sin. 

            The fourth way to discuss the necessity of the Immaculate Conception is by understanding Mary as the New Eve.  In Genesis, when God first created man from the clay and breathed life into him (Gen 2, 7), there was no sin found in him, as he was in a state of “original justice”.[13]  Being in a state of original justice, Adam and Ever had no tendency toward sin and freely chose to turn away from God, thus, sin and death entered into the world.  As Adam and Eve freely chose to turn from God, Mary and Jesus freely choose to turn toward God, so that salvation and righteousness might be brought to all people.  Thus, Adam and Eve embody the principle of sin and Mary and Jesus Christ represent the wellspring of sanctity and righteousness.[14]  However, the early Fathers felt that the relationship between Mary and Eve was more complex that simple opposition of each other.  Saint Ephrem Syrus said regarding this that “[t]hose two innocent women…Mary and Eve, had been indeed created quite equal, but afterwards one became the cause of our death, the other of our life.”[15]  Thus, Mary was created free from all stain of sin, in a state of original justice, as Eve was created free from sin.  This was done so that God’s plan for salvation might be carried out by the free choice of a woman with no tendency toward sin, for “what by that sex had gone into perdition might by the same sex be brought back to salvation.”[16]  The free choice of Eve to eat and give the fruit to Adam brought evil to the world.  Mary, in freely choosing to follow the will of God, conceived and bore in her womb Jesus Christ, who brings righteousness and salvation to all the people. (Lk 1, 31-32, 68-75, Lk 2, 11-12)  In this way, God’s plan of salvation is set in motion.

            Saint Bernard of Clairvaux sparked the debate in 1153 when he wrote a letter to the Canons of Lyons in response to the recently instituted feast of our Lady’s Conception.[17]  Bernard agreed that Mary was born free from sin and he supported a feast commemorating her birth.[18]  He agreed that she was born free from sin and was given special gifts so as to remain sinless for the remainder of her life, but he asked, “How does it follow that her conception would be holy because her birth was holy?”[19]  Bernard would agree with the idea that she was conceived and then sanctified; the only other reasonings he could gather was that she was sanctified before her conception, which was impossible, or that she was sanctified in the act of her conception, which he said reason could not accept.[20]  Saint Thomas Aquinas was in a similar frame of mind, as were many theologians of the Middle Ages.  Saint Thomas questions whether she was sanctified before her conception, to which he responds in the negative for the reason that “before the infusion of the rational soul, the offspring conceived is not liable to sin.”[21]  Like Bernard, Thomas agrees with the idea that Mary was sanctified in the womb before her birth.[22]  Neither of these great scholars ever fully comprehended the idea that is now the basis of the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception, that Mary was sanctified in the act of conception and therefore never experienced sin. 

            Saint Duns Scotus though, was able to understand the idea of sanctification in the act of conception and asserted it to be true.  Scotus also answers another question raised by Saint Thomas, whether Mary would have experienced sin as a result of being a daughter of Adam.  To this, Scotus responds that by distinguishing between the ‘order of nature’ and the ‘order of time’.  The order of nature, that Mary was born of the line of Adam and thus subject to original sin, holds that she was “a daughter of Adam before she was justified”.[23]  In terms of the order of time though, the position is held that her sanctification happened simultaneously with her conception, and thus she was not subject to sin.[24]  This still leaves open the question whether Mary would need a redeemer since she was conceived without sin.[25]  Forming the notion of ‘preredemption’, Scotus says it would be possible for God to infuse grace without having to expel any existing sin.[26]  Thus, Mary’s redemption would be preservation from sin rather than liberation from it, which would be a good method of preserving the Mother of Jesus from any stain of sin.[27]  In this way, Scotus shows that Mary was indeed immaculately conceived and still in need of redemption.

            In summary, the argument for Mary’s Immaculate Conception is strongly rooted in God’s plan of salvation.  As the mother of the one who crushed the head of the serpent, she shares in the victory over sin and death.  She is preserved from all sin as she is the most blessed among women, the one who shall bear the Son of the Most High.  As the New Eve, she was kept clean from all sin so that she might be truly free to respond to the call of God, and so enabled the plan of salvation to be set in motion.  Christ, being made from incorruptible timber, the Virgin Mary, was free from all possibility of corruption or sinfulness.  Thus, the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception is shown to be rooted in the plan of salvation as revealed in Sacred Scripture, as well as in the Tradition of the Church dating back to the Early Church Fathers. 

End Notes