84. The redemption of mankind by Jesus Christ began with a request by God and the free consent of Mary.

The redemption of mankind by Jesus Christ began with a request by God and the free consent of Mary.

YOUCAT Catechism + Catechism of the Catholic Church Lesson 84

Ave Maria series

84  Was Mary only an instrument of God?

Mary was more than a merely passive instrument of God.  The Incarnation of God took place through her active consent as well.  [493-494, 508-511]

Nativity of Jesus, Marten de Vos 1577  ..... 84

When the angel told her that she would bear “the Son of God”, Mary replied, “Let it be to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38).  The redemption of mankind by Jesus Christ thus begins with a request by God and the free consent of a human being—and a pregnancy before Mary was married to Joseph.  By such an unusual path Mary became for us the “Gate of Salvation”.  479

[493-494, 508-511]

The Immaculate Conception

493 The Fathers of the Eastern tradition call the Mother of God "the All-Holy" (Panagia), and celebrate her as "free from any stain of sin, as though fashioned by the Holy Spirit and formed as a new creature". (Lumen Gentium 56.)¹³⁸ By the grace of God Mary remained free of every personal sin her whole life long. –Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition

"Let it be done to me according to your word. . ."

494 At the announcement that she would give birth to "the Son of the Most High" without knowing man, by the power of the Holy Spirit, Mary responded with the obedience of faith, certain that "with God nothing will be impossible": "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be [done] to me according to your word." (Luke 1:28-38; compare Romans 1:5)¹³⁹ Thus, giving her consent to God's word, Mary becomes the mother of Jesus. Espousing the divine will for salvation wholeheartedly, without a single sin to restrain her, she gave herself entirely to the person and to the work of her Son; she did so in order to serve the mystery of redemption with him and dependent on him, by God's grace: (Compare Lumen Gentium 56.)¹⁴⁰ -- CCC

As St. Irenaeus says, "Being obedient she became the cause of salvation for herself and for the whole human race." (St. Irenaeus, Adv. haeres. 3, 22, 4: Patrologia Graeca 7/1, 959A.)¹⁴¹ Hence not a few of the early Fathers gladly assert. . .: "The knot of Eve's disobedience was untied by Mary's obedience: what the virgin Eve bound through her disbelief, Mary loosened by her faith." (St. Irenaeus, Adv. haeres. 3, 22, 4: PG 7/1, 959A.)¹⁴² Comparing her with Eve, they call Mary "the Mother of the living" and frequently claim: "Death through Eve, life through Mary." (Lumen Gentium 56; Epiphanius, Haer. 78, 18: PG 42, 728CD-729AB; St. Jerome, Ep. 22, 21: PL 22, 408.)¹⁴³—CCC

IN BRIEF

508 From among the descendants of Eve, God chose the Virgin Mary to be the mother of his Son. "Full of grace", Mary is "the most excellent fruit of redemption" (Sacrosanctum Concilium 103): from the first instant of her conception, she was totally preserved from the stain of original sin and she remained pure from all personal sin throughout her life.-- CCC

509 Mary is truly "Mother of God" since she is the mother of the eternal Son of God made man, who is God himself. -- CCC

510 Mary "remained a virgin in conceiving her Son, a virgin in giving birth to him, a virgin in carrying him, a virgin in nursing him at her breast, always a virgin" (St. Augustine, Serm. 186, 1: Patrologia Latina 38, 999): with her whole being she is "the handmaid of the Lord" (Luke 1:38) -- CCC

511 The Virgin Mary "cooperated through free faith and obedience in human salvation" (Lumen Gentium 56). She uttered her yes "in the name of all human nature" (St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae III, 30, 1). By her obedience she became the new Eve, mother of the living. -- CCC

83. Mary was preserved from sin from the very beginning.

Mary was preserved from sin from the very beginning.

YOUCAT Catechism + Catechism of the Catholic Church Lesson 83

Ave Maria Series

83  What does the “Immaculate Conception of Mary” mean?

The Church believes that “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” (Dogma of 1854)  [487-492, 508]

Saints Ann and Joachim were the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the maternal grandparents of Jesus. .....83

Belief in the Immaculate Conception has existed since the beginning of the Church.  The expression is misunderstood today.  It is saying that God preserved Mary from original sin from the very beginning.  It says nothing about the conception of Jesus in Mary’s womb.  By no means is it a devaluation of sexuality in Christianity, as though a husband and wife would be “stained” if they conceived a child.  68-69

“When faith in the Mother of God declines, faith in the Son of God and God the Father declines also.”  Ludwig Feuerbach (1804-1872, atheistic philosopher, in The Essence of Christianity)

“Mary’s response…is the most momentous word in history.”  Reinhold Schneider (1903-1958, German writer)

 [487-492, 508]

. . . .BORN OF THE VIRGIN MARY

487 What the Catholic faith believes about Mary is based on what it believes about Christ, and what it teaches about Mary illumines in turn its faith in Christ. --Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition

Mary's predestination

488 "God sent forth his Son", but to prepare a body for him, (Galatians 4:4; Hebrews 10:5.)¹²⁵ he wanted the free co-operation of a creature. For this, from all eternity God chose for the mother of his Son a daughter of Israel, a young Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee, "a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary": (Luke 1:26-27.)¹²⁶  --CCC

The Father of mercies willed that the Incarnation should be preceded by assent on the part of the predestined mother, so that just as a woman had a share in the coming of death, so also should a woman contribute to the coming of life. (Lumen Genrium 56; compare LG 61.)¹²⁷ –CCC

489 Throughout the Old Covenant the mission of many holy women prepared for that of Mary. At the very beginning there was Eve; despite her disobedience, she receives the promise of a posterity that will be victorious over the evil one, as well as the promise that she will be the mother of all the living. (Compare Genesis 3:15, 20.)¹²⁸ By virtue of this promise, Sarah conceives a son in spite of her old age. (Compare Genesis 18:10-14; Gen 21:1-2.)¹²⁹ Against all human expectation God chooses those who were considered powerless and weak to show forth his faithfulness to his promises: Hannah, the mother of Samuel; Deborah; Ruth; Judith and Esther; and many other women. (Compare 1 Corinthians 1:17; 1 Samuel 1.)¹³⁰ Mary "stands out among the poor and humble of the Lord, who confidently hope for and receive salvation from him. After a long period of waiting the times are fulfilled in her, the exalted Daughter of Sion, and the new plan of salvation is established." ( Lumen Gentium 55.)¹³¹ --CCC

The Immaculate Conception

490 To become the mother of the Savior, Mary "was enriched by God with gifts appropriate to such a role." (Lumen Gentium 56.)¹³² The angel Gabriel at the moment of the annunciation salutes her as "full of grace". (Luke 1:28.)¹³³ In fact, in order for Mary to be able to give the free assent of her faith to the announcement of her vocation, it was necessary that she be wholly borne by God's grace. –CCC

491 Through the centuries the Church has become ever more aware that Mary, "full of grace" through God, (Luke 1:28.)¹³⁴ was redeemed from the moment of her conception. That is what the dogma of the Immaculate Conception confesses, as Pope Pius IX proclaimed in 1854: --CCC

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. (Pius IX, Ineffabilis Deus (1854): Denzinger-Schonmetzer 2803.)¹³⁵ --CCC

492 The "splendor of an entirely unique holiness" by which Mary is "enriched from the first instant of her conception" comes wholly from Christ: she is "redeemed, in a more exalted fashion, by reason of the merits of her Son". (Lumen Gentium 53, 56.)¹³⁶ The Father blessed Mary more than any other created person "in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places" and chose her "in Christ before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless before him in love". (Compare Ephesians 1:3-4.)¹³⁷ –CCC

IN BRIEF

508 From among the descendants of Eve, God chose the Virgin Mary to be the mother of his Son. "Full of grace", Mary is "the most excellent fruit of redemption" (SC 103): from the first instant of her conception, she was totally preserved from the stain of original sin and she remained pure from all personal sin throughout her life. --CCC