On the Immaculate Conception (of Mary).

A dear woman once came to me with great concern. She is a close friend of mine, and a devout protestant. So it happens from time to time that my Catholicness worries her. She sat in my room and was looking at a lovely picture I have of Our Lady of Grace, one of my favorite images of the Blessed Mother. She looked at it for a while, then, seemingly out of the blue, asked, "What do you think of the Catholic Church's deifying of Mary?" I told her that the Church did not now, nor would ever deify Mary. To which she responded with a question of the Immaculate Conception. It is a doctrine often misunderstood by our evangelical protestant brethren, and one that I feel deserves a bit of explanation. As always, it is not my intent to convince you of the doctrine, for I fully believe that only God is capable of changing the heart. But I will take the opportunity to inform you of it, so that you may at least understand it, regardless of your own personal belief.

Many confuse the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of Mary with the same kind of Immaculate Conception regarding Christ when this is not at all what the Church intended. Mary, our Blessed Mother, was born of St. Anne and St. Joachim. She was born of two human parents, unlike Christ who had only one. The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception states that Mary "in the first instance of her conception, by a singular privilege and grace granted by God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race, was preserved exempt from all stain of original sin."

This does not mean that she lived a perfect life as Christ did, but that she was "full of grace", as the archangel so eloquently greeted her. (The entire first line of the Hail Mary "Hail Mary full of grace the Lord is with the, blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of they womb Jesus", is lifted directly from scripture.) No one else in all of scripture was so greeted.

For the "sola scriptura" Christian, there is not much backing up for the doctrine, but neither is there disproof. However the Catholic Church, along with several similar denominations, do not rely merely on scripture, but also on tradition and reason, viewing doctrine as a three legged stool, rather than a single rod. Our Lady of Lourdes introduced herself to Saint Bernadette thus, "I am the immaculate conception..."

Whether one accepts this doctrine or not isn't really my concern here. My concern is setting straight the false impression of "Mary worship" that many perceive to be taught by the Catholic Church. We honor our Mother, and acknowledge her special place among the saints, but never should her veneration become confused with worship. I honor many people who are my superior: my former abbot, my sifu, my priest. The Blessed Mother, then, being the vessel through which my Lord and Savior became flesh, is surely worthy of my respect and consideration. It is for this reason I have no problem praying the Rosary, or accepting the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception. It simply makes sense in my mind, does not run contrary to scripture, and strengthens my faith in the one true God. Anything that does that, I cannot consider bad. Amen.

Riley