Immaculate Conception

For the novel by Gaétan Soucy, see The Immaculate Conception.

"Immaculata" redirects here. For other uses, see Immaculata (disambiguation).

La Purisima Inmaculada Concepcion by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, 1678, now in Museo del Prado, Spain.

The Immaculate Conception of Mary is a dogma of the Roman Catholic Church, according to which the Virgin Mary was conceived without any stain (in Latin, macula or labes, the second of these two synonymous words being the one used in the formal definition) of original sin.^[1][2] It is one of the four dogmata in Roman Catholic Mariology. It is completely distinct from the Virginity of Mary and the virgin birth of Jesus, though it is a popular mistake to confuse them. Mary is sometimes called the Immaculata (the Immaculate One), particularly in artistic contexts.^[3]

The proclaimed Roman Catholic dogma states "that the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instance of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin".^[1] Being always free from original sin, she was from the start filled with the sanctifying grace that would normally come with baptism after birth. Although widely-held since at least Late Antiquity, the doctrine was not formally proclaimed until Pope Pius IX did so in 1854 in Ineffabilis Deus.

Distinctions

Original sin and actual (personal) sin

The defined dogma of the Immaculate Conception regards original sin only: the definition makes no declaration about the Church's belief that the Blessed Virgin was sinless, in the sense of actual or personal sin.^[4] However, the Church also holds that Mary was also sinless personally, that she was "free from all sin, original or personal".^[5] The Council of Trent decreed: "If anyone shall say that a man once justified can sin no more, nor lose grace, and that therefore he who falls and sins was never truly justified; or, on the contrary, that throughout his whole life he can avoid all sins even venial sins, except by a special privilege of God, as the Church holds in regard to the Blessed Virgin: let him be anathema."^[6]

Immaculate conception and virginal conception

Mary's immaculate conception (her being conceived free from original sin) must not be confused with her virginal conception of her son Jesus. This misunderstanding of the term immaculate conception is frequently met in the mass media. Catholics believe that Mary was not the product of a virginal conception herself and was the daughter of a human father and mother, traditionally known by the names of Saint Joachim and Saint Anne, and both Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy have condemned the belief that Mary was virginally conceived. The Church celebrates the Feast of the Immaculate Conception (when Mary was conceived free from original sin) on 8 December, exactly nine months before celebrating the Nativity of Mary. The feast of the Annunciation (which commemorates the virginal conception and the Incarnation of Jesus) is celebrated on 25 March, nine months before Christmas Day.^[7][8]

Immaculate conception and redemption

Another misunderstanding is that, by her immaculate conception, Mary did not need a saviour. When defining the dogma in Ineffabilis Deus, Pope Pius IX explicitly 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 Saviour." This is referred to as Mary's pre-redemption by Christ. Since the Council of Orange II against semi-pelagianism, the Catholic Church 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.^[9][10]

History

A feast of the Conception of the Most Holy and All Pure Mother of God was celebrated in Syria on 9 December perhaps as early as the 5th century. Note that the title of achrantos (spotless, immaculate, all-pure) refers to the holiness of Mary, not specifically to the holiness of her conception.^[11]

An 11th century Eastern Orthodox icon of the Theotokos Panachranta, i.e. the "all immaculate" Mary^[12]

By the 7th century the feast of her conception was widely celebrated in the East, under the name of the Conception (active) of Saint Anne. In the West it was known as the feast of the Conception (passive) of Mary, and was associated particularly with the Normans, whether these introduced it directly from the East^[13] or took it from English usage.^[14] The spread of the feast, by now with the adjective "Immaculate" attached to its title, met opposition on the part of some, on the grounds that sanctification was possible only after conception.^[15] Critics included Saints Bernard of Clairvaux, Albertus Magnus and Thomas Aquinas.^[16] Other theologians defended the expression "Immaculate Conception", pointing out that sanctification could be conferred at the first moment of conception in view of the foreseen merits of Christ, a view held especially by Franciscans.^[16]

Writers such as Mark Miravalle and Sarah Jane Boss interpret the existence of the feast as a strong indication of the Church's traditional belief in the Immaculate Conception.^[17][18]

On 28 February 1476, Pope Sixtus IV, a Franciscan after whom the Sistine Chapel is named, authorized those dioceses that wished to introduce the feast to do so, and introduced it to his own diocese of Rome in 1477,^[14] with a specially composed Mass and Office of the feast.^[19] With his bull Cum praeexcelsa of 28 February 1477, in which he referred to the feast as that of the Conception of Mary, without using the word "Immaculate", he granted indulgences to those who would participate in the specially composed Mass or Office on the feast itself or during its octave, and he used the word "immaculate" of Mary, but applied instead the adjective "miraculous" to her conception.^[20][21] On 4 September 1483, referring to the feast as that of "the Conception of Immaculate Mary ever Virgin", he condemned both those who called it mortally sinful and heretical to hold that the "glorious and immaculate mother of God was conceived without the stain of original sin" and those who called it mortally sinful and heretical to hold that "the glorious Virgin Mary was conceived with original sin", since, he said, "up to this time there has been no decision made by the Roman Church and the Apostolic See."^[22] This decree was reaffirmed by the Council of Trent.^[23]

Under Pope Pius V, the Pope who in 1570 established the Tridentine Mass, included the feast (but without the adjective "Immaculate") in the Tridentine Calendar, but suppressed the existing special Mass for the feast, directing that the Mass for the Nativity of Mary (with the word "Nativity" replaced by "Conception") be used instead.^[24] Part of that earlier Mass was revived in the Mass that Pope Pius IX ordered to be used on the feast and that is still in use.^[25]

On 6 December 1708, Pope Clement XI made the feast of the Conception of Mary, at that time still with the Nativity of Mary formula for the Mass, a Holy Day of Obligation.^[15] Until Pope Pius X reduced in 1911 the number of Holy Days of Obligation to 8, there were in the course of the year 36 such days, apart from Sundays.^[26]

Definition of the dogma

Altar of the Immaculata by Joseph Lusenberg, 1876. Saint Antony's Church, Urtijëi, Italy.

During the reign of Pope Gregory XVI the bishops in various countries began to press for a definition as dogma of the teaching of Mary's immaculate conception. Pius IX, at the beginning of his pontificate, and again after 1851, appointed commissions to investigate the whole subject, and he was advised that the doctrine was one which could be defined and that the time for a definition was opportune. On 8 December 1854, in a great assembly of bishops in St Peter's Basilica at Rome, he promulgated the Bull Ineffabilis Deus, in which the history of the doctrine is summarily traced, and which contains the definition as given above ^[4]

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"), which defined ex cathedra the dogma of the Immaculate Conception:^[27]

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^[28]

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.^[29][30]

Later developments within the Catholic Church

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.^[31][32]

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.^[33] 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?^[34]

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.^[35][36][37]

Medieval dispute about the doctrine

A series of articles on Roman Catholic Mariology
General articles Mariology • Veneration of the Blessed Virgin • History of Mariology • Mariology of the saints • Mariology of the popes • Encyclicals • Marian Societies
Devotions Rosary • Scapular • Immaculate Heart • Seven Joys • Seven Sorrows • First Saturdays • Acts of Reparation • Hearts of Jesus & Mary • Consecration to Mary
Dogmas and Doctrines Mother of God • Perpetual virginity • Immaculate Conception • Assumption • Mother of the Church • Mediatrix • Co-Redemptrix
Expressions of devotion Art • Hymns • Music • Architecture
Key Marian apparitions (approved or worthy of belief) Guadalupe • Miraculous Medal • La Salette • Lourdes • Pontmain • Laus • Banneux • Beauraing • Fátima • Akita

It seems to have been St Bernard of Clairvaux who, in the 12th century, explicitly raised the question of the Immaculate Conception. A feast of the Conception of the Blessed Virgin had already begun to be celebrated in some churches of the West . St Bernard blames the canons of the metropolitan church of Lyon for instituting such a festival without the permission of the Holy See . In doing so, he takes occasion to repudiate altogether the view that the conception of Mary was sinless. It is doubtful, however, whether he was using the term "conception" in the same sense in which it is used in the definition of Pope Pius IX. Bernard would seem to have been speaking of conception in the active sense of the mother's cooperation, for in his argument he says: "How can there be absence of sin where there is concupiscence (libido)?" and stronger expressions follow, showing that he is speaking of the mother and not of the child.^[4]

Saint Thomas Aquinas, the greatest of the medieval scholastics, refused to admit the Immaculate Conception, on the ground that, unless the Blessed Virgin had at one time or other been one of the sinful, she could not justly be said to have been redeemed by Christ.^[38]

Saint Bonaventure (d . 1274), second only to Saint Thomas in his influence on the Christian schools of his age, hesitated to accept it for a similar reason.^[4] He believed that Mary was completely free from sin, but that she was not given this grace at the instant of her conception.^[39]

The celebrated John Duns Scotus (d . 1308), a Franciscan like Saint Bonaventure, argued, on the contrary, that from a rational point of view it was certainly as little derogatory to the merits of Christ to assert that Mary was by him preserved from all taint of sin, as to say that she first contracted it and then was delivered.^[4] Proposing a solution to the theological problem of reconciling the doctrine with that of universal redemption in Christ, he argued that Mary's immaculate conception did not remove her from redemption by Christ; rather it was the result of a more perfect redemption granted her because of her special role in salvationhistory.^[40]

The arguments of Scotus, combined with a better acquaintance with thelanguage of the early Fathers, gradually prevailed in the schools of the Western Church. In 1387 the university of Paris strongly condemned the opposite view.^[4]

Scotus's 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 until after her conception.^[15]

Popular opinion remained firmly behind the celebration of Mary's conception. In 1409, the Council of Basel, which is not reckoned an ecumenical council, stated that belief in the immaculate conception of Mary is in accord with the Catholic faith.^[41] By the end of the 15th century was widely professed and taught in many theological faculties, but 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.^[15][29]

Church Fathers

It is admitted that the doctrine as defined by Pius IX. was not explicitly mooted before the 12th century. It is also agreed that "no direct or categorical and stringent proof of the dogma can be brought forward from Scripture".^[15] But it is claimed that the doctrine is implicitly contained in the teaching of the Fathers. Their expressions on the subject of the sinlessness of Mary are, it is pointed out, so ample and so absolute that they must be taken to include original sin as well as actual . Thus we have in the first five centuries such epithets applied to her as "in every respect holy", "in all things unstained", "super-innocent" and "singularly holy"; she is compared to Eve before the fall, as ancestress of a redeemed people; she is "the earth before it was accursed." The well-known words of St Augustine (d . 430) may be cited: " As regards the mother of God," he says, " I will not allow any question whatever of sin." It is true that he is here speaking directly of actual or personal sin. But his argument is that all men are sinners; that they are so through original depravity; that this original depravity may be overcome by the grace of God, and he adds that he does not know but that Mary may have had sufficient grace to overcome sin "of every sort" (omni ex parte).^[4]

The bull of definition of the dogma, Ineffabilis Deus, mentioned in particular the patrististic interpretation of Genesis 3:15 as referring to a woman, Mary, who would be eternally at enmity with the evil serpent and completely triumphing over him. It said the Fathers saw foreshadowings of Mary's "wondrous abundance of divine gifts and original innocence" "in that ark of Noah, which was built by divine command and escaped entirely safe and sound from the common shipwreck of the whole world;^[42] in the ladder which Jacob saw reaching from the earth to heaven, by whose rungs the angels of God ascended and descended, and on whose top the Lord himself leaned;^[43] in that bush which Moses saw in the holy place burning on all sides, which was not consumed or injured in any way but grew green and blossomed beautifully;Exodus 3:2</ref> in that impregnable tower before the enemy, from which hung a thousand bucklers and all the armor of the strong;^[44] in that garden enclosed on all sides, which cannot be violated or corrupted by any deceitful plots;^[45] in that resplendent city of God, which has its foundations on the holy mountains;^[46] in that most august temple of God, which, radiant with divine splendours, is full of the glory of God;^[47] and in very many other biblical types of this kind."

The bull recounts that the Fathers interpreted the angel's address to Mary, "highly favoured one" or "full of grace",^[48] as indicating that "she was never subject to the curse and was, together with her Son, the only partaker of perpetual benediction"; and they "frequently compare her to Eve while yet a virgin, while yet innocence, while yet incorrupt, while not yet deceived by the deadly snares of the most treacherous serpent".

Patronage

United States National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception

In 1646, King John IV of Portugal proclaimed Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception the nation's patron saint, so that 8 December is a special feast in Portugal.^[49]

Immaculate Conception statue venerated in Aparecida, Brazil as patron saint of the country

On the eve of the feast of the Conception of Mary, 7 December 1650, when the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland was already well advanced, the Irish Catholic Confederation, also known as the Confederation of Kilkenny, consecrated Ireland to the Immaculate Conception of Mary as follows:

"By a unanimous vote of the Supreme Assembly it was decreed that the Virgin Mother of God, under her title of her Immaculate Conception, should be solemnly and publicly proclaimed Patroness of the Kingdom of Ireland, and that as a perpetual memorial to the happy event, the feast of the Immaculate Conception should be solemnly observed in Ireland from that day forward until the end of time.”^[50]

By the Papal Bull Quantum ornamenti of 8 November 1760, Pope Clement XIII granted the request of King Charles III of Spain that the Blessed Virgin Mary, under the title of the Immaculate Conception, should be a special patroness of Spain along with its eastern and western territories, while Saint James the Greater continued to be the principal national patron.^[51][52][53]

On 13 May 1846, the United States bishops chose the Blessed Virgin Mary, conceived without sin, as Patroness of the country.^[25]

Under the same invocation of the Immaculate Conception, Mary is the patron saint of Brazil,^[54] where devotion to her is centred on the Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida, in the town of Aparecida, built to house a small clay statue of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception Who Appeared, which represents her in the traditional form associated with the Immaculate Conception.^[55][56]

By the bull Impositi Nobis of 12 September 1942, Pope Pius XII, at the request of the bishops of the Philippines, declared the Blessed Virgin Mary, under the title of the Immaculate Conception, principal patron of the Philippines, with Saints Pudentiana and Rose of Lima as secondary patrons. In that bull, the Pope mentioned that the 1907 provincial council of Manila had called Mary Immaculate principal patron saint of the whole Filipino people, and that there were historical documents that proved that Saint Pudentiana was considered patron of the Philippines from the 16th century and Saint Rose of Lima from the 17th.^[57]

Other churches

For differing reasons, belief in Mary's immaculate conception in the Catholic doctrinal form is not part of the official doctrines of the Eastern Orthodox, Anglican and Protestant churches.

Anglicanism

Belief in Mary's immaculate conception is not a doctrine within Anglicanism, although it is shared by many Anglo-Catholics.^[58] In the Church of England's Common Worship prayer book, 8 December is designated a Lesser Festival of the Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary (without the adjective "immaculate").^[59]

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.^[60] But the report expressed concerns that the Roman Catholic dogmatic definitions of these concepts implies them to be "revealed by God", stating: "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."^[61]

Eastern and Oriental Orthodox

Immaculate Conception is presented by artists in Orthodox Church too. Here Holy Mary in Perlez, Vojvodina, Serbia.

Eastern Orthodox Christians say that Mary was without sin for her entire life, but they object to the dogmatic declaration of her immaculate conception.^[62]

In the tradition of Ethiopian Orthodoxy,, a branch of Oriental Orthodoxy, the Kebra Nagast says:

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 (emphasis added).^[63]

Old Catholic

While Old Catholics do not reject the Immaculate Conception of Mary, and some of their parishes venerate Mary as immaculately conceived and celebrate the feast of her Immaculate Conception, they do not accept its definition as a dogma, since they reject papal infallibility and with it the Pope's authority to define dogma.^[64]

Protestantism

Martin Luther, who initiated the Protestant Reformation said: "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".^[65] But in 1532 he denied Mary's immaculate conception, declaring: "Mary is conceived in sin just like us".^[66] However, some Lutherans, such as the members of the Anglo-Lutheran Catholic Church, support the doctrine.

Most Protestants 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.^[67] 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.^[68]

Islam

Manuscript of the Chapter Mary from a 9th century Qur'an, Turkey.

According to Blunt's Dictionary of Doctrinal and Historical Theology, Muhammad taught the doctrine of the immaculate conception of Mary, saying: "There is not one of the sons of Adam, except Mary and her Son, one born but is touched by the Devil at the time of his birth, and the child makes a loud noise from the touch."^[69] Writers such as George Sale have said that Mary's immaculate conception is taught in the Qur'an,^[70][71] but at least in some cases this is due to misunderstanding "immaculate conception" to mean "virginal conception".^[72][73][74]

Prayers and hymns

The Roman Missal and the Roman Rite Liturgy of the Hours naturally includes references to Mary's immaculate conception in the feast of the Immaculate Conception. An example is the antiphon that begins: "Tota pulchra es, Maria, et macula originalis non est in te" (You are all beautiful, Mary, and the original stain [of sin] is not in you. Your clothing is white as snow, and your face is like the sun. You are all beautiful, Mary, and the original stain [of sin] is not in you. You are the glory of Jerusalem, you are the joy of Israel, you give honour to our people. You are all beautiful, Mary.)^[75] On the basis of the original Gregorian chant music,^[76] polyphonic settings have been composed by Anton Bruckner,^[77] Pablo Casals, Maurice Duruflé,^[78] Grzegorz Gerwazy Gorczycki,^[79] no:Ola Gjeilo,^[80] José Maurício Nunes Garcia,^[81] and Nikolaus Schapfl,^[82]

Other prayers honouring Mary's immaculate conception are in use outside the formal liturgy. The hymn Immaculate Mary, addressed to Mary as the Immaculately Conceived One, is closely associated with Lourdes.^[83] The Immaculata prayer, composed by Saint Maximillian Kolbe, is a prayer of entrustment to Mary as the Immaculata.^[84] A novena of prayers, with a specific prayer for each of the nine days has been composed under the title of the Immaculate Conception Novena.^[85]

Artistic representations

Main article: Roman Catholic Marian art

Swiss emblem 16th century

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.^[86]

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. The Italian Renaissance artist 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. Pacheco's iconography influenced other Spanish artists such as Bartolomé Murillo, Diego Velázquez, and Francisco Zurbarán, who each produced a number of artistic masterpieces based on the use of these same symbols.^[87][88]

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.^[89]

Gallery

• 

  Murillo Immaculate Conception, 1650

• 

  Nicaragua Immaculate Conception, 1950

• 

  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

• 

  Statue, Manila Cathedral, Philippines

See also

Immaculate Conception celebration in Guatemala.

Catholicism portal

• Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception
• Congregation 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

Bibliography

• Le Franc, Martin. The Conception of Mary -- A Rhyming Translation of Book V of Le Champion des Dames by Martin Le Franc (1410-1461). Ed. and trans. Steven Millen Taylor. Lewiston, NY: The Edwin Mellen Press, 2010.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Encyclical Ineffabilis Deus of Pope Pius IX
2. ^ Encyclical Ad diem illum of Pope Pius X
3. ^ Mark Miravalle, 1993, Introduction to Mary, Queenship Publishing ISBN 9781882972067 page 64-70
4. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} Encyclopaedia Britannica 1911, "The Immaculate Conception"
5. ^ Encyclical Mystici Corporis, 110
6. ^ Denzinger 833, old numbering).
7. ^ The Catholicism Answer Book by John Trigilio, Kenneth Brighenti 2007 ISBN 1402208065 page 59-62
8. ^ What Every Catholic Should Know about Mary by Terrence J. McNally ISBN 1441510516 pages 104-108
9. ^ 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?"
10. ^ Theology for Beginners by Francis Joseph Sheed 1958 ISBN 0722074255 pages 134-138
11. ^ "The celebration of the Mother of God as immaculate (achrantos), is a clear and universal recognition of her exceptional and iconic sanctity. Orthodoxy did not follow the path of Roman Catholicism in moving towards a recognition of her Immaculate Conception" ( John Anthony McGuckin, The Orthodox Church: An Introduction to Its History, Doctrine, and Spiritual Culture (Blackwell 2011 ISBN 978-1-4443-3731-0), p. 218.)
12. ^ Raymond Burke, 2008, Mariology: A Guide for Priests, Deacons,seminarians, and Consecrated Persons Queenship Publishing ISBN 1-57918-355-7 page [1]
13. ^ Francis X. Weiser, The Holyday Book (Harcourt, Brace and Co. 1956)
14. ^ ^{a b} Michael Kunzler, The Church's Liturgy (Continuum International 2002 ISBN 9780826413536), pp. 434-435
15. ^ ^{a b c d e} Frederick Holweck, "Immaculate Conception" in The Catholic Encyclopedia 1910
16. ^ ^{a b} OSV's+Encyclopedia+of+Catholic+History&hl=en&ei=aCgvTtryHcW4hAe68rBP&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCgQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=immaculate%20conception&f=false Matthew Bunson, OSV's Encyclopedia of Catholic History (Our Sunday Visitor 2004 ISBN 9781592760268), p. 455
17. ^ Mark Miravalle, 1993, Introduction to Mary, Queenship Publishing ISBN 9781882972067 page 66-69
18. ^ Mary by Sarah Jane Boss, Neil Warmsley 2004 ISBN 0826457886 page 139
19. ^ John D. Bryant, The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God" (Boston 1855), p. 166]
20. ^ Denzinger 734 (old numbering)
21. ^ Saint Conleth's Catholic Heritage Association
22. ^ Denzinger 735 (old numbering)
23. ^ Denzinger 792 (old numbering)
24. ^ Paul Cavendish, "The Tridentine Mass"
25. ^ ^{a b} Marion A. Habig, "Land of Mary Immaculate"
26. ^ Supremi disciplinæ in Catholic Encyclopedia
27. ^ The Creeds of Christendom by Philip Schaff 2009 ISBN 1115468340 page 211
28. ^ "Papal Definition of the Immaculate Conception". Ewtn.com. http://www.ewtn.com/faith/teachings/marye1.htm. Retrieved 2010-09-13. 
29. ^ ^{a b} Jenny Schroedel, The Everything Mary Book (Adams 2006 ISBN 1593377134) pp. 180-181"
30. ^ Mark Miravalle, 1993, Introduction to Mary, Queenship Publishing ISBN 9781882972067 page 64-70
31. ^ EWTN
32. ^ Vatican website
33. ^ "Agenzia Fides - Congregazione per l'Evangelizzazione dei Popoli". Fides.org. http://www.fides.org/eng/approfondire/totustuus/immacolata02.html. Retrieved 2009-05-05. 
34. ^ Fulgens Corona, 10
35. ^ Mariology Society of America http://mariologicalsocietyofamerica.us
36. ^ Centers of Marian Study http://www.servidimaria.org/en/attualita/promotori2/promotori2.htm
37. ^ 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
38. ^ Summa Theologica, III, q. 27, art. 3
39. ^ Mary's Immaculate Conception
40. ^ Encyclopedia of theology: a concise Sacramentum mundi by Karl Rahner 2004 ISBN 0860120066 pages 896-898
41. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Encyclopedia (Merriam-Webster 2001 ISBN 9780877790174), p. 795
42. ^ Genesis 6:9
43. ^ Genesis 28:12
44. ^ Song 4:4
45. ^ Song 4:12
46. ^ Psalm 87:1
47. ^ Isaiah 6:1-4
48. ^ Luke 1:28
49. ^ Immaculate Conception Day Celebrated in Portugal
50. ^ Saint Conleth's Catholic Heritage Association
51. ^ Ubaldus Giraldi, Expositio Juris Pontificii (Rome 1799), vol. I, p. 450
52. ^ Marcus Antonius Gravoids, De ortu, et progressu cultus, ac festi Immaculati Conceptus Beatae Dei Genitricis Virginis Mariae (Lucca 1764), p. 270
53. ^ Pareri sulla definizione dogmatica dell'Immacolato Concepimento della Beata Virgine Maria (Civiltà Cattolica 1851), pp. 128-129
54. ^ Feast of the Immaculate Conception
55. ^ Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira: "Saint of the Day, 12 October"
56. ^ Our Lady of Aparecida
57. ^ [1942%20-%20ocr.pdf Acta Apostolicae Sedis pp. 336-337: text of the bull Impositi Nobis]
58. ^ Our Lady Saint Mary by J.G.H. Barry, 2008, ISBN 0554243326, pages 25-27
59. ^ Common Worship: Festivals (Church House Publishing, Church of England ISBN 978-0-7151-2114-6), p. 20
60. ^ Ecumenical Affairs - Dialogues - Anglican Roman Catholic Paragraph 78 - Accessed 8 December 2008
61. ^ Ecumenical Affairs - Dialogues - Anglican Roman Catholic Paragraph 60 - Accessed 8 December 2008
62. ^ John Meyendorff, The Orthodox Church: Its Past and Its Role in the World Today (St Vladimir's Seminary Press 1996 ISBN 9780913836811), p. 181
63. ^ Kebra Nagast, Chapter 96:Concerning the Prophecy about christ
64. ^ "Old Roman Catholic Church of North America - What IS Catholic?". Orccna.org. http://www.orccna.org/ourfaith/meetultra.htm. Retrieved 2009-05-05. 
65. ^ Luther's Works, American edition, vol. 43, p. 40, ed. H. Lehmann, Fortress, 1968
66. ^ Gregory Lee Jackson Catholic, Lutheran, Protestant: A Doctrinal Comparison ( 1993 ISBN 9780615166353), p. 249
67. ^ The Protestant faith by George Wolfgang Forell 1962 ISBN 0800610954 page 23
68. ^ 'Jesus in history, thought, and culture: an encyclopedia, Volume 1 by James Leslie Houlden 2003 ISBN 1576078566 page
69. ^ Thomas Patrick Hughes, A Dictionary of Islam (Laurier Books 2001 ISBN 9788120606722), p. 205
70. ^ EWTN
71. ^ The Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God by William Bernard Ullathorne 2009 ISBN 1110899777 pages 132-135
72. ^ Khwaja Nazir Ahmad, Jesus in Heaven on Earth, chapter 8
73. ^ Roy Jackson, Mawlana Mawdudi and Political Islam (Routledge 2011 ISBN 0-203-84872-1), p. 180
74. ^ Abdelwahab Bouhdiba, Muḥammad Maʻrūf Dawālībī, The Different Aspects of Islamic Culture (Bernan Associates 1998 ISBN 9789231027420), p. 264
75. ^ The text (in Latin) is given at Tota Pulchra Es - GMEA Honor Chorus.
76. ^ Tota pulchra es Maria, Canto gregoriano
77. ^ Anton Bruckner - Tota pulchra es
78. ^ Maurice Duruflé: Tota pulchra es Maria
79. ^ Poznańskie Słowiki - Tota pulchra es ( G. G. Gorczycki)
80. ^ Tota pulchra es, Grex Vocalis
81. ^ José Maurício Nunes Garcia
82. ^ Tota Pulchra - Composed by Nikolaus Schapfl
83. ^ Immaculate prayers
84. ^ University of Dayton Marian prayers
85. ^ EWTN Immaculate Conception Novena
86. ^ Emblems for Immaculate Conception http://campus.udayton.edu/mary/meditations/immac_con_images.html
87. ^ Ésotérisme, gnoses & imaginaire symbolique: mélanges offerts à Antoine Faivre by Richard Caron, Antoine Faivre 2001 ISBN 9042909552 page 676
88. ^ Divine Mirrors: The Virgin Mary in the Visual Arts by Melissa R. Katz and Robert A. Orsi 2001 ISBN 0195145577 page 98
89. ^ Our Lady in Art by Katherine Lee Rawlings Jenner 2009 ISBN 1103326899 pages 3-9

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).
• Mark I. Miraville (editor), "Mariology: A Guide for Priests, Deacons, Seminarians, and Consecrated Persons
• 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"