Defending Mary: Part Three

The Immaculate Conception refers to the sinless state of Mary. Pope Pius IX proclaimed this doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of Mary on December 8, 1854. The doctrine 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 Saviour of the human race, was preserved exempt from all stain of original sin." Immaculate, meaning "without stain," implies that Mary herself was preserved from original sin at conception, that she was born without a sin nature, and that she lived a sinless life. Many of the people I encounter believe Mary, although favored of God, was an ordinary human being. Only Jesus Christ was immaculately conceived, born of a virgin, and born without sin. He was the only human being to live a sinless life.

Many of my non-Catholic friends are sometimes horrified when they hear Catholics refer to the Virgin Mary as the Mother of God. However, even the Protestant Reformers can't argue this point."A woman is a man’s mother either if she carried him in her womb or if she was the woman contributing half of his genetic matter or both." Mary was the mother of Jesus in both of these senses; because she not only carried Jesus in her womb but also supplied all of the genetic matter for his human body, Since Mary is Jesus’ mother, it must be concluded that she is also the Mother of God: If Mary is the mother of Jesus, and if Jesus is God, then Mary is the Mother of God. The angel Gabriel announced to her that she was to be the mother of the promised Messiah by conceiving him through the Holy Spirit, and she accepted His Divine Will in perfect virtue of humility and replied,"I am the handmaid of the Lord. Let it be done unto me according to your word."

Some often counter that Mary did not carry God in her womb, but only carried Christ’s human nature. "This assertion reinvent a heresy from the fifth century known as Nestorianism, which runs aground on the fact that a mother does not merely carry the human nature of her child in her womb. Rather, she carries the person of her child. Women do not give birth to human natures; they give birth to persons. Mary thus carried and gave birth to the person of Jesus Christ, and the person she gave birth to was God." Denying that Mary is God’s mother implies doubt about Jesus’ divinity, it is clear why Christians have been unanimous in proclaiming Mary as Mother of God.