Mary's Immaculate Conception

What Is It?
The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception does not refer to the conception or the birth of Jesus, but rather that our Blessed Mother was born without original sin, as defined in 1854 by Pope Pius IX in the Apostolic Constitution Ineffabilis Deus:

"We declare, pronounce, and define that the doctrine which holds that the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin, is a doctrine revealed by God and therefore to be believed firmly and constantly by all the faithful."

Why Does It Matter?
It matters because the birth of our Lord required a "dwelling place" worthy of Him. As the result of Adam's original disobedience (Gen 3), we are born with a human nature which is inclined to sin (Rom 5:12). Because it is not possible that our Lord would have received His human nature from a woman whose own human nature had even the slightest inclination to rebel against God by sinning, Mary was preserved from the stain of original sin and its damaging effects. It would have been inconceivable for our Lord, who is TRUTH (Jn 14:6), to have been born to someone who had ever been under the influence of Satan, the "Father of LIES" (Jn 8:44). As St. Paul asked, "what partnership do righteousness and lawlessness have? Or what fellowship does light have with dark?" (2 Cor 6:14).

Where Is This In the Bible?
Although you won't find the word "Trinity" in Scripture, its concept is found in Scripture and is a belief shared by our Protestant brethren. In a similar way, the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception can be seen in several Bible verses; for example, the angel Gabriel greeted Mary as, "full of grace" (Lk 1:28). In the original language of the Bible, this phrase is actually a title for Mary, meaning, literally, FULL of grace. He also told her that "the Lord is with you" (Lk 1:28). The only way for these two things to be true at the time of this greeting is for Mary to have been already preserved from sin, and therefore FULL of grace. Recall that just as God had created beings without sin once before in Adam and Eve (Gen 1:31), so was Mary in anticipation of our redemption through Jesus Christ. Also, it was predicted (Gen 3:15) that the serpent's head would be crushed by the conqueror (Jesus) from the seed of the woman (Mary) who would be in constant moral warfare with the serpent (Rev 12). As Ludwig Ott explains, "Mary's victory over Satan would not have been perfect if she had ever been under his dominion. Consequently, she must have entered the world without the stain of original sin." (Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, p 200).

For Reflection
Father Paul A. Duffner, O.P. writes: "If the only-begotten Son of God required and prepared so perfect, so pure and so holy a temple in which to dwell in the Virgin Mary, in whose body He was to live for nine months, does that not tell us something about the temple He wants us to prepare for Him when we received Him in Holy Communion. We should ask our Immaculate Mother to help us prepare for His coming, not merely the few minutes before receiving Him, but throughout the day, or throughout the week for those who receive Him only weekly. If much that we do during the day could be seen in the light of that sacramental encounter, how much more fruitful it would be." (The Rosary Light & Life - Vol 50, No 6, Nov-Dec 1997)