Ineffabilis Deus: on the excellent innocence of the Blessed Virgin Mary

What does it mean that Our Lady is the Immaculate Conception? When did it become an official dogma?

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The Blessed Virgin Mary is an example to look at because She has been preserved by the ancient contamination of evil. Contrary to some other kinds of contaminations that we are afraid of, the Immaculate conception teaches us that the real contamination we must be afraid of is sin. In fact, the only fear a catholic should have is to offend God. Our Lady has never ever committed a sin in her entire life starting from her conception to its assumption on Heaven: for this reason, God fulfilled Her of all graces. Moreover, a lot of documents and articles have been written in order to explain the Immaculate Conception of The Blessed Virgin Mary, but we might remember a famous motto that says de Maria numquam satis, in english: it’s never enough about Mary. In fact, it’s never enough talking about her virtues, blessing what she did, and knowing her life. Saint Louis de Monfort in his work True Devotion to Mary, says that Mary is the shortest way to get directly to Jesus and it’s for this reason that we want to talk again about Her and about her splendid and Immaculate Conception. 

In 1858 Our Lady appeared in Lourdes to the young Bernadette Soubirous, four year later the acknowledgement of the dogma of Immaculate Conception. In fact, this dogma was officialized on 8th December 1854 when Pius IX issued the dogmatic constitution Ineffabilis Deus. In this document we can read that the Catholic Church « directed by the Holy Spirit of God, is the pillar and base of truth and has ever held as divinely revealed and as contained in the deposit of heavenly revelation this doctrine concerning the original innocence of the august Virgin — a doctrine which is so perfectly in harmony with her wonderful sanctity and preeminent dignity as Mother of God — and thus has never ceased to explain, to teach and to foster this doctrine age after age in many ways and by solemn acts». In addition, it was convenient that the conception of Mary was Immaculate in view of the mission that God entrusted to her: to generate the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, Our Lord Jesus Christ.

For this reason «far above all the angels and all the saints so wondrously did God endow her with the abundance of all heavenly gifts poured from the treasury of his divinity that this mother, ever absolutely free of all stain of sin, all fair and perfect, would possess that fullness of holy innocence and sanctity than which, under God, one cannot even imagine anything greater, and which, outside of God, no mind can succeed in comprehending fully». Moreover, the Immaculate conception, says Pius IX, was predicted by God in order to defeat the ancient serpent of the whom we can read in the third chapter of Genesis: «I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel» (Genesis 3:15). Here we can understand the importance of the devotion to the Immaculate Conception: She is the only one that is able to defeat the devil, thus She is the one that can help us in winning our daily diabolic temptations. In fact, saints became saints just because of the intercession of Our Lady. Let us pray Her, in order to fight the good battle and to preserve the divine and catholic faith.

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