| INEFFABILIS
DEUS
SUPREME REASON FOR THE PRIVILEGE: THE DIVINE MATERNITY And indeed it was wholly fitting that so wonderful a mother should be ever resplendent with the glory of most sublime holiness and so completely free from all taint of original sin that she would triumph utterly over the ancient serpent. To her did the Father will to give his only-begotten Son -- the Son whom, equal to the Father and begotten by him, the Father loves from his heart -- and to give this Son in such a way that he would be the one and the same common Son of God the Father and of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It was she whom the Son himself chose to make his Mother and it was from her that the Holy Spirit willed and brought it about that he should be conceived and born from whom he himself proceeds.[1] LITURGICAL ARGUMENT 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. From this very
doctrine, flourishing and wondrously propagated in the Catholic world
through the efforts and zeal of the bishops, was made very clear by the
Church when she did not hesitate to present for the public devotion and
veneration of the faithful the Feast of the Conception of the Blessed
Virgin.[2] By this most significant fact, the Church made it clear indeed
that the conception of Mary is to be venerated as something extraordinary,
wonderful, eminently holy, and different from the conception of all other
human beings -- for the Church celebrates only the feast days of the saints.
ORDINARY TEACHING OF THE ROMAN CHURCH These
truths, so generally accepted and put into practice by the faithful, indicate
how zealously the Roman Church, mother and teacher of all Churches, has
continued to teach this doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin.
Yet the more important actions of the Church deserve to be mentioned in
detail. For such dignity and authority belong to the Church that she alone
is the center of truth and of Catholic unity. It is the Church in which
alone religion has been inviolably preserved and from which all other
Churches must receive the tradition of the Faith.[3] VENERATION OF THE IMMACULATE Our predecessors, indeed, by virtue of their apostolic authority, gloried in instituting the Feast of the Conception in the Roman Church. They did so to enhance its importance and dignity by a suitable Office and Mass, whereby the prerogative of the Virgin, her exception from the hereditary taint, was most distinctly affirmed. As to the homage already instituted, they spared no effort to promote and to extend it either by the granting of indulgences, or by allowing cities, provinces and kingdoms to choose as their patroness God's own Mother, under the title of "The Immaculate Conception." Again, our predecessors approved confraternities, congregations and religious communities founded in honor of the Immaculate Conception, monasteries, hospitals, altars, or churches; they praised persons who vowed to uphold with all their ability the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God. Besides, it afforded the greatest joy to our predecessors to ordain that the Feast of the Conception should be celebrated in every church with the very same honor as the Feast of the Nativity; that it should be celebrated with an octave by the whole Church; that it should be reverently and generally observed as a holy day of obligation; and that a pontifical Capella should be held in our Liberian pontifical basilica on the day dedicated to the conception of the Virgin. Finally, in their desire to impress this doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God upon the hearts of the faithful, and to intensify the people's piety and enthusiasm for the homage and the veneration of the Virgin conceived without the stain of original sin, they delighted to grant, with the greatest pleasure, permission to proclaim the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin in the Litany of Loreto, and in the Preface of the Mass, so that the rule of prayer might thus serve to illustrate the rule of belief. Therefore, we ourselves, following the procedure of our predecessors, have not only approved and accepted what had already been established, but bearing in mind, moreover, the decree of Sixtus IV, [4] have confirmed by our authority a proper Office in honor of the Immaculate Conception, and have with exceeding joy extended its use to the universal Church.[5] THE ROMAN DOCTRINE Now
inasmuch as whatever pertains to sacred worship is intimately connected
with its object and cannot have either consistency or durability if this
object is vague or uncertain, our predecessors, the Roman Pontiffs, therefore,
while directing all their efforts toward an increase of the devotion to
the conception, made it their aim not only to emphasize the object with
the utmost zeal, but also to enunciate the exact doctrine.[6] Definitely
and clearly they taught that the feast was held in honor of the conception
of the Virgin. They denounced as false and absolutely foreign to the mind
of the Church the opinion of those who held and affirmed that it was not
the conception of the Virgin but her sanctification that was honored by
the Church. They never thought that greater leniency should be extended
toward those who, attempting to disprove the doctrine of the Immaculate
Conception of the Virgin, devised a distinction between the first and
second instance of conception and inferred that the conception which the
Church celebrates was not that of the first instance of conception but
the second. In fact, they held it was their duty not only to uphold and
defend with all their power the Feast of the Conception of the Blessed
Virgin but also to assert that the true object of this veneration was
her conception considered in its first instant. Hence the words of one
of our predecessors, Alexander VII, who authoritatively and decisively
declared the mind of the Church: "Concerning the most Blessed Virgin
Mary, Mother of God, ancient indeed is that devotion of the faithful based
on the belief that her soul, in the first instant of its creation and
in the first instant of the soul's infusion into the body, was, by a special
grace and privilege of God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, her
Son and the Redeemer of the human race, preserved free from all stain
of original sin. And in this sense have the faithful ever solemnized and
celebrated the Feast of the Conception."[7] PAPAL SANCTIONS All
these things our illustrious predecessor, Alexander VII, summed up in
these words: "We have in mind the fact that the Holy Roman Church
solemnly celebrated the Feast of the Conception of the undefiled and ever-Virgin
Mary, and has long ago appointed for this a special and proper Office
according to the pious, devout, and laudable instruction which was given
by our predecessor, Sixtus IV. Likewise, we were desirous, after the example
of our predecessors, to favor this praiseworthy piety, devotion, feast
and veneration -- a veneration which is in keeping with the piety unchanged
in the Roman Church from the day it was instituted. We also desired to
protect this piety and devotion of venerating and extolling the most Blessed
Virgin preserved from original sin by the grace of the Holy Spirit. Moreover,
we were anxious to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace
in the flock of Christ by putting down arguments and controversies and
by removing scandals. So at the instance and request of the bishops mentioned
above, with the chapters of the churches, and of King Philip and his kingdoms,
we renew the Constitutions and Decrees issued by the Roman Pontiffs, our
predecessors, especially Sixtus IV,[8] Paul V,[9] and Gregory XV,[10]
in favor of the doctrine asserting that the soul of the Blessed Virgin,
in its creation and infusion into the body, was endowed with the grace
of the Holy Spirit and preserved from original sin; and also in favor
of the feast and veneration of the conception of the Virgin Mother of
God, which, as is manifest, was instituted in keeping with that pious
belief. So we command this feast to be observed under the censures and
penalties contained in the same Constitutions. TESTIMONIES OF THE CATHOLIC WORLD All are aware with how much diligence this doctrine fo the Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God has been handed down, proposed and defended by the most outstanding religious orders, by the more celebrated theological academies, and by very eminent doctors in the sciences of theology. All know, likewise, how eager the bishops have been to profess openly and publicly, even in ecclesiastical assemblies, that Mary, the most holy Mother of God, by virtue of the foreseen merits of Christ, our Lord and Redeemer, was never subject to original sin, but was completely preserved from the original taint, and hence she was redeemed in a manner more sublime. THE COUNCIL OF TRENT Besides, we must note a fact of the greatest importance indeed. Even the Council of Trent itself, when it promulgated the dogmatic decree concerning original sin, following the testimonies of the Sacred Scriptures, of the Holy Fathers and of the renowned Council, decreed and defined that all men are born infected by original sin; nevertheless, it solemnly declared that it had no intention of including the blessed and immaculate Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, in this decree and in the general extension of its definition. Indeed, considering the times and circumstances, the Fathers of Trent sufficiently intimated by this declaration that the Blessed Virgin Mary was free from the original stain; and thus they clearly signified that nothing could be reasonably cited from the Sacred Scriptures, from Tradition, or from the authority of the Fathers, which would in any way be opposed to so great a prerogative of the Blessed Virgin.[12] TESTIMONIES OF TRADITION And indeed, illustrious documents of venerable antiquity, of both the Eastern and the Western Church, very forcibly testify that this doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of the most Blessed Virgin, which was daily more and more splendidly explained, stated and confirmed by the highest authority, teaching, zeal, knowledge, and wisdom of the Church, and which was disseminated among all peoples and nations of the Catholic world in a marvelous manner -- this doctrine always existed in the Church as a doctrine that has been received from our ancestors, and that has been stamped with the character of revealed doctrine. For the Church of Christ, watchful guardian that she is, and defender of the dogmas deposited with her, never changes anything, never diminishes anything, never adds anything to them; but with all diligence she treats the ancient documents faithfully and wisely; if they really are of ancient origin and if the faith of the Fathers has transmitted them, she strives to investigate and explain them in such a way that the ancient dogmas of heavenly doctrine will be made evident and clear, but will retain their full, integral, and proper nature, and will grown only within their own genus -- that is, within the same dogma, in the same sense and the same meaning. INTERPRETERS OF THE SACRED SCRIPTURE The
Fathers and writers of the Church, well versed in the heavenly Scriptures,
had nothing more at heart than to vie with one another in preaching and
teaching in many wonderful ways the Virgin's supreme sanctity, dignity,
and immunity from all stain of sin, and her renowned victory over the
most foul enemy of the human race. This they did in the books they wrote
to explain the Scriptures, to vindicate the dogmas, and to instruct the
faithful. These ecclesiastical writers in quoting the words by which at
the beginning of the world God announced his merciful remedies prepared
for the regeneration of mankind -- words by which he crushed the audacity
of the deceitful serpent and wondrously raised up the hope of our race,
saying, "I will put enmities between you and the woman, between your
seed and her seed"[13] -- taught that by this divine prophecy the
merciful Redeemer of mankind, Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God,
was clearly foretold: That his most Blessed Mother, the Virgin Mary, was
prophetically indicated; and, at the same time, the very enmity of both
against the evil one was significantly expressed. Hence, just as Christ,
the Mediator between God and man, assumed human nature, blotted the handwriting
of the decree that stood against us, and fastened it triumphantly to the
cross, so the most holy Virgin, united with him by a most intimate and
indissoluble bond, was, with him and through him, eternally at enmity
with the evil serpent, and most completely triumphed over him, and thus
crushed his head with her immaculate foot.[14] THE ANNUNCIATION When the Fathers and writers of the Church meditated on the fact that the most Blessed Virgin was, in the name and by order of God himself, proclaimed full of grace[22] by the Angel Gabriel when he announced her most sublime dignity of Mother of God, they thought that this singular and solemn salutation, never heard before, showed that the Mother of God is the seat of all divine graces and is adorned with all gifts of the Holy Spirit. To them Mary is an almost infinite treasury, an inexhaustible abyss of these gifts, to such an extent that she was never subject to the curse and was, together with her Son, the only partaker of perpetual benediction. Hence she was worthy to hear Elizabeth, inspired by the Holy Spirit, exclaim: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb."[23] MARY COMPARED WITH EVE Hence, it is the clear and unanimous opinion of the Fathers that the most glorious Virgin, for whom "he who is mighty has done great things," was resplendent with such an abundance of heavenly gifts, with such a fullness of grace and with such innocence, that she is an unspeakable miracle of God -- indeed, the crown of all miracles and truly the Mother of God; that she approaches as near to God himself as is possible for a created being; and that she is above all men and angels in glory. Hence, to demonstrate the original innocence and sanctity of the Mother of God, not only did 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; but they have also exalted her above Even with a wonderful variety of expressions. Eve listened to the serpent with lamentable consequences; she fell from original innocence and became his slave. The most Blessed Virgin, on the contrary, ever increased her original gift, and not only never lent an ear to the serpent, but by divinely given power she utterly destroyed the force and dominion of the evil one. BIBLICAL FIGURES Accordingly, the Fathers have never ceased to call the Mother of God the lily among thorns, the land entirely intact, the Virgin undefiled, immaculate, ever blessed, and free from all contagion of sin, she from whom was formed the new Adam, the flawless, brightest, and most beautiful paradise of innocence, immortality and delights planted by God himself and protected against all the snares of the poisonous serpent, the incorruptible wood that the worm of sin had never corrupted, the fountain ever clear and sealed with the power of the Holy Spirit, the most holy temple, the treasure of immortality, the one and only daughter of life -- not of death -- the plant not of anger but of grace, through the singular providence of God growing ever green contrary to the common law, coming as it does from a corrupted and tainted root. EXPLICIT AFFIRMATION . . . As if these splendid eulogies and tributes were not sufficient, the Fathers proclaimed with particular and definite statements that when one treats of sin, the holy Virgin Mary is not even to be mentioned; for to her more grace was given than was necessary to conquer sin completely.[24] They also declared that the most glorious Virgin was Reparatrix of the first parents, the giver of life to posterity; that she was chosen before the ages, prepared for himself by the Most High, foretold by God when he said to the serpent, "I will put enmities between you and the woman."[25] -- unmistakable evidence that she crushed the poisonous head of the serpent. And hence they affirmed that the Blessed Virgin was, through grace, entirely free from every stain of sin, and from all corruption of body, soul and mind; that she was always united with God and joined to him by an eternal covenant; that she was never in darkness but always in light; and that, therefore, she was entirely a fit habitation for Christ, not because of the state of her body, but because of her original grace. . . . OF A SUPEREMINENT SANCTITY To these
praises they have added very noble words. Speaking of the conception of
the Virgin, they testified that nature yielded to grace and, unable to
go on, stood trembling. The Virgin Mother of God would not be conceived
by Anna before grace would bear its fruits; it was proper that she be
conceived as the first-born, by whom "the first-born of every creature"
would be conceived. They testified, too, that the flesh of the Virgin,
although derived from Adam, did not contract the stains of Adam, and that
on this account the most Blessed Virgin was the tabernacle created by
God himself and formed by the Holy Spirit, truly a work in royal purple,
adorned and woven with gold, which that new Beseleel[26] made. They affirmed
that the same Virgin is, and is deservedly, the first and especial work
of God, escaping the fiery arrows the the evil one; that she is beautiful
by nature and entirely free from all stain; that at her Immaculate Conception
she came into the world all radiant like the dawn. For it was certainly
not fitting that this vessel of election should be wounded by the common
injuries, since she, differing so much from the others, had only nature
in common with them, not sin. In fact, it was quite fitting that, as the
Only-Begotten has a Father in heaven, whom the Seraphim extol as thrice
holy, so he should have a Mother on earth who would never be without the
splendor of holiness. PREPARATION FOR THE DEFINITION No wonder,
then, that the Pastors of the Church and the faithful gloried daily more
and more in professing with so much piety, religion, and love this doctrine
of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mother of God, which, as the
Fathers discerned, was recorded i the Divine Scriptures; which was handed
down in so many of their most important writings; which was expressed
and celebrated in so many illustrious monuments of venerable antiquity;
which was proposed and confirmed by the official and authoritative teaching
of the Church. Hence, nothing was dearer, nothing more pleasing to these
pastors than to venerate, invoke, and proclaim with most ardent affection
the Virgin Mother of God conceived without original stain. Accordingly,
from ancient times the bishops of the Church, ecclesiastics, religious
orders, and even emperors and kings, have earnestly petitioned this Apostolic
See to define a dogma of the Catholic Faith the Immaculate Conception
of the most holy Mother of God. These petitions were renewed in these
our own times; they were especially brought to the attention of Gregory
XVI, our predecessor of happy memory, and to ourselves, not only by bishops,
but by the secular clergy and religious orders, by sovereign rulers and
by the faithful. THE MIND OF THE BISHOPS Although
we knew the mind of the bishops from the petitions which we had received
from them, namely, that the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin
be finally defined, nevertheless, on February 2, 1849,[27] we sent an
Encyclical Letter from Gaeta to all our venerable brethren, the bishops
of the Catholic world, that they should offer prayers to God and then
tell us in writing what the piety and devotion of their faithful was in
regard to the Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God. We likewise
inquired what the bishops themselves thought about defining this doctrine
and what their wishes were in regard to making known with all possible
solemnity our supreme judgment. THE DEFINITION Wherefore,
in humility and fasting, we unceasingly offered our private prayers as
well as the public prayers of the Church to God the Father through his
Son, that he would deign to direct and strengthen our mind by the power
of the Holy Spirit. In like manner did we implore the help of the entire
heavenly host as we ardently invoked the Paraclete. Accordingly, by the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit, for the honor of the Holy and undivided
Trinity, for the glory and adornment of the Virgin Mother of God, for
the exaltation of the Catholic Faith, and for the furtherance of the Catholic
religion, by the authority of Jesus Christ our Lord, of the Blessed Apostles
Peter and Paul, and by our own: HOPED-FOR RESULTS Our
soul overflows with joy and our tongue with exultation. We give, and we
shall continue to give, the humblest and deepest thanks to Jesus Christ,
our Lord, because through his singular grace he has granted to us, unworthy
though we be, to decree and offer this honor and glory and praise to his
most holy Mother. All our hope do we repose in the most Blessed Virgin
-- in the all fair and immaculate one who has crushed the poisonous head
of the most cruel serpent and brought salvation to the world: in her who
is the glory of the prophets and apostles, the honor of the martyrs, the
crown and joy of all the saints; in her who is the safest refuge and the
most trustworthy helper of all who are in danger; in her who, with her
only-begotten Son, is the most powerful Mediatrix and Conciliatrix in
the whole world; in her who is the most excellent glory, ornament, and
impregnable stronghold of the holy Church; in her who has destroyed all
heresies and snatched the faithful people and nations from all kinds of
direst calamities; in her do we hope who has delivered us from so many
threatening dangers. We have, therefore, a very certain hope and complete
confidence that the most Blessed Virgin will ensure by her most powerful
patronage that all difficulties be removed and all errors dissipated,
so that our Holy Mother the Catholic Church may flourish daily more and
more throughout all the nations and countries, and may reign "from
sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth," and may
enjoy genuine peace, tranquility and liberty. We are firm in our confidence
that she will obtain pardon for the sinner, health for the sick, strength
of heart for the weak, consolation for the afflicted, help for those in
danger; that she will remove spiritual blindness from all who are in error,
so that they may return to the path of truth and justice, and that here
may be one flock and one shepherd. |