THE CATECHISM OF
THE
CATHOLIC CHURCH
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THE PROFESSION OF FAITH
484 The Annunciation to Mary inaugurates "the fullness of time",[119] the
time of the fulfilment of God's promises and preparations. Mary was
invited to conceive him in whom the "whole fullness of deity" would dwell
"bodily".[120] The divine response to her question, "How can this be, since
I know not man?", was given by the power of the Spirit: "The Holy Spirit
will come upon you."[121]
485 The mission of the Holy Spirit is always conjoined and ordered to that
of the Son.[122] The Holy Spirit, "the Lord, the giver of Life", is sent to
sanctify the womb of the Virgin Mary and divinely fecundate it, causing
her to conceive the eternal Son of the Father in a humanity drawn from her
own.
486 The Father's only Son, conceived as man in the womb of the Virgin
Mary, is "Christ", that is to say, anointed by the Holy Spirit, from the
beginning of his human existence, though the manifestation of this fact
takes place only progressively: to the shepherds, to the magi, to John the
Baptist, to the disciples.[123] Thus the whole life of Jesus Christ will
make manifest "how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and
with power."[124]
487 What the Catholic faith believes about Mary is based on what it
believes about Christ, and what it teaches about Mary illumines in turn
its faith in Christ.
Mary's predestination
488 "God sent forth his Son", but to prepare a body for him,[125] he wanted
the free co-operation of a creature. For this, from all eternity God chose
for the mother of his Son a daughter of Israel, a young Jewish woman of
Nazareth in Galilee, "a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph,
of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary":[126]
The Father of mercies willed that the Incarnation should be preceded by
assent on the part of the predestined mother, so that just as a woman had
a share in the coming of death, so also should a woman contribute to the
coming of life.[127]
489 Throughout the Old Covenant the mission of many holy women prepared
for that of Mary. At the very beginning there was Eve; despite her
disobedience, she receives the promise of a posterity that will be
victorious over the evil one, as well as the promise that she will be the
mother of all the living.[128] By virtue of this promise, Sarah conceives a
son in spite of her old age.[129] Against all human expectation God chooses
those who were considered powerless and weak to show forth his
faithfulness to his promises: Hannah, the mother of Samuel; Deborah; Ruth;
Judith and Esther; and many other women.[130] Mary "stands out among the
poor and humble of the Lord, who confidently hope for and receive
salvation from him. After a long period of waiting the times are fulfilled
in her, the exalted Daughter of Sion, and the new plan of salvation is
established."[131]
The Immaculate Conception
490 To become the mother of the Saviour, Mary "was enriched by God with
gifts appropriate to such a role."[132] The angel Gabriel at the moment of
the annunciation salutes her as "full of grace".[133] In fact, in order for
Mary to be able to give the free assent of her faith to the announcement
of her vocation, it was necessary that she be wholly borne by God's grace.
491 Through the centuries the Church has become ever more aware that Mary,
"full of grace" through God,[134] was redeemed from the moment of her
conception. That is what the dogma of the Immaculate Conception confesses,
as Pope Pius IX proclaimed in 1854:
The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception,
by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the
merits of Jesus Christ, Saviour of the human race, preserved immune from
all stain of original sin.[135]
492 The "splendour of an entirely unique holiness" by which Mary is
"enriched from the first instant of her conception" comes wholly from
Christ: she is "redeemed, in a more exalted fashion, by reason of the
merits of her Son".[136] The Father blessed Mary more than any other created
person "in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places"
and chose her "in Christ before the foundation of the world, to be holy
and blameless before him in love".[137]
493 The Fathers of the Eastern tradition call the Mother of God "the
All-Holy" (Panagia), and celebrate her as "free from any stain of sin, as
though fashioned by the Holy Spirit and formed as a new creature".[138] By
the grace of God Mary remained free of every personal sin her whole life
long.
"Let it be done to me according to your word. . ."
494 At the announcement that she would give birth to "the Son of the Most
High" without knowing man, by the power of the Holy Spirit, Mary responded
with the obedience of faith, certain that "with God nothing will be
impossible": "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be [done] to
me according to your word."[139] Thus, giving her consent to God's word,
Mary becomes the mother of Jesus. Espousing the divine will for salvation
wholeheartedly, without a single sin to restrain her, she gave herself
entirely to the person and to the work of her Son; she did so in order to
serve the mystery of redemption with him and dependent on him, by God's
grace:[140]
As St. Irenaeus says, "Being obedient she became the cause of salvation for
herself and for the whole human race."[141] Hence not a few of the early
Fathers gladly assert. . .: "The knot of Eve's disobedience was untied by
Mary's obedience: what the virgin Eve bound through her disbelief, Mary
loosened by her faith."[142] Comparing her with Eve, they call Mary "the
Mother of the living" and frequently claim: "Death through Eve, life
through Mary."[143]
Mary's divine motherhood
495 Called in the Gospels "the mother of Jesus", Mary is acclaimed by
Elizabeth, at the prompting of the Spirit and even before the birth of her
son, as "the mother of my Lord".[144] In fact, the One whom she conceived as
man by the Holy Spirit, who truly became her Son according to the flesh,
was none other than the Father's eternal Son, the second person of the
Holy Trinity. Hence the Church confesses that Mary is truly "Mother of
God" (Theotokos).[145]
Mary's virginity
496 From the first formulations of her faith, the Church has confessed
that Jesus was conceived solely by the power of the Holy Spirit in the
womb of the Virgin Mary, affirming also the corporeal aspect of this
event: Jesus was conceived "by the Holy Spirit without human seed".[146] The
Fathers see in the virginal conception the sign that it truly was the Son
of God who came in a humanity like our own. Thus St. Ignatius of Antioch at
the beginning of the second century says:
You are firmly convinced about our Lord, who is truly of the race of David
according to the flesh, Son of God according to the will and power of God,
truly born of a virgin,. . . he was truly nailed to a tree for us in his
flesh under Pontius Pilate. . . he truly suffered, as he is also truly
risen.[147]
497 The Gospel accounts understand the virginal conception of Jesus as a
divine work that surpasses all human understanding and possibility:[148]
"That which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit", said the angel to
Joseph about Mary his fiancee.[149] The Church sees here the fulfilment of
the divine promise given through the prophet Isaiah: "Behold, a virgin
shall conceive and bear a son."[150]
498 People are sometimes troubled by the silence of St. Mark's Gospel and
the New Testament Epistles about Jesus' virginal conception. Some might
wonder if we were merely dealing with legends or theological constructs
not claiming to be history. To this we must respond: Faith in the virginal
conception of Jesus met with the lively opposition, mockery or
incomprehension of non-believers, Jews and pagans alike;[151] so it could
hardly have been motivated by pagan mythology or by some adaptation to the
ideas of the age. The meaning of this event is accessible only to faith,
which understands in it the "connection of these mysteries with one
another"[152] in the totality of Christ's mysteries, from his Incarnation to
his Passover. St. Ignatius of Antioch already bears witness to this
connection: "Mary's virginity and giving birth, and even the Lord's death
escaped the notice of the prince of this world: these three mysteries
worthy of proclamation were accomplished in God's silence."[153]
Mary-"ever-virgin"
499 The deepening of faith in the virginal motherhood led the Church to
confess Mary's real and perpetual virginity even in the act of giving
birth to the Son of God made man.[154] In fact, Christ's birth "did not
diminish his mother's virginal integrity but sanctified it."[155] And so the
liturgy of the Church celebrates Mary as Aeiparthenos, the
"Ever-virgin".[156]
500 Against this doctrine the objection is sometimes raised that the Bible
mentions brothers and sisters of Jesus.[157] The Church has always
understood these passages as not referring to other children of the Virgin
Mary. In fact James and Joseph, "brothers of Jesus", are the sons of
another Mary, a disciple of Christ, whom St. Matthew significantly calls
"the other Mary".[158] They are close relations of Jesus, according to an
Old Testament expression.[159]
501 Jesus is Mary's only son, but her spiritual motherhood extends to all
men whom indeed he came to save: "The Son whom she brought forth is he
whom God placed as the first-born among many brethren, that is, the
faithful in whose generation and formation she co-operates with a mother's
love."[160]
Mary's virginal motherhood in God's plan
502 The eyes of faith can discover in the context of the whole of
Revelation the mysterious reasons why God in his saving plan wanted his
Son to be born of a virgin. These reasons touch both on the person of
Christ and his redemptive mission, and on the welcome Mary gave that
mission on behalf of all men.
503 Mary's virginity manifests God's absolute initiative in the
Incarnation. Jesus has only God as Father. "He was never estranged from
the Father because of the human nature which he assumed. . . He is
naturally Son of the Father as to his divinity and naturally son of his
mother as to his humanity, but properly Son of the Father in both
natures."[161]
504 Jesus is conceived by the Holy Spirit in the Virgin Mary's womb
because he is the New Adam, who inaugurates the new creation: "The first
man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven."[162]
From his conception, Christ's humanity is filled with the Holy Spirit, for
God "gives him the Spirit without measure."[163] From "his fullness" as the
head of redeemed humanity "we have all received, grace upon grace."[164]
505 By his virginal conception, Jesus, the New Adam, ushers in the new
birth of children adopted in the Holy Spirit through faith. "How can this
be?"[165] Participation in the divine life arises "not of blood nor of the
will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God".[166] The acceptance
of this life is virginal because it is entirely the Spirit's gift to man.
The spousal character of the human vocation in relation to God[167] is
fulfilled perfectly in Mary's virginal motherhood.
506 Mary is a virgin because her virginity is the sign of her faith
"unadulterated by any doubt", and of her undivided gift of herself to
God's will.[168] It is her faith that enables her to become the mother of
the Saviour: "Mary is more blessed because she embraces faith in Christ
than because she conceives the flesh of Christ."[169]
507 At once virgin and mother, Mary is the symbol and the most perfect
realization of the Church: "the Church indeed. . . by receiving the word
of God in faith becomes herself a mother. By preaching and Baptism she
brings forth sons, who are conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of God,
to a new and immortal life. She herself is a virgin, who keeps in its
entirety and purity the faith she pledged to her spouse."[170]
IN BRIEF
508 From among the descendants of Eve, God chose the Virgin Mary to be the
mother of his Son. "Full of grace", Mary is "the most excellent fruit of
redemption" (SC 103): from the first instant of her conception, she was
totally preserved from the stain of original sin and she remained pure
from all personal sin throughout her life.
509 Mary is truly "Mother of God" since she is the mother of the eternal
Son of God made man, who is God himself.
510 Mary "remained a virgin in conceiving her Son, a virgin in giving
birth to him, a virgin in carrying him, a virgin in nursing him at her
breast, always a virgin" (St. Augustine, Serm. 186, 1: PL 38, 999): with
her whole being she is "the handmaid of the Lord" (Lk 1:38).
511 The Virgin Mary "co-operated through free faith and obedience in human
salvation" (LG 56). She uttered her yes "in the name of all human nature"
(St. Thomas Aquinas, S Th III, 30, 1). By her obedience she became the new
Eve, mother of the living.
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