LESSON 7 —3rd Article of the Creed: The Blessed Virgin, Mother of Christ
Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary
Read the following references to further clarify the central ideas of this lesson. Look in other places as well as these; this is not an exhaustive list of the resources needed to answer the questions.
Father Hardon’s Catholic Catechism
Pages 150-171 (Blessed Virgin Mary)
Pages 297-298 (Adoration, Prayer and Sacrifice)
Father Hardon’s Question and Answer Catechism
#226-260 (3rd Article, Conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary)
#291 (Did Christ ascend alone)
#553 (What is adoration?)
#573-574 (Worship and Veneration)
Revised Basic Course Manual
Pages 24-29 (Third Article)
Pages 58-59
Scripture –
For Matching Section: Match Scripture passages by using a Bible Concordance (book or online concordance).
Mark 12:28-30
Matthew 1:18-25; 2:1-23
Luke 1:26-80; 2:1-52
John 2:1-12
Catechism of the Catholic Church
#358
#456-483 (The Son of God Became Man)
#484-511 (Conceived by the Power of the Holy Spirit)
#2113 (Idolatry)
Modern Catholic Dictionary Vocabulary –
Review the following terms in your Modern Catholic Dictionary reference book (or online version at TheRealPresence.org – go to the bottom of the page, click on “Dictionary”).
Adoration
Death
Latria
Mary, The Blessed Virgin
Mother of God
Mystical Union
Mysticism
Nestorianism
Precept
Protoevangelium
Sinlessness
Sinlessness of Mary
Worship
Listed in Advanced Course Manual:
Assumption
Blessed Virgin Mary
Fatima, Our Lady of the Rosary of
Guadalupe
Imitation of Christ
Immaculate Conception
Lourdes
Marian Art
Marian Literature
Mariolatry
Mariology
Mary, Name of
Mary’s Death
Mary’s Sinlessness
Mary’s Virginity
Mary, Blessed Virgin
The Treasury of Catholic Wisdom
by Father John A. Hardon, S.J., Saint Thomas Aquinas’ Exposition of the Apostles’ Creed, Third Article, pp. 266-269.
Supplemental Vocabulary –
Read the following terms in the Supplemental Vocabulary Definitions:
Dogmas and Doctrines
Mary’s Sinlessness
Read Also:
Also see Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, pp. 202-203
“The Council of Trent declared: ‘No justified person can for his whole life avoid all sins, even venial sins, except on the ground of a special privilege from God such as the Church holds was given to the Blessed Virgin….’ Pope Pius XII says in the Encyclical Mystici Corporis Christi of the Virgin Mother of God, that ‘she was immune from all sin, personal or inherited.’ Mary’s sinlessness may be deduced from the text: Luke 1:28: ‘Hail, full of grace!’, since personal moral defects are irreconcilable with the fullness of grace.”
Also see The Summa Theologica of St. Thomas Aquinas, Ia Q 100, art. 2, “Confirmation in Grace” IIIa, Q 18, art. 4
“For the rational creature is confirmed in righteousness through the beatitude given by the clear vision of God; and when once it has seen God, it cannot but cleave to Him who is the essence of goodness, wherefrom no one can turn away, since nothing is desired or loved but under the aspect of good. I say this according to the general law; for it may be otherwise in the case of special privilege, such as we believe was granted to the Virgin Mother of God.”
Also see The Mother of the Savior and Our Interior Life, Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P., Rockford: Tan Publishing, 1993, pp. 63-65
“Was Mary Exempt from Every Fault, Even Venial? The Council of Trent has defined that ‘after his justification a man cannot avoid, during the whole course of his life, every venial sin, without a special privilege such as the Church recognizes was conferred on the Blessed Virgin.’ The soul in the state of grace can therefore avoid any venial sin considered separately, but cannot avoid all venial sins, taken together by keeping itself always free from them. Mary however avoided all sin, even the least grave. St. Augustine affirms that ‘for the honor of her Son who came to remit the sins of the world, Mary is never included when there is a question of sin.’ The Fathers and theologians consider, to judge from their manner of speaking, that she is free even from every voluntary imperfection, for, according to them, she never failed in promptness to obey a divine inspiration given by way of counsel. …Mary had therefore impeccantia (the term is parallel to inerrantia) or freedom from sin, and even impeccability. Her title to these endowments is not however the same as her Son’s. In her case it was a matter of preservation from every sin through a special privilege. This privilege includes first of all a very high degree of habitual grace and charity, which gives the soul a strong inclination to the act of love of God and withdraws it from sin. …Far from diminishing her liberty or free will, the effect of this preservation from sin was to confer on her full liberty in the order of moral goodness, with no inclination to evil (just as her mind never tended to error). Hence her liberty, following the example of that of Jesus, was a faithful and most pure image of God’s liberty, which is at once sovereign and incapable of sin.”