The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary

[Colin]

Feast of the Immaculate Conception

• Celebrated on December 8th

The dogma of the Immaculate Conception holds that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was free from Original Sin from the very moment of her conception. The Immaculate Conception of Mary is often confused with the virginal conception of Jesus.

Today's feast was first approved by Pope Sixtus IV in 1476.

In 1830 St Catherine Laboure experienced a vision in which she saw Our Lady standing on a globe with rays of light emanating from her hands. The vision was surrounded by an oval frame on which were the words 'Oh Mary conceived without sin pray for us who have recourse to thee.'

In 1854, Pius IX solemnly decreed that 'the most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by the singular grace and privilege of Almighty God, and in view of the merits of Christ Jesus the Saviour of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin. That is revealed by God and therefore firmly and constantly to be believed by all the faithful.'

Just four years later, in Lourdes, the 14 year old St Bernadette, who had very little education and would have know nothing of papal statements, began to experience a series of apparitions of 'a lady', When she asked her name, the Lady replied: "I am the Immaculate Conception."

Saint Bernard wrote of Mary: "If you follow her you do not stray; if you think of her your mind does not err; if you ask of her, you will not be disappointed; if you cling to her, you will not fall. If she be with you, all is well, and you will realise the truth of the words 'the name of the virgin was Mary.'

TV Lourdes

 

[Unveiled Artist]

Feast of the Immaculate Conception

• Celebrated on December 8th

The dogma of the Immaculate Conception holds that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was free from Original Sin from the very moment of her conception. The Immaculate Conception of Mary is often confused with the virginal conception of Jesus.

Today's feast was first approved by Pope Sixtus IV in 1476.

In 1830 St Catherine Laboure experienced a vision in which she saw Our Lady standing on a globe with rays of light emanating from her hands. The vision was surrounded by an oval frame on which were the words 'Oh Mary conceived without sin pray for us who have recourse to thee.'

In 1854, Pius IX solemnly decreed that 'the most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by the singular grace and privilege of Almighty God, and in view of the merits of Christ Jesus the Saviour of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin. That is revealed by God and therefore firmly and constantly to be believed by all the faithful.'

Just four years later, in Lourdes, the 14 year old St Bernadette, who had very little education and would have know nothing of papal statements, began to experience a series of apparitions of 'a lady', When she asked her name, the Lady replied: "I am the Immaculate Conception."

Saint Bernard wrote of Mary: "If you follow her you do not stray; if you think of her your mind does not err; if you ask of her, you will not be disappointed; if you cling to her, you will not fall. If she be with you, all is well, and you will realise the truth of the words 'the name of the virgin was Mary.'

TV Lourdes

I always wondered about this teaching. If Mary where sinless would jesus birth still be a miracle why or why not?

 

[tadoflamb]

It's a great day to be Catholic.

I'm going to go serve mass, now.

 

[Colin]

I always wondered about this teaching. If Mary where sinless would jesus birth still be a miracle why or why not?

Yes , because Mary was a virgin .

 

[Colin]

It's a great day to be Catholic.

I'm going to go serve mass, now.

 

[tadoflamb]

I have to say, I love the readings on the Feast of the IC. I just love the IC. What a spectacle! The Catholics gather together to do their thing while the rest of the world does their thing. Today is so singularly Catholic, I love it.

Our Lady of Lourdes,

Pray for us!

 

[Colin]

Pope Francis pays homage to the Statue of the Immaculate Conception and then delights some elderly and sick .

 

[Unveiled Artist]

Yes , because Mary was a virgin .

But she was sinless. Wouldnt the miracle be a sinless son from a sinner? Wouldnt god been the only one to do this without making mary sinless to do so?

 

[Tigger45]

 

[Shiloh Raven]

@tadoflamb, if I may be so bold to say this... of all the Christians I know and have known, I've come to respect Catholics the most. And why is that? It's because of the Catholics I have met here in The Lord's Table since I joined this forum and helped revive it a year and a half ago. I truly appreciate the dedication to their beliefs and to their church. I also appreciate their compassion and sincere concern for marginalized people and environmental issues too. I could go on but I think I've made my point.

 

[tadoflamb]

@tadoflamb, if I may be so bold to say this... of all the Christians I know and have known, I've come to respect Catholics the most. And why is that? It's because of the Catholics I have met here in The Lord's Table since I joined this forum and helped revive it a year and a half ago. I truly appreciate the dedication to their beliefs and to their church. I also appreciate their compassion and sincere concern for marginalized people and environmental issues too. I could go on but I think I've made my point.

That's very kind of you to say, OVAM. Obviously, I love being Catholic and yesterday, being the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception was a very special day for me.

I also have to say it's been good getting to know you over the last few years and how you've shared you own struggles against injustice so freely with us. It's people like you who help me change my perspective.

And, at the risk of embarrassing you, although you don't identify as a Christian, to me you are one of the best Christian examples on CF.

So, there.

 

[Tallguy88]

I always wondered about this teaching. If Mary where sinless would jesus birth still be a miracle why or why not?

Yes. Most Protestants and Eastern Orthodox don't believe in Mary's Immaculate Conception, but they still believe in Jesus's Virgin Birth. They are two separate (though related) miracles.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

Yes. Most Protestants and Eastern Orthodox don't believe in Mary's Immaculate Conception, but they still believe in Jesus's Virgin Birth. They are two separate (though related) miracles.

I personally dont see how a persons relationship with christ depends on which one believes. If christ was not born a miracle how would that change his perfection that god could still give him regardless of how he was born and to whom?

 

[Shiloh Raven]

It is written

It is written:

It is written:

Basic definition of a protestant:

2 Samuel 7

Here you are preaching about scripture in a Catholic faith group forum where, as a non-Catholic, you aren't allowed to do so and yet you have blatantly ignored a direct warning from a CF Ambassador and the specific rules which were clearly posted for you to read that prohibit members who aren't of this fatih group from teaching against or debating the beliefs of this Catholic faith group in their own forum. You agreed to abide by this site's rules when you joined the site, but you've been persistently ignoring the specific rules about the Congregational area and this forum's own Statement of Purpose in this thread. Once again, it is against the Congregational Forum Restrictions of this site AND this forum's Statement of Purpose to debate or teach against Catholic beliefs in this forum.

Congregational Forum Restrictions:

Members who do not truly share the core beliefs and teachings of a specific congregational forum may post in fellowship or ask questions, but they may not teach or debate within the forum.

Excerpted from the TLT Statement of Purpose:

Visitors are welcome to share and participate in discussions with us. However, visitors must do so respectfully. This forum does not exist as a place for visitors to come and debate contentiously over why they disagree with us. If you are are a visitor and you would like to learn more about our viewpoints or beliefs, or perhaps you just want to understand how we feel about a specific issue, then you are welcome. But this is not a place to teach us the errors of our ways.

House Rules
All posts within this faith community must adhere to the site wide rules found here (Community Rules). In addition, if you are not a member of this faith group, you may not debate issues or teach against it's theology. You may post in fellowship. Active promotion of views contrary to the beliefs of this group will be considered off topic.

 

[Shiloh Raven]

*Staff edit of quoted post*

Well said, Tad. I have to say that I admire the patience that you and Colin have demonstrated so far in this thread while enduring such blatant disrespect for your personal Catholic beliefs. It must get old for you and Colin to have to endure such disrespectful nonsense like that. It reminds me of the many times I was told by certain Christians that I couldn't worship the Creator by burning sage or pray to the Creator in Cherokee. I remember being told that I had to worship and pray 'their way' or else they considered my own personal faith to be wrong. My faith was always in question and in doubt with many of these Christians. As if they had a right to insist that I worship the Creator their way.

I remember being accused of worshiping rocks and trees once because I shared how much I enjoy worshiping the Creator outside in nature. I do prefer being outside when I pray rather than being confined inside a church building while reciting repetitive prayers and singing countless praise and worship songs or listening for over an hour and a half to some preacher drone on and on about what he thought this or that scripture truly meant. You know my personal story of my prior Christian faith and the struggles I've dealt with, Tad. Long story short, I sympathize with you and Colin.

 

[Tallguy88]

ADMIN HAT

This thread has undergone a cleanup. First of all, non-Catholics cannot debate against Catholicism in this forum. Secondly, Catholics need to avoid debating with non-Catholics because it makes staff's job more tedious by having to go through the entire thread and deleting all the debating posts and the responses. Either ignore the people posting contrary to your beliefs, or report them straight off.