Immaculate Conception

In response to a question about the Catholic doctrine ~

I have heard that some Orthodox don’t really mind the IC, it’s just that they wouldn’t dogmatize about it. Others think it is not correct, and yes, I think their views are based on the differing notions of original sin. For a Catholic, it would not be fitting that the divinity of God should unite with the flesh of some ‘stained’ (or sinful or guilty or whatever) human being. The purity of Mary is paramount because of who she would become. (We Orthodox can understand this, I think.) But the flip side would be that Christ has to take on everything in human nature that needs to be healed, so if Mary is somehow special or different from the rest of us humans, then Christ hasn’t really taken on OUR humanity.

My own personal view (could be wrong!) is that what was ‘special’ about Mary was her willingness. Her whole life she was incredibly open to God. Part of this was her beautiful personality (not a special human nature, or a special physical conception), and part was that she stood directly and faithfully in a long, holy tradition of all God’s past history of salvation as it came through the Jewish people — represented immediately by her family, parents, and close community. God was waiting for just such a person, from whom he could “take flesh”. SHE had to be faithful and willing. There had to be a human being who would be THAT open — just consider what happened in her womb! But her human nature, as such, was not different from the rest of us. Nor, really, was the possibility of her human choice and willingness. Aren’t we called to the same? When Christ becomes incarnate in her, THAT is when all of human nature — including hers, as she was totally open and willing, synergistically willing, we’d call it — was healed, or was reconnected with God and set on a path of ultimate healing, including even the healing of mortality and death itself. The ultimate moment in Mary’s life was the Incarnation. Hence the importance of the feasts of Annunciation, and Nativity — which we draw close to! This reconnection between God and humanity, in a willing person, is why Christ can be resurrected from the dead, and why Mary has a special Assumption/Dormition (regardless of whether we believe she actually died or not). Since she was not God by nature, and since she does not have a “special nature” different from the rest of us (I don’t think Catholics believe she does - they are coming at it from a different angle - but I understand this is the potentially sticky point), she is a model for us — as is Christ Himself, of course.

On a more practical level, the doctrine of the IC was around for a long time in the west, long, long before it ever became official dogma (only in the 1850’s, as the pope’s first “infallible” declaration?). It was also somewhat controversial; I believe St. Thomas Aquinas, and a few other major theologians, were opposed to it. Nick [my dh] thinks the reason for the official promulgation from a practical point of view was to affirm the importance and holiness of Mary against the Protestants who had been so demeaning (even desecrating) to her throughout the Reformation. (I do think Orthodox need to give more weight to the western Church’s needs, over time, to defend herself against the various heresies that popped up in the west. — I’m not saying such consideration explains/justifies everything the RCC has done, just that it seems good to take it into account.) Devout Catholics see a “confirmation” of the IC dogma in the miracle of Bernadette of Lourdes. The Lady who appeared to Bernadette said, “I am the Immaculate Conception.”