The Creed Part IV: Conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of a Virgin

Basic Reading Assignment:

Relevant Paragraphs from the Catechism:

Conceived by the Power of the Holy Spirit

484 The Annunciation to Mary inaugurates "the fullness of time", the time of the fulfillment of God's promises and preparations. Mary was invited to conceive him in whom the "whole fullness of deity" would dwell "bodily". 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."

485 The mission of the Holy Spirit is always conjoined and ordered to that of the Son. 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.

Mary's Predestination

488 "God sent forth his Son", but to prepare a body for him, 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":

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. (LG 56; cf. LG 61)

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. By virtue of this promise, Sarah conceives a son in spite of her old age. 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. 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.

The Immaculate Conception

490 To become the mother of the Savior, Mary "was enriched by God with gifts appropriate to such a role." The angel Gabriel at the moment of the annunciation salutes her as "full of grace". 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, 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, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin. (Pius IX, Ineffabilis Deus (1854): DS 2803)

492 The "splendor 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". 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".

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". 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).

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. In fact, Christ's birth "did not diminish his mother's virginal integrity but sanctified it." And so the liturgy of the Church celebrates Mary as Aeiparthenos, the "Ever-virgin".

500 Against this doctrine the objection is sometimes raised that the Bible mentions brothers and sisters of Jesus. 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". They are close relations of Jesus, according to an Old Testament expression.

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."

Mary's Virignity Related to her Faith

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. It is her faith that enables her to become the mother of the Savior: "Mary is more blessed because she embraces faith in Christ than because she conceives the flesh of Christ."

Relevant Scripture Passages

From the Gospel of Luke

[26] In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, [27] to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. [28] And he came to her and said, "Hail, O favored one, the Lord is with you!" [29] But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered in her mind what sort of greeting this might be. [30] And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. [31] And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. [32] He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, [33] and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there will be no end." [34] And Mary said to the angel, "How shall this be, since I have no husband?" [35] And the angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. [36] And behold, your kinswoman Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. [37] For with God nothing will be impossible." [38] And Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her. (Luke 1:26-38)

From the Gospel of John

[14] And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up, [15] that whoever believes in him may have eternal life." [16] For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. [17] For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. (John 3:14-17)

From St. Paul's Letter to the Romans

[1] Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God [2] which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures, [3] the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh [4] and designated Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, [5] through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, [6] including yourselves who are called to belong to Jesus Christ; [7] To all God's beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Rom 1:1-7)

[20] For no human being will be justified in his sight by works of the law, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. [21] But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from law, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it, [22] the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction; [23] since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, [24] they are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, [25] whom God put forward as an expiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins; [26] it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies him who has faith in Jesus. (Rom 3:20-26)

From the Book of the Apocalypse (Revelation)

[7] Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, every one who pierced him; and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen. [8] "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. [9] I John, your brother, who share with you in Jesus the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. (Rev 1:7-9)

[1] And a great portent appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; [2] she was with child and she cried out in her pangs of birth, in anguish for delivery. [3] And another portent appeared in heaven; behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems upon his heads. [4] His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to bear a child, that he might devour her child when she brought it forth; [5] she brought forth a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, [6] and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which to be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days. [7] Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, [8] but they were defeated and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. [9] And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world -- he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. [10] And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. [11] And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. [12] Rejoice then, O heaven and you that dwell therein! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!" [13] And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had borne the male child. [14] But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time. [15] The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with the flood. [16] But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river which the dragon had poured from his mouth. [17] Then the dragon was angry with the woman, and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and bear testimony to Jesus. And he stood on the sand of the sea. (Rev 12:1-17)

Advanced Reading Assignment:

Dogmatic Constitution on the Church: Lumen Gentium

Mary in Scripture, by Alfredo Nevarez

Relevant Quotations from Church Fathers and Saints

St. Anthanasius

"O Ark of the new covenant, clad on all sides with purity in place of gold; the one in whom is found the golden vase with its true manna, that is the flesh in which lies the God-head." (St. Anthanasius, 4th century A.D.)

St Eprham, 370 AD

'You alone and your mother, Lord, are more beautiful than any other. For there is no blemish in you, nor any stain upon your mother. "Who of my children", says the Father, "Can compare in beauty to these?"'

St. Ambros of Milan, 387/388AD Commentary on Psalm 118

"Come Lord then and search out your sheep, oh not through your servants or hired men, but do it yourself, Lord. Lift me up bodily and in flesh, which is fallen in Adam. Lift me up not from Sarah, but from Mary, a Virgin, not only undefiled, but a Virgin whom grace has made inviolate, free of every stain of sin."

St. Augustine, 415 AD

"Having accepted the Holy Virgin Mary, concerning whom on account of the honor the Lord, I wish to have absoluted no question when treating of sin, for how do we know that what abundance of grace for the total overcoming of sin was conferred upon her. She who merited to conceive and bear him in whom there was no sin. So I say with the exception of the Virgin, all others have sin."

Council of Ephesus

"We do not say that the nature of the Word became flesh through a change, rather we assert that the Word, having united to Himself according to his hypostasis, living flesh with a rational soul, he became man in an inexplicable and incomprehensible manner. For it was not that at first any ordinary man was born of a virgin, and that on him later the word of God descended. Rather united to the flesh in the womb, he is said to have been born according to the flesh. And therefore the Holy Fathers have not hesitated to call the Holy Virgin Theotokos, the God Bearer, or the Mother of God. And it is not because the nature of the Word or his divinity took his source at birth from the Holy Virgin, but because he tok from her that sacred body with a rational soul in which the word of God united, according to hypostasis, is said to have been born according to the flesh."

St Gregory of Nacianus, 382 AD

"If anyone does not agree that Holy Mary is the Mother of God he is at at odds with the God head. If anyone asserts that Christ passed through the virgin as through a channel and was not shaped in her both divinely and humanly, divinely because without man, and humanly because in accord with the law of gestatino he is likewise Godless. If anyone assert that his manhood was formed to be clothed afterwards with divinity, he too is concemned. For this was not a generation of God, but a flight from generation."

St Cyril of Alexandria, 433 AD

"We confess therefore that our Lord Jesus Christ, is the only begotten Son of God, perfect God and perfect man, having a rational soul and body. According to his divinity, born of the Father before the ages, and, in these last days, according to his humanity, born of the Virgin Mary, for us men and for our salvation."

St Justin Martyr First Apology

"Hear how Isaiah expressly foretold in the Old Testament that Jesus would be born of a Virgin. The phrase "Behold a Virgin shall conceive" means certainly that the Virgin shall conceive without having had marital relationship. If she had had intercourse with anyone at all she would not be a virgin. But the power of God coming upon the Virgin overshadowed her while yet a Virgin, to conceive. Then the Word became flesh and dwelt among us."

St. Ambrose

"Mary is the Gate through which Christ entered the World. When he was brought forth in the virginal birth, and the manner of this birth did not break the seal of virginity."

Disclaimer: I do not wish to present myself as an expert in either theology, history, or scriptural interpretation. I am merely someone who is attempting to answer the call of Christ. The ultimate authority and interpreter of scripture is our Holy Catholic Church. If at any point I deviate from the teachings of the Church, please correct me, alfredo@nevarez.net, as this is my shortcoming and in no way meant to be an expression of my views superceding those of the Church founded by Jesus Christ.

San Jose Bible Study
Alfredo Nevarez
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