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Holly3278
Guest
What do the Early Church Fathers have to say (if anything) about the Immaculate Conception? 
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levi86
Guest
Justin Martyr
[Jesus] became man by the Virgin so that the course that was taken by disobedience in the beginning through the agency of the serpent might be also the very course by which it would be put down. Eve, a virgin and undefiled, conceived the word of the serpent and bore disobedience and death. But the Virgin Mary received faith and joy when the angel Gabriel announced to her the glad tidings that the Spirit of the Lord would come upon her and the power of the Most High would overshadow her, for which reason the Holy One being born of her is the Son of God. And she replied, “Be it done unto me according to your word” (Luke 1:38) (Dialogue with Trypho 100 [A.D. 155]).
Irenaeus
Consequently, then, Mary the Virgin is found to be obedient, saying, “Behold, 0 Lord, your handmaid; be it done to me according to your word.” Eve . . . who was then still a virgin although she had Adam for a husband — for in paradise they were both naked but were not ashamed; for, having been created only a short time, they had no understanding of the procreation of children . . . having become disobedient [sin], was made the cause of death for herself and for the whole human race; so also Mary, betrothed to a man but nevertheless still a virgin, being obedient [no sin], was made the cause of salvation for herself and for the whole human race. . . . Thus, the knot of Eve’s disobedience was loosed by the obedience of Mary. What the virgin Eve had bound in unbelief, the Virgin Mary loosed through faith (Against Heresies 3:22:24 [A.D. 189]).
Origen
This Virgin Mother of the Only-begotten of God is called Mary, worthy of God, immaculate of the immaculate, one of the one (Homily 1 [A.D. 244]).
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Hippolytus**
He [Jesus] was the ark formed of incorruptible wood. For by this is signified that His tabernacle [Mary] was exempt from defilement and corruption (Orat. In Illud, Dominus pascit me, in Gallandi, Bibl. Patrum, II, 496 ante [A.D. 235]).
staycatholic.com/ecf_immaculate_conception.htm
“Let woman praise Her, the pure Mary.” Ephraim, Hymns on the Nativity, 15:23 (A.D. 370).
“Thou alone and thy Mother are in all things fair, there is no flaw in thee and no stain in thy Mother.” Ephraem, Nisibene Hymns, 27:8 (A.D. 370).
“O noble Virgin, truly you are greater than any other greatness. For who is your equal in greatness, O dwelling place of God the Word? To whom among all creatures shall I compare you, O Virgin? You are greater than them all O Covenant, clothed with purity instead of gold! You are the Ark in which is found the golden vessel containing the true manna, that is, the flesh in which divinity resides.” Athanasius, Homily of the Papyrus of Turin, 71:216 (ante AD 373).
“Mary, a Virgin not only undefiled but a Virgin whom grace has made inviolate, free of every stain of sin.” Ambrose, Sermon 22:30 (A.D. 388).
scripturecatholic.com/blessed_virgin_mary.html#tradition-II
[Jesus] became man by the Virgin so that the course that was taken by disobedience in the beginning through the agency of the serpent might be also the very course by which it would be put down. Eve, a virgin and undefiled, conceived the word of the serpent and bore disobedience and death. But the Virgin Mary received faith and joy when the angel Gabriel announced to her the glad tidings that the Spirit of the Lord would come upon her and the power of the Most High would overshadow her, for which reason the Holy One being born of her is the Son of God. And she replied, “Be it done unto me according to your word” (Luke 1:38) (Dialogue with Trypho 100 [A.D. 155]).
Irenaeus
Consequently, then, Mary the Virgin is found to be obedient, saying, “Behold, 0 Lord, your handmaid; be it done to me according to your word.” Eve . . . who was then still a virgin although she had Adam for a husband — for in paradise they were both naked but were not ashamed; for, having been created only a short time, they had no understanding of the procreation of children . . . having become disobedient [sin], was made the cause of death for herself and for the whole human race; so also Mary, betrothed to a man but nevertheless still a virgin, being obedient [no sin], was made the cause of salvation for herself and for the whole human race. . . . Thus, the knot of Eve’s disobedience was loosed by the obedience of Mary. What the virgin Eve had bound in unbelief, the Virgin Mary loosed through faith (Against Heresies 3:22:24 [A.D. 189]).
Origen
This Virgin Mother of the Only-begotten of God is called Mary, worthy of God, immaculate of the immaculate, one of the one (Homily 1 [A.D. 244]).
**
Hippolytus**
He [Jesus] was the ark formed of incorruptible wood. For by this is signified that His tabernacle [Mary] was exempt from defilement and corruption (Orat. In Illud, Dominus pascit me, in Gallandi, Bibl. Patrum, II, 496 ante [A.D. 235]).
staycatholic.com/ecf_immaculate_conception.htm
“Let woman praise Her, the pure Mary.” Ephraim, Hymns on the Nativity, 15:23 (A.D. 370).
“Thou alone and thy Mother are in all things fair, there is no flaw in thee and no stain in thy Mother.” Ephraem, Nisibene Hymns, 27:8 (A.D. 370).
“O noble Virgin, truly you are greater than any other greatness. For who is your equal in greatness, O dwelling place of God the Word? To whom among all creatures shall I compare you, O Virgin? You are greater than them all O Covenant, clothed with purity instead of gold! You are the Ark in which is found the golden vessel containing the true manna, that is, the flesh in which divinity resides.” Athanasius, Homily of the Papyrus of Turin, 71:216 (ante AD 373).
“Mary, a Virgin not only undefiled but a Virgin whom grace has made inviolate, free of every stain of sin.” Ambrose, Sermon 22:30 (A.D. 388).
scripturecatholic.com/blessed_virgin_mary.html#tradition-II
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PhilVaz
Guest
Articles on the Fathers and the Immaculate Conception from my site
Development of the Immaculate Conception by Apolonio
Immaculate Conception, the Bible, and the Church Fathers by me
Phil P
Development of the Immaculate Conception by Apolonio
Immaculate Conception, the Bible, and the Church Fathers by me
Phil P
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jean8
Guest
I would be more interested in knowing what the Scriptures teach, wouldn’t you?What do the Early Church Fathers have to say (if anything) about the Immaculate Conception?
btw, You will find nothing on this subject.
God bless,
jeann8
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VociMike
Guest
The OP is perfectly entitled to ask the question as phrased.
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Br.Rich_SFO
Guest
Well the Scriptures do not refute or oppose the Doctrine. But that fact that the Scriptures do not explicitly mention anything does not mean anything because the Scriptures themselves say that they do not contain everything the Jesus said and taught.
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Pax
Guest
You are wrong to say that we can find nothing about this in scripture. You would be right to say, however, that scripture does not explicity address the issue.
The links to the articles posted by PhilVaz would be a good place for you to start.
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buffalo
Guest
The Immaculate Conception
Lk 1:28 - hail full of grace[highly favored] Lord is with you
Lk 1:30 - you have found favor with God
Lk 1:37 - for with God nothing shall be impossible
Gn 3:15 - complete enmity between woman & Satan, sin
Ex 25:11-21 - ark made of purest gold for God’s word
*Rom 3:23 - all have sinned & are deprived of God’s glory
*Lk 1:47 - my spirit rejoices in God my Savior
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brandymmiller
Guest
Quite incorrect actually. The actual word used in regards to Mary when the Angel Gabriel greeted her was the greek word kecharitomene (κεχαριτομενε). The root of the word is the greek verb charitoo which means to grace. The prefix, ke, indicates a present state which is the result of a completed past action. She wasn’t just given grace, but had received the grace in the past and still carried it with her. The suffix, mene, indicates that this is a passive action which was performed on Mary by someone else (God).
Furthermore, when Gabriel greeted Mary, he did not say, "Hail Mary, full of grace. The actual greeting was Hail, kecharitomene. He was greeting her by her primary attribute, much as I might say to someone Hello, beautiful. Thus Mary’s primary attribute was the grace she had been given in the past and continued to carry with her.
Also, we know that in the very same passage it states that after Mary’s yes, the Holy Spirit overshadowed her. The greek word epischiadze is used, and the ONLY other time it is used in the entirety of the bible is when describing the Ark of the Covenant. Assuredly, that Most Holy Piece of Furniture was created pure from its very beginning, assembled with carefully received instructions from the mouth of God Himself. If he placed the stone word, the wooden rod, and the desert mana in that Holy of Holies - how much more pure would the vessel need to be which carried The Word made flesh who was also the Bread of Life and The King of Kings? With how much more care would God have taken to craft the human vessel which would hold Himself in the person of His son than He did the first Ark?
Also, since this particular narrative is taken from Luke, we have to look at this gospel in context. The Gospel of Luke was not written by one of the original 12 apostles, but by Luke who was converted by Paul and received all of his knowledge about Christianity and Christ’s life from Paul and from the other disciples he met. This tells you that even in the VERY beginning of the Church they believed that Mary was Immaculately Conceived - crafted with grace from the very first moments of her life, since he would have received this information about Mary’s nature from Paul who in turn received it from Peter. Thus, the Bible has a great deal to say about the subject when we examine it very closely.
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