Immaculate Conception Question

[RWFC]

Sorry if this has been asked before but as Mary was conceived without sin does that mean that she also was conceived by the Holy Spirit or was there ‘normal’ conception between Mary’s mother and father but with the absence of original sin on Mary’s soul?

Thanks in advance for any information.

 

[Eileen_T]

Mary was conceived during normal marital relations by her parents.

To my understanding, at the very instant of conception, at the time God infuses the soul, He also preserved her from original sin.

Mary, like us all, was ‘saved’ by God, unlike us it happened at the moment of her conception rather than at Baptism as for the rest of us.

 

[Joe_Kelley]

Sorry if this has been asked before but as Mary was conceived without sin does that mean that she also was conceived by the Holy Spirit or was there ‘normal’ conception between Mary’s mother and father but with the absence of original sin on Mary’s soul?

Thanks in advance for any information.

Sorry, I don’t have a reference at hand, but she was conceived in the normal manner. St Anne is her mother and Saint Joachim her father.

I have heard that she was an only child, born to them in their later years. However, I don’t think that can be verified.

 

[Della]

Sorry if this has been asked before but as Mary was conceived without sin does that mean that she also was conceived by the Holy Spirit or was there ‘normal’ conception between Mary’s mother and father but with the absence of original sin on Mary’s soul?

Thanks in advance for any information.

Along with Eileen’s fine answer, I thought I’d add that only Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit when he, the Holy Spirit, “overshadowed” Mary.

This overshadowing is the same language used for the Presence of the Lord overshadowing the Old Testament Tabernacle in which the Ark of the Covenant was placed. It means that Mary was sacred to the Lord, set aside for his purpose from all eternity.

Her salvation was through the death of her Son, like ours is, but as Eileen pointed out, God saved her in anticipation of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. This was similar to but not just as the saints of the Old Testament were saved by Christ–by looking forward to their deliverance instead of back on it, as we who have been born after Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection do.

 

[Ron_Conte]

The Magisterium has never taught that Mary was conceived through natural marital relations.

Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich taught that Mary was conceived without marital relations, by a miracle of God. This is described in The Life of the Blessed Virgin Mary and also in The Life of Jesus Christ and Biblical Revelations.

I believe that Mary was conceived in a manner that was entirely virginal, yet of both her parents, solely by a miracle of God. Such is the only fitting way for a true and perfect virgin to be conceived.

Ron Conte