Immaculate Conception

[kellie]

OK guys, I am really about to embarass myself here.

I have always thought that the Immaculate Conception was when Mary fell pregnant with Jesus, meaning no sex was involved.

Reading another thread on CAF I saw that it actually refers to the conception of Mary.

Does that mean Mary as an embryo, with no disrespect to Her, but to try and get thish through my head, was sinless?

Aren’t all babies sinless?

The reason I have always thought it referred to the conception of Jesus is people often joke, and I have too, about playing down the possibility of being pregnant by saying “it would have to be an immaculate conception”.

For example, when someone may say out loud with a group of friends “Oh I am feeling a bit sick”, someone may remark “Oh you aren’t pregnant are you?”, which the sick woman would reply “No chance (meaning she hasn’t had sex), it would have to be an immaculate conception”.

Can someone clarify the Immaculate Conception for me? As I thought all babies were sinless.

And I am very embarassed to be a cradle Catholic and not know this.

 

[Ghosty]

All babies are sinless in that they haven’t committed any sins, but all babies bear Original Sin which is why they are Baptised as soon as possible. Mary was an exception to this, by unique privilege from God, in that she was conceived without Original Sin; macula is Latin for “spot” or “darkening”, so immaculata means “without spot” because she was conceived already possessing the Grace we have by the Sacrament of Baptism. In other words, as John the Baptist was “Baptised” in the womb of Elizabeth when he jumped at the voice of Mary, the Mother of God was “Baptised” from the very moment she came into existence, and never sinned afterwards.

Hope that helps!

Peace and God bless!

 

[Lucania]

Kellie, go to the very top of this page and click on Home. The CA home page comes up and on the left of the screen you will see Library. Click on Mary & the Saints. There is a clear, good description of The Immaculate Conception, commonly confused by Catholics & non-Catholics alike with the virgin birth. You are not alone. Since I became Catholic 12 years ago, it has been my experience that this is the most common misconception by cradle Catholics I know.

 

[Tietjen]

OK guys, I am really about to embarass myself here.

I have always thought that the Immaculate Conception was when Mary fell pregnant with Jesus, meaning no sex was involved.

Reading another thread on CAF I saw that it actually refers to the conception of Mary.

Does that mean Mary as an embryo, with no disrespect to Her, but to try and get thish through my head, was sinless?

Aren’t all babies sinless?

The reason I have always thought it referred to the conception of Jesus is people often joke, and I have too, about playing down the possibility of being pregnant by saying “it would have to be an immaculate conception”.

For example, when someone may say out loud with a group of friends “Oh I am feeling a bit sick”, someone may remark “Oh you aren’t pregnant are you?”, which the sick woman would reply “No chance (meaning she hasn’t had sex), it would have to be an immaculate conception”.

Can someone clarify the Immaculate Conception for me? As I thought all babies were sinless.

And I am very embarassed to be a cradle Catholic and not know this.

No need to be embarssed, MANY people believe that the Immaculate Conception is talking about how Christ was conceived. EVEN SOME CATHOLICS I know. However, you heard correctly that this deals with Mary being conceived without the stain of original sin. God bless.

 

[Randy_Carson]

OK guys, I am really about to embarass myself here.

I have always thought that the Immaculate Conception was when Mary fell pregnant with Jesus, meaning no sex was involved.

Reading another thread on CAF I saw that it actually refers to the conception of Mary.

Does that mean Mary as an embryo, with no disrespect to Her, but to try and get thish through my head, was sinless?

Aren’t all babies sinless?

The reason I have always thought it referred to the conception of Jesus is people often joke, and I have too, about playing down the possibility of being pregnant by saying “it would have to be an immaculate conception”.

For example, when someone may say out loud with a group of friends “Oh I am feeling a bit sick”, someone may remark “Oh you aren’t pregnant are you?”, which the sick woman would reply “No chance (meaning she hasn’t had sex), it would have to be an immaculate conception”.

Can someone clarify the Immaculate Conception for me? As I thought all babies were sinless.

And I am very embarassed to be a cradle Catholic and not know this.

No worries!

This will help you get up to speed:

catholic.com/library/Immaculate_Conception_and_Assum.asp

BTW, the Immaculate Conception of Mary and the fact that she remained sinless throughout her life in no way means that she did not need a savior. Her exchange with Elizabeth states, “My soul rejoices in God my Savior.”

As Steve Ray aptly described in his video on Mary from the “Footprints of God” series, she was prevented from falling into the mud. She was “saved” from getting dirty in advance.

Jesus has to clean the rest of us up after the fact.

 

[Mommyof02green]

Kellie, go to the very top of this page and click on Home. The CA home page comes up and on the left of the screen you will see Library. Click on Mary & the Saints. There is a clear, good description of The Immaculate Conception, commonly confused by Catholics & non-Catholics alike with the virgin birth.

Here is the direct link to CA Home page and the article on the IC: catholic.com/library/Immaculate_Conception_and_Assum.asp

You are not alone. Since I became Catholic 12 years ago, it has been my experience that this is the most common misconception by cradle Catholics I know.

It is a common misconception…
Also, I want to point out that Jesus was also conceived without Orginial Sin.

Q: A nun told my friend that the Church teaches that there were two Immaculate Conceptions: Jesus and Mary. Was Jesus immaculately conceived?

A: The Church does not refer to Jesus’ conception as an immaculate conception; his conception is the Incarnation, and the miraculous circumstances that surrounded his birth are called the Virgin Birth.

It helps to understand what exactly the Immaculate Conception of Mary was: Physically, she was conceived in the normal way through the marital relations of her parents. Spiritually, God preserved her from original sin at the moment of her conception in anticipation of the grace Jesus would win on the cross.

Christ’s conception was entirely different: By the power of the Holy Spirit, God the Son assumed a human nature and became man within the womb of a virgin without the intervention of a human father. Christ has two natures—divine and human—but he is only one Person, God. Because he is God, he was not subject to sin, although he assumed the consequences of sin in order to redeem mankind.

Technically, Jesus’ conception was free of all stain of original sin and thus immaculate (stainless). But because of the differences in the two, and the fact that many people say “Immaculate Conception” when they mean “Virgin Birth” or “Incarnation,” it is preferable not to refer to Christ’s conception as an “Immaculate Conception.” This would create confusion. Source: catholic.com/thisrock/2005/0512qq.asp

So the “preferable” way to avoid confusion:
“Immaculate Conception” = The conception of Mary
“Incarnation” or “Virgin Birth” = The conception of Jesus

I think that is why there is confussion because Jesus was also conceived without the stain of Orginial Sin. Although as you can see by the Answer above his conception is different from Mary’s.

This Article might also help:
catholic.com/thisrock/2001/0102sbs.asp

 

[Tietjen]

As Steve Ray aptly described in his video on Mary from the “Footprints of God” series, she was prevented from falling into the mud. She was “saved” from getting dirty in advance.

Jesus has to clean the rest of us up after the fact.

Or as I read in another book ( I think it was, The Salvation Controversy by Jimmy Akin found here in CA) since God is outside time, He Saved Mary before her birth. Christ’s sacrifice saved Mary (thereby Mary still needed the Savior) but it did so before her conception.

 

[Tomster]

kellie,

I realise that I may deflecting off of this topic a bit but I’d like to mention a little thought for you.

It is my belief that the Blessed Mother’s Apostolic Mission consists in wresting souls from Satan in order to lead them to Jesus, “to crush the head of the serpent.” The Blessed Virgin Mary must never have been under the sway of the evil one, else Satan could have said to her : “There was a time when I was greater than you, since I was created spotless and you were conceived in sin.”

Tomster

 

[kellie]

Thanks everyone.

Your replies and links have cleared it all up to me.

Next time I hear someone say that joke I mentioned in my OP, I will be sure to say that the IC means Mary not Jesus.

It will be interesting to see people’s reactions when they discover this like I just did.

 

[beckers]

you should read the Ineffabilis Deus document. It’s a pretty easy read.
newadvent.org/library/docs_pi09id.htm

I just love how much joy the bishops thought this declartion would bring to the world. Their joy just jumps out…

Don’t worry i got into an arguement with my friend one time about this very topic. He didn’t want to believe me that it was about mary and not Jesus. We both ended up calling our parents. One of mine said it was about mary and the other said it was about the birth of Jesus. Remind you both my parents went to catholic school all their lives. In the end we had to look it up on the internet to prove that i was correct!

All i can say is keep diving into the truth!

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