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Upgrade25
Guest
If Mary was preserved from sin, she had no free will. That means that God could predestine, right?
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Bruised_Reed
Guest
She was preserved from original sin. She had free will; she could have sinned and she could have said no to God about being the mother of God. She gave her consent.
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Crusaderbear
Guest
Adam and Eve were originally ‘preserved’ they had free will…and used it to their sorrow.
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Robyn_p
Guest
No. She absolutely had free will. Sin isn’t what makes us have free will. If that were the case then Adam and Eve would never have sinned.
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KendraDZ1902
Guest
If she did say no, wouldn’t have preserving her from Original Sin be pointless?
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Bruised_Reed
Guest
In her role in salvation history? Probably. But towards her own salvation, it might have given her an extra boost toward holiness.
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dmar198
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I don’t think so. No more than it was pointless for Adam and Eve. Being in a pure state helps you make a better choice. It is harder to choose rightly when you are predisposed to sin.
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Petaro
Guest
Sorry, can’t follow the logic there. Mary’s fiat gave us our Christ. Her holiness led her to acceptance of God’s Will to the benefit of countless generations. May we give praise and devotion. How could rejection of God’s request add to her holiness?
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Bruised_Reed
Guest
She was preserved from original sin. It didn’t obligate her to be the mother of God. I don’t believe that that preservation was conditional based on her Fiat. Saying no to God wouldn’t make her holy but it wouldn’t make her sinful either. The lack of original sin would result in a lack of concupiscence therefore making her path toward holiness a little straighter or easier.
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mikekle
Guest
I would be interested in reading anything written about Marys early life, does anyone know if anything like this is out there? It would be interesting to read about her life as a child, a teenager, etc. I just wonder if her parents or she, knew there was something special about her, even from a young age?
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phil19034
Guest
The movie Mary of Nazareth implies that her parents knew something was special about her
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littlestsouls2
Guest
“True liberty, according to the saints, is not freedom to disobey but only to obey; it is not freedom to do evil, but only freedom to do good. Now this liberty of goodness is supreme in Jesus.”
– Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange
Our Lady surpasses Eve, so it is not fitting that sin would ever have dominion over her.
– Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange
Our Lady surpasses Eve, so it is not fitting that sin would ever have dominion over her.
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Mystical_Seeker
Guest
Chicken/egg situation.
Mary was preserved from original sin by the actions of her son on the Cross.
Her son could not have done the cross thing without her having said yes.
If her son did the cross thing, she would never have said no because – why would she have said no?
I think “free will” is more about whether I choose chocolate or vanilla ice cream, than whether I will get hurt by making a choice I was told would be of serious consequence and actually believe believe it.
Mary was preserved from original sin by the actions of her son on the Cross.
Her son could not have done the cross thing without her having said yes.
If her son did the cross thing, she would never have said no because – why would she have said no?
I think “free will” is more about whether I choose chocolate or vanilla ice cream, than whether I will get hurt by making a choice I was told would be of serious consequence and actually believe believe it.
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Crusaderbear
Guest
We don’t know if she was the only one…she is just the one chosen to fulfill God’s will. Maybe the rest just lived out their lives never knowing they were different.
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Mystical_Seeker
Guest
That’s an interesting thought: instead of Mary the Immaculate Conception, if it were Mary, one of the immaculate conceptions. 
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Crusaderbear
Guest
I was thinking she was the only immaculate conception, all the others went on to live a normal life, or were temple virgins, or something. Gabriel only needed 1 to say yes for the Holy plan to work. If Mary had said no, Gabriel would have gone to another. We will never know the full story on God’s Plan, only the parts we really need to know!That’s an interesting thought: instead of Mary the Immaculate Conception, if it were Mary, one of the immaculate conceptions.
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Sarcelle
Guest
The axiom is faulty. Choosing good is not a consequence of a lack of free will. In fact it is the ultimate expression of free will. Choosing evil will result in a loss of freedom and slavery while choosing good will lead to an even greater freedom. Think of Adam and Eve and their choice. What did it lead to? Now think of Mary and her choice. What did it lead to?
Mary, being sinless, is freest of us all. Unlike her, we are all shackled to our fallen nature.
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Mystical_Seeker
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I like your idea. Not because we can know the answers, but because it makes the story a little more potentially palatable, frankly.
Like a physics teacher used to say, this is a feasibility argument. Like maybe what if it were like this, then at least does that make some sense? What is there to suggest something like this is not the case? And even so, could even considering it that way help us sink into the unknowing mysteries with greater acceptance and peace?
To me it’s hard to imagine the story in isolation, the way we usually hear it. Over the thousands of years and the propensity of love to arrange things via the Holy Spirit (or however that works) it would seem prophecy could be fulfilled when everything was arranged and had quite a number of human vessels to work through to get it there.
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