Mary "holy and blameless"

[zieg217]

To my fellow catholics,

I was reading the catechism today and came across the paragraphs that discuss Mary’s immaculate conception which i will post here.

The Immaculate Conception
490 To become the mother of the Savior, Mary “was enriched by God with gifts appropriate to such a role.”132 The angel Gabriel at the moment of the annunciation salutes her as “full of grace.”133 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. (2676, 2853, 2001)
491 Through the centuries the Church has become ever more aware that Mary, “full of grace” through God,134 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: (411)
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.135
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.”136 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.”137 (2011, 1077)
493 The Fathers of the Eastern tradition call the Mother of God “the All–Holy” (Panagia) and celebrate her as “free from any stain of sin, as though fashioned by the Holy Spirit and formed as a new creature.”138 By the grace of God Mary remained free of every personal sin her whole life long.

My question is about paragraph 492 where it begins to quote reference 137. which i will repost to remove confusion

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.”137

Now reference 137 is Eph 1:3-4 which states from the NIV:

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love

This confused me when looking at this because the catechism makes it sound as though God created only Mary with the quoted “privileges”, yet when reading the passage it states that these “privileges” are for “us”, as in everyone not just the Blessed Mother.

Anyone wish to clear this up for me?

 

[petra22]

Maybe it’s to a degree that we can handle not being Full of Grace… but desiring to be full of grace… You know, like each container (large or small) can only hold so much, but if you fill it up it is still full…

 

[JM3]

My question is about paragraph 492 where it begins to quote reference 137

137 Cf. ⇒ Eph 1:3-4.

answerbag.com/q_view/2203533

What does cf. mean in a citation?

In academic citation, “cf.” means that you must consult the item at which the abbreviation is directing you. The “cf.” is a shortening of the Latin “confer,” which means “consult” or “compare.” The mark will usually come before a citation; when it does, refer to that citation for more information.

 

[marywarfield]

To my fellow catholics,

I was reading the catechism today and came across the paragraphs that discuss Mary’s immaculate conception which i will post here.

The Immaculate Conception
490 To become the mother of the Savior, Mary “was enriched by God with gifts appropriate to such a role.”132 The angel Gabriel at the moment of the annunciation salutes her as “full of grace.”133 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. (2676, 2853, 2001)
491 Through the centuries the Church has become ever more aware that Mary, “full of grace” through God,134 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: (411)
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.135
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.”136 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.”137 (2011, 1077)
493 The Fathers of the Eastern tradition call the Mother of God “the All–Holy” (Panagia) and celebrate her as “free from any stain of sin, as though fashioned by the Holy Spirit and formed as a new creature.”138 By the grace of God Mary remained free of every personal sin her whole life long.

My question is about paragraph 492 where it begins to quote reference 137. which i will repost to remove confusion

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.”137

Now reference 137 is Eph 1:3-4 which states from the NIV:

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love

This confused me when looking at this because the catechism makes it sound as though God created only Mary with the quoted “privileges”, yet when reading the passage it states that these “privileges” are for “us”, as in everyone not just the Blessed Mother.

Anyone wish to clear this up for me?

St. Louis de Montfort explains this in his book
Secret of Mary. It is because we are created in Mary
as well. First Mary was created and filled with every
spiritual blessing. Then we are spiritually nourished
within her.
ewtn.com/library/Montfort/secret.htm

 

[dmar198]

To my fellow catholics,

I was reading the catechism today and came across the paragraphs that discuss Mary’s immaculate conception which i will post here.

The Immaculate Conception
490 To become the mother of the Savior, Mary “was enriched by God with gifts appropriate to such a role.”132 The angel Gabriel at the moment of the annunciation salutes her as “full of grace.”133 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. (2676, 2853, 2001)
491 Through the centuries the Church has become ever more aware that Mary, “full of grace” through God,134 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: (411)
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.135
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.”136 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.”137 (2011, 1077)
493 The Fathers of the Eastern tradition call the Mother of God “the All–Holy” (Panagia) and celebrate her as “free from any stain of sin, as though fashioned by the Holy Spirit and formed as a new creature.”138 By the grace of God Mary remained free of every personal sin her whole life long.

My question is about paragraph 492 where it begins to quote reference 137. which i will repost to remove confusion

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.”137

Now reference 137 is Eph 1:3-4 which states from the NIV:

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love

This confused me when looking at this because the catechism makes it sound as though God created only Mary with the quoted “privileges”, yet when reading the passage it states that these “privileges” are for “us”, as in everyone not just the Blessed Mother.

Anyone wish to clear this up for me?

If you read carefully, paragraph 492 does not say that “only Mary” is blessed “with every spiritual blessing” or that she is the only person chosen to be “holy and blameless.” It says she is blessed “more than any other created person” with these things. There is a big difference between saying “only” and “more than.”

Because of that, I don’t think the Catechism is applying that passage only to Mary, it is just saying that it applies to her more than to anybody else.

And one reason why I think it says that is because, if you read the context, there is a Greek word in that passage that only appears twice in the New Testament, and that word is the Greek verb charitoo. That word appears in verse 6, which is still talking about how God has blessed us with a view to making us “holy and blameless,” and in that verse it appears in the Aorist tense, indicating that God continually offers us His grace so that we can become “holy and blameless.”

The only other place that word appears is in Luke 1:28, where it appears in the perfect tense, indicating that Mary is already fully holy and blameless.

The liturgical readings of the Church connect the passage announcing Mary as “full of grace” (kecharitomene - Luke 1:28) with Ephesians 1:3-6 in the readings for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, and I think it is partly because of this doctrinal point that underlies the Greek words used.

 

[zieg217]

If you read carefully, paragraph 492 does not say that “only Mary” is blessed “with every spiritual blessing” or that she is the only person chosen to be “holy and blameless.” It says she is blessed “more than any other created person” with these things. There is a big difference between saying “only” and “more than.”

Because of that, I don’t think the Catechism is applying that passage only to Mary, it is just saying that it applies to her more than to anybody else.

And one reason why I think it says that is because, if you read the context, there is a Greek word in that passage that only appears twice in the New Testament, and that word is the Greek verb charitoo. That word appears in verse 6, which is still talking about how God has blessed us with a view to making us “holy and blameless,” and in that verse it appears in the Aorist tense, indicating that God continually offers us His grace so that we can become “holy and blameless.”

The only other place that word appears is in Luke 1:28, where it appears in the perfect tense, indicating that Mary is already fully holy and blameless.

The liturgical readings of the Church connect the passage announcing Mary as “full of grace” (kecharitomene - Luke 1:28) with Ephesians 1:3-6 in the readings for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, and I think it is partly because of this doctrinal point that underlies the Greek words used.

This is a wonderful response and is very much appreciated. After re-reading the paragraph and passage again today, I began to think of it more in the way you described. I, however did not go into the Greek which backs this way of thinking about the passage even more. Thankyou again

 

[rickielambert]

Theologically speaking, just as Christ is the New Adam, so Mary is the New Eve, and as such just as Eve was perfect to begin with, so Mary had to be perfect- “holy and blameless” in order to be the beginning of salvation-the co redemptrix. What Eve lost through disobeidence, Mary gained through obedience. Its a marvel of the faith that we wont really understand until heaven i suppose.
God bless

www.divinemercypopes.com