Somebody asked how was Mary conceived without sin?

[Tamsulosin]

Does the person that presents the question means without sex?
Sex is not a sin.It was established by God as a means of procreation.
John the Baptist was conceived by his parents,and nobody would say he was conceived by sinning.

The virgin Mary conceived by supernatural ways,by the Holy Spirit.

 

[jpjd]

The question “How was Mary conceived without sin” is asking about Mary’s OWN conception, or in other words, the question is about the procreation of MARY. The question of Mary being conceived “without sin” is not asking about sex at all. “Without sin” is referring to “without inheriting original sin.” The qestion is asking about how Mary (unlike the rest of the human race after the Fall of Adam and Eve) at the very moment of her own conception did not inherit original sin. The Church teaches that Mary was conceived without sin by God’s grace and this is referred to as Mary’s Immaculate Conception.

This is a different event than Mary conceiving Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.

 

[Ego_Ignoramus]

Mary being conceived without sin (Immaculate Conception) doesn’t actually refer to conception without sex (which in the context of a loving marriage and in the absence of contraception should never be considered a bad thing). However Mary’s Immaculate Conception actually refers to the stain of ‘Origiinal Sin’, something which every human other than Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary are born with.

When God pick Our Lady to be the mother of God, he preserved her from having the stain of original sin so that Christ would later be born in to perfectly pure and sinless woman. When Christ came down from Heaven, he died for the redemption of the human race, allowing Baptism to cleanse us of that same stain. In some ways it can be considered that Mary was pre-redeemed by God, so that she would remain sinless.

I’m not sure if I’ve got it exactly right, but this is more or less what I remembered when I asked this question to a priest. I could easily have mixed something up along the way. Nonetheless, this is my humble opinion and interpretation and I hope it helps.

 

[adstrinity]

No. Sts. Joachim and Anne copulated to have Mary. She was a miracle baby because they were both advanced in years. Mary’s Mother, Anne, got pregnant the usual way and within Anne’s womb, as soon as sperm penetrated egg, Mary’s life was formed and as soon as it started, she was protected from original sin with God’s intervention, but, only as a regular human. God did not overshadow Anne the way He did Mary; Mary is 100% human and came about in the usual way.

Because Mary is God’s Mother, she is also God’s (HS’s) Spouse, and, since she was the Spouse of the Holy Spirit, she never had sex with any man.

 

[Tamsulosin]

Thank you for the clarification Adstrinity.Now, while we are at this topic,why Mary’s parents are considered saints?They were blessed by having Mary as a daughter, but
I doubt this fact makes them saints.There must be more to learn about this.
And how come most of you know so much . I went to catholic high school, and preparation classes for the sacraments, etc,but never received such a wealth of information as several of you seem to have.Do you buy books and read them on your own?
Thank you in advance.Tam

 

[adstrinity]

You’re welcome.

Remember, not only were they the parents of the BVM, but also the Grandparents of Jesus.

From Wikipedia, St. Joachim:
“In the Gospel of James, Joachim is described as a rich and pious man of the house of Amram who regularly gave to the poor and to the temple (synagogue) at Sepphoris.[3] However, as his wife was barren, the high priest rejected Joachim and his sacrifice, as his wife’s childlessness was interpreted as a sign of divine displeasure. Joachim consequently withdrew to the desert where he fasted and did penance for forty days. Angels then appeared to both Joachim and Anne to promise them a child. Joachim later returned to Jerusalem and embraced Anne at the city gate. The cycle of legends concerning Sts. Joachim and Anne were included in the Golden Legend and remained popular in Christian art until the Council of Trent restricted the depiction of apocryphal events. Traditional depictions (vestibular statuary, etc) of St. Joachim show him bearing a shovel.”

From Wikipedia, St. Anne:
"Saint Anne (also Ann or Anna, from Hebrew Hannah חַנָּה or Channah‎, meaning “favor” or “grace.”) of David’s house and line, was the mother of the Virgin Mary, according to Christian tradition. Her name Anne is the Greek rendering of the Hebrew name Hannah. Mary’s mother is not named in the canonical Gospels. According to the apocryphal Gospel of James, Anne and her husband Joachim, after years of childlessness, were visited by an angel who told them that they would conceive a child. Anne promised to dedicate the child to God’s service. Joachim and Anne are believed to have given Mary to the service of the Second Temple when the girl was three years old.[1] Anne is the patron saint of Quebec, Brittany, the Mi’kmaq peoples, women in labor, and miners.

The story bears a superficial similarity to that of the birth of Samuel, whose mother Hannah had also been childless. Although Anne’s cult receives little attention in the Western church prior to the late 12th century,[2] dedications to Anne in the Eastern church occur as early as the 6th century.[3] In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, Anne is ascribed the title Forbear of God, and both the Birth of Mary and the Dedication of Mary to the Temple are celebrated as two of the Twelve Great Feasts."

 

[bpbasilphx]

FWIW, the traditional Eastern icon of the Conception of the Theotokos shows Ss Joachim and Anna embracing and kissing beside their bed. In the corner is an empty cradle.

Any questions?

 

[r4j]

Thank you for the clarification Adstrinity.Now, while we are at this topic,why Mary’s parents are considered saints?They were blessed by having Mary as a daughter, but
I doubt this fact makes them saints.There must be more to learn about this.
And how come most of you know so much . I went to catholic high school, and preparation classes for the sacraments, etc,but never received such a wealth of information as several of you seem to have.Do you buy books and read them on your own?
Thank you in advance.Tam

Tam - I too am amazed at how much I didn’t learn or know at about the faith even though I was brought up Catholic and went to Catholic schools. But you can learn much about the richness of our faith by study, which I’ve been going for the last 2 years since my re-conversion. I have used my commute to and from work as my prime study time buying books on CDs, buying other CD recordings and even putting my laptop in the car and listening to DVDs. With a wife and family at home, reading is not a good option.

Just one comment on our Blessed Mother. People struggle with his idea that a person could be born sinless and live without even the ability to commit sin. And in one of Fr. Corapi’s sermons he talks about the painting Whistler’s mother and there’s a story of how after Whistler painted it someone came over and said, ‘it’s just beautiful, how could it be you painted such a beautiful portrait?’ And Whistler said ‘well, you know how it is when one wants to portray one’s mother, you want to do it as perfectly as you can.’ And Father goes on to say, that if you had the ability to create your own mother - how would you make it her - wouldn’t you make her perfectly? Now God, who is all powerful, has the ability to create things anyway He wants, is it any surprise He made our Blessed Mother free fom the taint of any and all sin - He made her perfect?