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MyCatholicSource.com Newsletter - August, 2010
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IN THIS ISSUE:
* Greetings
* MCS News & Notes
* The Month of August: Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary
* The 'Church' in the Home
* Liturgical Feasts in August
* Some Thoughts Regarding Temptation
* 'Catholic Trivia'
* Defending the Faith: "Apologetics Brief" - Do You Reject the Catholic Church's Teaching that Jesus' Mother Mary Was Conceived Immaculately and Remained Sinless?
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Dear Friend,
Greetings & blessings to you! We hope you are having a pleasant and holy summer.
We send our thanks to all subscribers who have signed up for Rosary Week and also for the kind comments we have received with signups. For those who haven't yet signed up, please accept our invitation to join fellow Catholics in praying the rosary for worthy intentions. It doesn't take very long to participate, it doesn't cost anything to sign up, and you can pray from anywhere. We hope you will join us if you can. For more information on Rosary Week, please visit www.MyCatholicSource.com/RosaryWeekInfo . To sign up, please visit www.MyCatholicSource.com/RosaryWeek .
We would also like to thank all subscribers for their support of our newsletter. Please know that we always welcome your feedback. We want our newsletters to be as interesting & useful as possible, so please let us know if there's something we can improve. You can use the subscriber feedback form at http://www.mycatholicsource.com/mcs/fdb/subscriber_feedback.htm to send us a quick note.
We wish you God's blessings,
Your Friends at MyCatholicSource.com
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MCS News & Notes
* Want to comment regarding News & Opinion items? Please use our new feedback form at http://www.mycatholicsource.com/mcs/fdb/news_and_opinion_feedback.htm (shortcut: www.MyCatholicSource.com/NewsFeedback )
* We have recently archived some polls. Also, we have re-ordered the poll archive so that the latest archived polls will appear near the top of the page. To view poll results, please visit the MCS Web Poll Archive at http://www.mycatholicsource.com/mcs/cmno/pl/poll_archive_1.htm .
* Have a suggestion for a new Catholic poll? Please let us know. Send your poll suggestion to us here: www.MyCatholicSource.com/NewsFeedback
* Have you wanted to use our free online 'invite a friend' service but were concerned about privacy? If so, you might be interested in the following note which was recently placed on the 'invite-a-friend' page at http://www.mycatholicsource.com/mcs/fdb/invite_a_friend.htm : "Concerned about privacy? You may be glad to know that we are NOT given the e-mail addresses you provide and we do NOT receive a copy of the e-mail that is sent. [Note: Above confirmed by the service provider & current as of 7/8/10]" We verified this information with the third party service provider in order to give some assurance to our visitors. We are actually quite glad the third party service works this way (and hope it will always remain so) since the purpose of the page is to offer a convenient service to visitors, NOT to collect e-mail addresses. Please invite a friend today!
* We have been working on the 'Topic Pages' mentioned previously, but they are unfortunately taking longer than we anticipated. There are presently dozens of Topic Pages in various stages of completion, but we wanted to wait in order to roll out the first grouping together. We now hope this will be completed sometime between the end of August and the middle of September (or at least by the end of September). We apologize for the delay, but hope you will find these pages to be worth the wait.
* The 'post of the month' page has been updated for 7/10. This month it was chosen from the Increase Holiness Section and it is titled "Don't play 'pious mind games'". To view the 'post of the month' page, please go to: http://www.mycatholicsource.com/mcs/cg/post_of_the_month.htm . To submit a post in your choice of hundreds of categories, visit http://www.mycatholicsource.com/mcs/fa/share_your_thoughts.htm
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The Month of August: Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary
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"But Mary kept all these words, pondering them in her heart." (Lk. 2:19)
"[Mary] is by nature so good and so merciful that inclined to aid spontaneously those who suffer, she is absolutely incapable of refusing her help to those who invoke her." (Pope Benedict XV)
"Although she was never subject to the frailty and perversity of our nature, Mary well knows its condition and is the best and most solicitous of mothers. How willingly will she hasten to our aid when we need her; with what love will she refresh us, and with what strength sustain us." (Pope Leo XIII, "Magnae Dei Matris", 1892)
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Related Resources...
* Popular Marian Prayers & Hymns - http://www.mycatholicsource.com/mcs/pc/the_Blessed_Virgin/marian_prayers.htm
* Popular Marian Devotions - http://www.mycatholicsource.com/mcs/pc/the_Blessed_Virgin/popular_marian_devotions.htm
* Marian Facts - http://www.mycatholicsource.com/mcs/pc/the_Blessed_Virgin/facts.htm
* Marian Scriptural References - http://www.mycatholicsource.com/mcs/pc/the_Blessed_Virgin/marian_scriptural_references.htm
* 'Mary, Our Mother' Reflections - http://www.mycatholicsource.com/mcs/qt/mary_our_mother_reflections.htm
* Some Reasons to Honor the Blessed Virgin Mary - http://www.mycatholicsource.com/mcs/pc/the_Blessed_Virgin/reasons_to_honor_mary.htm
* Some Thoughts on the Blessed Virgin Mary - http://www.mycatholicsource.com/mcs/pc/the_Blessed_Virgin/thoughts_on_mary.htm
* Marian Encyclicals - http://www.mycatholicsource.com/mcs/pd/classic_encyclicals_by_category.htm
* Mary, Our Mother Section - http://www.mycatholicsource.com/mcs/mary_our_mother.htm
* Marian Coloring Pages - http://www.mycatholicsource.com/mcs/pc/catholic_activities/catholic_fun_coloring_activities.htm
Looking For Something Else? Try Our Various Indexes For 15,000+ Entries - http://www.mycatholicsource.com/mcs/help.htm
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Prayer for the Blessed Virgin Mary's Patronage: "Grant unto us, Thy servants, O Lord Jesus Christ, to be protected at all times and in all places by the patronage of Blessed Mary, Thy Virgin Mother." (Raccolta)
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The 'Church' in the Home
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Please Note: The following is taken from the same book referenced last month (See "Genuflecting in Church: A Refresher"). As indicated previously, the original publication bears an imprimatur dated May 1, 1899. Once again, we have made a few changes to the text (e.g. spelling changes, changed capitalization, shortening, combined paragraphs, expanded reference, etc.)
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"The church is not the only place for the practice of religion. The home is also a sacred place in which God must be especially honored and where the faith of Christians must be planted and fostered. 'Your home is your church.' (St. Augustine, Doctor of the Church) If religion is not taught and practiced at home, the church and school will scarcely be able to preserve it. Let your home be Catholic by the presence of the crucifix and of other sacred images. Do not be content to have such articles only in the bedroom; but let the whole house show the character of your religious faith. If your parlor or reception room is distinguished by the elegance of its furniture, let it show also your taste for religious pictures and ornaments. Some Catholics spend considerable money over expensive furniture and costly bric-a-brac, but upon religious articles they expend only sufficient money to purchase a few cheap prints and objects which they are ashamed to place side by side, with their more elegant furnishings.
Keep out of your house pictures and representations of love-scenes and n*dities, whether they be works of art, ornaments or mere advertisements. Have holy water in constant use. Have the Bible in the principal room in an honored position, and have nothing else lying or placed on top of it. Have all the religious articles necessary for sick calls. It is a sign of poor Catholicity in a household, if, on occasion of a sick-call people must run to their neighbors to borrow the necessary articles for the sick-room table. These articles ought to be found in every Catholic home for other purposes besides that of supplying the sick-room.
There are special sick-room services [kits], however, now sold for a trifling sum and easily procured. But every family can make up its own service. Catholics ought to take a pride in securing the most handsome articles for the sick-room table. What more appropriate ornament could be purchased for the house, or what more befitting present made to a Catholic friend or relative, than a beautiful crucifix, a pair of candle-sticks, a silver spoon for the communion-service of the sick, and the like; instead of so many meaningless and expensive vases, souvenir-spoons and other kinds of bric-a-brac. How sad for the Priest to enter Catholic houses of great elegance, with the august Sacrament of the Altar and to see a service intended to honor the King of Kings, hurriedly improvised with some cheap articles borrowed from neighbors and with others brought in from the kitchen.
See that all the members of the household, especially the children, say their morning and night prayers. Attend to the children's prayers personally. Do not merely ask them whether they say their prayers, but go and see for yourselves. If children attempt to come to the breakfast-table without having said their morning prayers, make them return to their rooms. Say the prayers frequently with them, especially the night prayers. Always insist on all members of the family saying grace before and after meals, and on reciting the Angelus at the sound of the church-bell. Have special devotions in common in the evening, especially during Lent, Advent, during the month of October, on Ember days, and at other times. Say the rosary, the litanies and other prayers according to time and circumstances. [Note: The daily rosary is recommended for all persons. Please see http://www.mycatholicsource.com/mcs/pc/rosary/daily_rosary.htm ]
If you are able to furnish your house with comfort, provide the bedrooms, or at least the room in which the family devotions are performed, with suitable prie-dieus or kneeling benches. How strange, that among the innumerable forms of furniture with which our homes are supplied for every family function and for every kind of comfort, there should be found so few kneeling-benches for the most important and particular function of the Christian, that of daily prayer. Houses of Catholic church goods usually supply these, but it is to be regretted that the demand for them on the part of Catholics, does not enable the average furniture-dealer to keep them on hand. Even the Turk has his special prayer-rug. Whilst the spirit of penance should not be wanting to our prayers, want of due comfort on the other hand, should not be made the cause of the discontinuance or total neglect of them. How much more prayer would be said, and how much better would it not frequently be performed, if there were more comfort connected with it, especially when one is ill disposed or fatigued as is frequently the case in the evening? It is hard to kneel on the floor for any length of time, especially when one is fatigued, without any support, such as a prie-dieu affords. A chair, much less a bed, is not a very appropriate support during the sacred function of prayer. Many Catholics confess forgetfulness as the cause of their frequent neglect of prayer. Would not a special article of furniture for prayer be a constant reminder of that indispensable duty?
Let a part of the family-devotions consist in a reading from the Bible, especially from the Gospels and Epistles, or from the small Bible-History. Let only those passages be read to the family with which the parents are familiar. Read also from the Catechism, the Lives of the Saints, and from other books of instruction and edification.
Make sure that the children learn their Catechism, by hearing their lessons either before they retire at night, or before they go to school to recite them. Accustom the children to works of charity and mercy by supplying them with alms and means for the relief of poor and suffering neighbors. Make them do chores for poor and aged neighbors (as appropriate). Try every day, if possible, to have one member at least of the household attend Holy Mass, so that the family may always be represented at the Holy Sacrifice during the week.
Do not dishonor the Catholicity of your house by having uncatholic and disedifying socials and drinking-parties in it, or even innocent amusements during Lent and other penitential times."
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Liturgical Feasts in August
The following is a listing of all liturgical feast dates for August as they appear at http://www.mycatholicsource.com/mcs/pc/saints/feasts.htm
Note: (T) = Traditional, (N) = New (Novus Ordo)
Reminder: Feasts may be superseded / transferred / etc.
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August 1 - St. Paul (T)
August 1 - St. Peter's Chains (T)
August 1 - The Holy Machabees (T)
August 1 - St. Alphonsus Liguori (N)
August 2 - St. Alphonsus Liguori (T)
August 2 - St. Stephen I, pope (T)
August 2 - St. Eusebius of Vercelli (N)
August 2 - St. Peter Julian Eymard (N)
August 3 - Finding of St. Stephen (T)
August 4 - St. Dominic (T)
August 4 - St. John Vianney (Cure of Ars) (N)
August 5 - Dedication of Our Lady of the Snow (T)
August 5 - Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome (N)
August 6 - Sts. Sixtus II (Xystus) (pope), Felicissimus & Agapitus (T)
August 6 - Transfiguration of Our Lord (T)
August 6 - Transfiguration of the Lord (N)
August 7 - St. Cajetan (T)
August 7 - St. Donatus (T)
August 7 - St. Cajetan (N)
August 7 - St. Sixtus II (pope) & companions (N)
August 8 - Sts. Cyriacus, Largus & Smaragdus (T)
August 8 - The 14 Holy Helpers (T)
August 8 - St. Dominic (N)
August 9 - St. Emidius (T)
August 9 - St. John Vianney (Cure of Ars) (T)
August 9 - St. Romanus (T)
August 9 - St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein) (N)
August 10 - St. Laurence (Lawrence) (T)
August 10 - St. Lawrence (N)
August 11 - St. Philomena (T)
August 11 - Sts. Tiburtius & Susanna (T)
August 11 - St. Clare of Assisi (N)
August 12 - St. Clare of Assisi (T)
August 13 - Sts. Hippolytus & Cassian (T)
August 13 - Sts. Pontian (pope) & Hippolytus (N)
August 14 - St. Eusebius (T)
August 14 - Vigil of the Assumption (T)
August 14 - St. Maximilian Kolbe (N)
August 15 - Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (T)
August 15 - The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (N)
August 16 - St. Joachim, Father of the Blessed Virgin Mary (T)
August 16 - St. Stephen of Hungary (N)
August 17 - St. Hyacinth (T)
August 18 - St. Agapitus (T)
August 18 - St. Helena (T)
August 18 - St. Jane Frances de Chantal (N)
August 19 - St. John Eudes (T)
August 19 - St. John Eudes (N)
August 20 - St. Bernard of Clairvaux (T)
August 20 - St. Bernard of Clairvaux (N)
August 21 - St. Jane Frances de Chantal (T)
August 21 - St. Pius X, pope (N)
August 22 - Sts. Timothy, Hippolytus & Symphorianus (T)
August 22 - The Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary (T)
August 22 - The Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary (N)
August 23 - St. Philip Benizi (T)
August 23 - St. Rose of Lima (N)
August 24 - St. Bartholomew, apostle (T)
August 24 - St. Bartholomew, apostle (N)
August 25 - St. Louis IX, king of France (T)
August 25 - St. Joseph Calasanz (N)
August 25 - St. Louis IX of France (N)
August 26 - St. Zephyrinus, pope (T)
August 27 - St. Joseph Calasanctius (T)
August 27 - St. Monica (N)
August 28 - St. Augustine of Hippo (T)
August 28 - St. Hermes (T)
August 28 - St. Augustine of Hippo (N)
August 29 - Martyrdom of St. John the Baptist (T)
August 29 - St. Sabina (T)
August 29 - Martyrdom of St. John the Baptist (N)
August 30 - St. Rose of Lima (T)
August 30 - Sts. Felix & Adauctus (T)
August 31 - St. Raymund Nonnatus (T)
Please Note: Above may exclude moveable feasts. For moveable feasts, try here: http://www.mycatholicsource.com/mcs/pc/latin_mass_and_tradition/traditional_liturgical_calendar.htm . For other feasts, try the MCS Daily Digest each day at http://www.mycatholicsource.com/mcs/cg/mcs_daily_digest.asp
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Some Thoughts Regarding Temptation
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The following quotations deal with the matter of temptation. We hope you will find them useful.
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"Blessed is the man who perseveres in temptation, for when he has been proved he will receive the crown of life that he promised to those who love him. No one experiencing temptation should say, 'I am being tempted by God'; for God is not subject to temptation to evil, and he himself tempts no one. Rather, each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire conceives and brings forth sin, and when sin reaches maturity it gives birth to death." (Jms. 1:12-15)
"Temptations are an incitement to sin that comes from the devil, or from the wicked, or from our own evil passions." (Catechism of Pope St. Pius X)
"The chief way in which the bad angels [devils] try to harm us is by tempting us to sin." (Baltimore Catechism)
"To those who are just and upright, temptations become helps." (St. Ephraem the Syrian, Doctor of the Church)
"We can always resist temptations, because no temptation can force us into sin, and because God will always help us if we ask Him." (Baltimore Catechism)
"[I]t is no sin to have temptations; but it is a sin to consent to them, or voluntarily to expose oneself to the danger of consenting to them." (Catechism of Pope St. Pius X)
"Blessed are they that are tempted! It is when the devil sees that a soul is tending towards union with God that he redoubles his efforts." (St. John Vianney)
"(In our struggle against temptations) our Lord is there quite close to us, looking on us with kindness, smiling at us and saying: 'So you do love Me!'" (St. John Vianney)
"When tempted, invoke your angel. He is more eager to help you than you are to be helped! Ignore the devil and do not be afraid of him: He trembles and flees at the sight of your guardian angel." (St. John Bosco)
"Offer your temptations for the conversion of sinners. When the devil sees you doing this, he is beside himself with rage and makes off, because then the temptation is turned against himself." (St. John Vianney)
"To resist every temptation, it is sufficient to pronounce the names of Jesus and Mary; and if the temptation continues, let us continue to invoke Jesus and Mary, and the Devil shall never be able to conquer us." (St. Alphonsus Liguori, Doctor of the Church)
"Wherefore whosoever hath entered a virtuous course, let him prepare his mind for all manner of temptation, for we know that the devil will never agree with those who in God's cause are his enemies, howsoever he fawned upon them while they were in his power." (St. Robert Southwell)
"Don't let temptations frighten you; they are the trials of the souls whom God wants to test when he sees they have the necessary strength to sustain the struggle, thus weaving the crown of glory with their own hands." (St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina)
"We must be watchful, especially in the beginning of temptation, because then the enemy is more easily overcome, if he is not suffered to come in at all at the door of the soul, but is kept out and resisted at his first knock. Whence a certain man said, Withstand the beginning: after-remedies come too late." (Thomas à Kempis)
"During life's pilgrimage on earth we cannot be without temptations; we profit and advance only through temptations; we should not acquire self-knowledge unless we were tried. No crown without a victory, no victory without a struggle, and no fight without temptations and enemies" (St. Augustine, Doctor of the Church)
"A powerful remedy against temptations of the flesh, and all sins of impurity, is to flee idleness; for no one is more exposed to such temptations than he who has nothing to do, who spends his time in gazing at people out of the window, or in chatting with his friends." (St. Robert Bellarmine, Doctor of the Church)
"In the moment of temptation have you not sought to deceive yourself by foolish reasonings on the justice of God, and on his mercy? Have you not sought to persuade yourself that sin is not so great an evil - that God is too good to punish you? And is it not true that it was only after the sin that your blindness ceased, and that your eyes were opened to the light?" (St. Ignatius Loyola)
"Satan, however, is overcome not by indolence, sleep, wine, revelling, or lust; but by prayer, labor, watching, fasting, continence and chastity. Watch ye and pray, that ye enter not into temptation...is the admonition of our Lord. They who make use of these weapons in the conflict put the enemy to flight; for the devil flees those who resist him." (Catechism of the Council of Trent)
"For whether we desire it or not we shall be tempted. If we do not struggle, we shall not be victorious, nor shall we merit the crown of immortal glory which God has prepared for those of us who are victorious and triumphant. Let us fear neither the temptation nor the tempter, for if we make use of the shield of faith and the armor of truth, they will have no power whatsoever over us." (St. Francis de Sales, Doctor of the Church)
"When you are tempted by the enemy, the best remedy is to hasten with all speed to the Cross, and to see Christ thereon, covered with wounds, torn, disfigured, streaming with blood. Then reflect that the chief reason why he is there is to destroy sin; and so, with all devotion, beg him not to allow what is so abominable, and what he sought, with such labor to overthrow, ever to reign in our hearts." (St. Peter of Alcantara)
"The faithful should also reflect who is their leader against temptations of the enemy; namely, Christ the Lord, who was victorious in the same combat. He overcame the devil; He is that stronger man who, coming upon the strong armed man, overcame him, deprived him of his arms, and stripped him of his spoils. Of Christ's victory over the world, we read in St. John: Have confidence: I have overcome the world; and in the Apocalypse, He is called the conquering lion; and it is said of Him that He went forth conquering that He might conquer, because by His victory He has given power to others to conquer." (Catechism of the Council of Trent)
"Satan seeks to disarm you before every temptation. He does this by taking away from you the only instrument that enables you to defeat him: prayer. In prayer, you obtain from God the light of discernment to discover Stan's snares and the strength to oppose his allurements. He will be untiring in his attempt to rob you of your daily moments for prayer, making excuses that there are other more urgent things to do. He will seek to render your prayers insignificant or inconclusive. Once there is no more room for daily prayer, God inevitably disappears from your life. Other things have taken His place, and Satan is in a position to seduce you at his pleasure." (Fanzaga)
"You must be courageous amidst temptations, and never think yourself overcome so long as they displease you, observing well this difference between feeling and consenting, namely, we may feel temptations, though they displease us; but we can never consent to them, unless they please us, since the being pleased with them ordinarily serves as a step towards our consent. Let, then, the enemies of our salvation lay as many baits and allurements in our way as they please, let them stay always at the door of our heart, in order to get admittance, let them make as many proposals as they can; still, so long as we remain steadfast in our resolution to take no pleasure in the temptation, it is utterly impossible that we should offend God. With respect to the delectation which may follow the temptation, it may be observed that, as there are parts in the soul, the inferior and the superior, and that the inferior does not always follow the superior, but acts for itself apart, it frequently happens that the inferior part takes delight in the temptation without the consent, nay, against the will of the superior. This is that warfare which the apostle describes (Gal. 5: 17), when he says that the flesh lusts against the spirit, and that there is a law of the members and a law of the spirit." (St. Francis de Sales, Doctor of the Church)
"If God does not stop those temptations with which you are assailed, He does it for reasons that are sure to result to your advantage. First of all, He wishes you to know and feel from experience, that you have become stronger, more powerful than your enemy. He wishes also that this temptation may keep you, as it were, in a balance, and that the dangers which threaten you prevent you from being exalted, on account of the graces you have received. God wills also that you should be tempted, in order that the devil, who is in doubt if you have renounced him, at length knows, by your patience, that you are still true to your Lord and Savior; more than this, God's intention is, that your soul should be fortified through temptation, and it thus remains stronger than ever. God permits the enemy to attack you, in order that you may realize by that, how great and precious is the treasure He has entrusted to you. For Satan would not have attacked you so violently, had he not seen you elevated to a condition more glorious than that in which you were before. It was that which irritated him so much when he saw Adam living in so glorious a garden; it was that, also, that made him so vexed against Job, when he saw that God even bestowed on him so many praises." (St. John Chrysostom, Doctor of the Church)
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Refs.:
http://www.mycatholicsource.com/mcs/qt/catholic_life_reflections_sin_and_vice.htm
http://www.mycatholicsource.com/mcs/qt/increase_holiness_reflections.htm
http://www.mycatholicsource.com/mcs/qt/catholic_basics_reflections.htm
For more, please try here - http://www.mycatholicsource.com/mcs/qt/reflections_categorized.htm
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'Catholic Trivia'
Note: All trivia this month is Marian themed.
1. What Marian prayer is thought to be "the oldest known (non-Scriptural) prayer to the Blessed Virgin Mary"?
2. Complete the phrase: Our Lady of La___ (Hints: Weeping Virgin, 19th century, France)
3. What is the difference between Mariolatry and Mariology?
4. The following is from which council? "If anyone does not confess that Emmanuel is true God, and that therefore the holy Virgin is Mother of God (Dei genetricem-Theotokon), since she bore, after the flesh, the incarnate Word of God, let him be anathema."
5. The following is from which council? "If anyone does not confess that there are two generations of the Word of God, the one from the Father before the ages, without time and incorporeally, the other in the last days, when the same came down from heaven, and was incarnate of the holy and glorious Mother of God and ever Virgin Mary, and was born of her, let such a one be anathema."
6. Who said...? "What is greater than the Mother of God? What more glorious than she whom Glory Itself chose? What more chaste than she who bore a body without contact with another body? For why should I speak of her other virtues? She was a virgin not only in body but also in mind"
7. Complete the sentence: Respect for women rises and falls with ___
8. How does the 'Unfailing Prayer to the Blessed Virgin Mary' begin?
9. Who said: "We ought to love the Blessed Virgin very much" and: "All the saints have a great devotion to Our Lady"?
10. How does one say "Immaculate Heart of Mary" in the Church's official language (Latin)?
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Answers:
1. The Sub Tuum Praesidium, which dates back (at least) to the third century [English: "We fly to thy patronage, O holy Mother of God; despise not thou our petitions in our necessities, but deliver us always from all dangers, O glorious and blessed Virgin." Latin: "Sub tuum præsídium confúgimus, sancta Dei Génitrix: nostras deprecatiónes ne despícias in necessitátibus nostris, sed a perículis cunctis líbera nos semper, Virgo gloriósa et benedícta."]
2. Our Lady of La Salette
3. Mariolatry refers to idolatrous worship of the Blessed Virgin Mary (which is gravely sinful). Mariology refers to "The study of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the body of theology, history, speculation, etc., concerning her, particularly her relationship with the Incarnation and Redemption." (Catholic Dictionary)
4. Council of Alexandria, 430 A.D.
5. Council of Constantinople II, 553 A.D.
6. St. Augustine, Doctor of the Church, 4th century A.D.
7. "Respect for women rises and falls with that for Mary" (Catholic Dictionary)
8. "O Most beautiful Flower of Mount Carmel, Fruitful Vine, Splendor of Heaven, Blessed Mother of the Son of God, Immaculate Virgin..." [Full prayer: "O Most beautiful Flower of Mount Carmel, Fruitful Vine, Splendor of Heaven, Blessed Mother of the Son of God, Immaculate Virgin, assist me in this my necessity. O Star of the Sea, help me and show me herein you are my Mother. O Holy Mary, Mother of God, Queen of Heaven and Earth, I humbly beseech you from the bottom of my heart, to succor me in this necessity, there are none that can withstand your power. O, show me herein you are my Mother, O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee. (3 times) Sweet Mother, I place this cause in your hands. (3 times)"]
9. St. John Vianney
10. Immaculati Cordis Mariae
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Defending the Faith: "Apologetics Brief" - Do You Reject the Catholic Church's Teaching that Jesus' Mother Mary Was Conceived Immaculately and Remained Sinless?
It is good for Catholics to be able to defend their faith against attacks (or even simple questions) from those outside the Church. We therefore hope you may find the following "apologetics brief" helpful.
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Note: Text below is taken from http://www.mycatholicsource.com/mcs/nc/non_catholics__Marian.htm
The following may be used as discussion points when discoursing with those outside the Church (or even among Catholics).
Topic: Do You Reject the Catholic Church's Teaching that Jesus' Mother Mary Was Conceived Immaculately and Remained Sinless?
Consider:
* Do you suppose that God instructed that the Ark be covered inside and outside with pure gold (see Ex. 25:11), but He would fail to fashion His own mother - whom He took His own flesh from - in a similar manner?
* Do you suppose that the "entire temple [a mere building] was overlaid with gold" (1 Kgs. 6:22), yet Christ would fail to prepare his own Mother - from whom He took His own flesh - in a comparable fashion?
* Considering that Christ is the "living temple", and considering that in the Old Testament God selected master craftsmen to help build His temple, how can you imagine that He wouldn't craft His own mother masterfully - as perfect as a human being can get?
* How could Mary be greeted by the angel as "full of grace" (Lk. 1:28) if she was not immaculate?
* Since we see from Rv. 21:27 that nothing unclean will enter the Lord's kingdom, how do you imagine that God could have entered Mary's womb if Mary wasn't fully pure?
* How is it you would make the mother of Christ a sinner? Do you not realize that if you propose that Jesus' mother Mary ever - even once - committed a sin, you make her a slave to the devil (cf. 1 Jn. 3:8, Jn. 8:34, Rom. 6:16)? How could the one who was foretold in Gen 3:15 crush the head of Satan if she had even once been under his control? How could she be always at enmity with the devil if she was once under his power?
* The fact that Mary calls God her savior (see Lk. 1:47) in no way contradicts the doctrine of her Immaculate Conception. To use an analogy, a parent may be said to save a child's life by pulling him back from a certain fall at the edge of a cliff (e.g. preventing him from falling) or by giving him life-saving medical care after he has already fallen. In both cases, the parent has saved the child, but in one instance the child didn't actually fall. In like manner, God is Mary's savior by giving her special graces (in view of Christ's merits) so that she may not "fall".
* Since Adam and Eve came from the hands of God "immaculate", why is it so difficult for you to believe that Christ would likewise create His own mother immaculate - the very woman that He Himself would take His flesh from?
* Do you argue against Mary's perpetual sinlessness based on Romans 3:23 ("all have sinned")? Do you also dare (God forbid!) to imply that Jesus sinned? Clearly, this passage does not mean to imply that Jesus sinned. Therefore, the passage also does not exclude the possibility (the fact!) that His mother also never sinned.
* How is it that you can regard Jesus' mother Mary as a sinner, but the early Christians and most brilliant theologians wouldn't dare consider - much less utter - such blasphemy?
* Do you reject the Immaculate Conception because you think it means that Mary was born of a virgin? You should know that the Church certainly does not teach that - rather she teaches that "the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instance of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin". She was otherwise conceived and born as any other human being.
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"Thou art all fair, O my love, and there is not a spot in thee." [Cant. 4:7 (Song. 4:7)]
"The second Eve is to be worthy of the second Adam, conquering and not to be conquered." (Dom Gueranger)
"Today, O Savior, you have given to pious Anne fruitful offspring of her womb, Your Immaculate Mother" (St. Andrew of Crete, a. 740 A.D.)
"You alone and your Mother are more beautiful than any others; For there is no blemish in you, nor any stains upon your Mother. Who of my children can compare in beauty to these?" (St. Ephraim, c. 370 A.D.)
"It was fitting that Jesus Christ should have such a mother as would be worthy of Him as far as possible; and she would not have been worthy, if, contaminated by the hereditary stain even for the first moment only of her conception, she had been subject to the abominable power of Satan." (Pope Pius XII, "Fulgens Corona", 1953 A.D.)
"Come, then, and search out Your sheep, not through Your servants or hired men, but do it Yourself. Lift me up bodily and in the flesh, which is fallen in Adam. Lift me up not from Sara but from Mary, a Virgin not only undefiled but a Virgin whom grace has made inviolate, free from every stain of sin." (St. Ambrose of Milan, Doctor of the Church, c. 387 A.D.)
"Believe in the Son of God, the Word before the ages, who was begotten of the Father apart from time and incorporeally, who in these last days was, for your sake, made Son of Man, both of the Virgin Mary in an indescribable and stainless way - for there is no stain where God is and whence salvation comes - whom man at the same time God also" (St. Gregory of Nazianz, Doctor of the Church, c. 381 A.D.)
"I consider that the blessing of a fuller sanctification descended upon her, so as not only to sanctify her birth, but also to keep her life pure from all sin; which gift is believed to have been bestowed upon none other born of woman. This singular privilege of sanctity, to lead her life without any sin, entirely benefited the queen of virgins, who should bear the Destroyer of sin and death, who should obtain the gift of life and righteousness for all." (St. Bernard)
"If any one does not, in accord with the Holy Fathers, acknowledge the holy and ever-virgin and Immaculate Mary as truly the Mother of God, inasmuch as she, in the fullness of time, and without seed, conceived by the Holy Spirit God the Word Himself, who before all time was born [begotten] of God the Father, and without loss of integrity brought him forth, and after His birth preserved her virginity inviolate, let him be condemned." (Pope St. Martin I, 649 A.D.)
"It was due to His own infinite sanctity that God should suspend, in this instance, the law which His divine justice had passed upon all the children of Adam. The relations which Mary was to bear to the Divinity, could not be reconciled with her undergoing the humiliation of this punishment [of being stained by original sin]. She was not only daughter of the eternal Father; she was destined also to become the very Mother of the Son, and the veritable bride of the Holy Ghost. Nothing defiled could be permitted to enter, even for an instant of time, into the creature that was thus predestined to contract such close relations with the adorable Trinity: not a speck could be permitted to tarnish in Mary that perfect purity which the infinitely holy God requires even in those who are one day to be admitted to enjoy the sight of His divine majesty in heaven" (Dom Gueranger)
"If anyone desires a confirmation of this it may easily be found in the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. For leaving aside tradition which, as well as Scripture, is a source of truth, how has this persuasion of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin appeared so conformed to the Catholic mind and feeling that it has been held as being one, and as it were inborn in the soul of the faithful? 'We shrink from saying,' is the answer of Dionysius of Chartreux, 'of this woman who was to crush the head of the serpent that had been crushed by him and that Mother of God that she had ever been a daughter of the Evil One' (Sent. d. 3, q. 1). No, to the Christian intelligence the idea is unthinkable that the flesh of Christ, holy, stainless, innocent, was formed in the womb of Mary of a flesh which had ever, if only for the briefest moment, contracted any stain. And why so, but because an infinite opposition separates God from sin? There certainly we have the origin of the conviction common to all Christians that Jesus Christ before, clothed in human nature, He cleansed us from our sins in His blood, accorded Mary the grace and special privilege of being preserved and exempted, from the first moment of her conception, from all stain of original sin." (Pope St. Pius X, "Ad Diem Illum Laetissimum", 1904 A.D.)
"The Immaculate Conception does not imply that Mary needed no Redemption. She needed it as much as you and I do. She was redeemed in advance, by way of prevention, in both body and soul, in the first instant of conception. We receive the fruits of redemption in our soul at Baptism. The whole human race needs redemption. But Mary was solidarized and separated from that sin-laden humanity as a result of the merits of Our Lord's Cross being offered to her at the moment of her conception. If we exempted her from the need of redemption, we would also have to exempt her from membership in humanity. The Immaculate Conception, therefore, in no way implies that she needed no redemption. She did! Mary is the first effect of redemption, in the sense that it was applied to her at the moment of her conception and to us in another and diminished fashion only after our birth. She had this privilege, not for her sake, but for His sake. That is why those who do not believe in the Divinity of Christ can see no reason for the special privilege accorded to Mary. If I did not believe in the Divinity of Our Lord - which God avert - I should see nothing but nonsense in any special reverence given to Mary above the other women on earth! But if she is the Mother of God, Who became Man, then she is unique, and then she stands out as the new Eve of Humanity - as He is the new Adam. There had to be some such creature as Mary - otherwise God would have found no one in whom He could fittingly have taken his human origin. An honest politician seeking civic reforms looks about for honest assistants. The Son of God beginning a new creation searched from some of that goodness which existed before sin took over. There would have been, in some minds, a doubt about the power of God if He had not shown a special favor to the woman who was to be His Mother. Certainly what God gave to Eve, He would not refuse to His Own Mother." (Archbishop Fulton Sheen)
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For more apologetics resources, please visit http://www.mycatholicsource.com/mcs/non-catholics.htm
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In Closing...
"[Thy] patronage, O Mary, is more powerful and loving than anything of which we can ever form an idea." (St. Germanus)
"Ancient and modern history and the more sacred annals of the Church bear witness to public and private supplications addressed to the Mother of God, to the help she has granted in return, and to the peace and tranquility which she had obtained from God. Hence her illustrious titles of helper, consoler, mighty in war, victorious, and peace-giver." (Pope Leo XIII, "Supremi Apostolatus Officio", 1883)
"Jesus was the fruit of Mary, and as St. Elizabeth told her: 'Blessed art thou amongst woman, and blessed in the fruit of thy womb.' Whoever, therefore, desires the fruit must go to the tree; whoever desires Jesus must go to Mary; and whoever finds Mary will most certainly find Jesus." (St. Alphonsus Liguori, Doctor of the Church)
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