FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY Contents 1. Why devotion to Mary? 2. Why do Catholics call Mary Mother of God? 3. Marian dogmas: why and what? 4. Do Catholics worship Mary and the saints? 5. Why do we honor Mary and the Saints? 6. Was Mary a virgin before and after Jesus' birth 7. How can Mary, saints, or God hear all prayers made to them? 8. An explanation of the Immaculate Conception 9. Bible & "brothers & sisters" of Jesus; see also topic 6 above 10. Why Christmas on Dec 25 and Immaculate Conception on Dec 8? 11. Meaning of the doctrine of the Assumption 12. Meaning of the Incarnation; was Joseph Jesus' biological father? 13. Did God give Mary a choice to be Mother of Jesus? 14. Titles of Mary in Litany of Loreto 15. Could Jesus and Mary sin? 16. Does the Church approve of modern appearances of Mary? 17. Ten Hail Marys and only one Our Father in each decade of the Rosary? 18. Purpose of wearing a scapular 19. How can God and the saints hear all our prayers? 20. Is December 25 really the date of Christ's birthday? 1. Why devotion to Mary? One way I like to approach Catholic devotion to Mary is to point out that if we were priviliged to visit Jesus in Nazareth when he was about 20 years old, we would certainly have spoken to Mary and Joseph too. Jesus would not have wanted us to feel that we could talk only to him! So now, we can and should talk to Jesus in Heaven, and I would guess that he still would like for us to talk to his Mother too! Talking to Mary, praying to Mary, does not diminish our devotion to Jesus. If anything, it should strengthen it, because Mary will always try to lead us to her son. 2. Why do Catholics call Mary Mother of God? Catholics do call Mary "The Mother of God," but this does not mean that Mary came before God. It does express our belief that Mary is truly the Mother of Jesus Christ, who from the first moment of his conception was both human and divine. Catholics believe that God is Trinity of Persons--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit--in one divine nature. We believe that God existed from all eternity and is the Source of all created things. We believe also that, to save us from sin, the Second Person of the Trinity, the Son (called the "Word" in the Gospel of John) took on a human nature. God became one of us in the mystery of the Incarnation (God-becoming-flesh). The story of the Incarnation is related in the infancy narratives of the gospels of Luke and Matthew. Luke's Gospel tells us that God sent the angel Gabriel to Mary, a young woman of Nazareth in Galilee. Gabriel announced that Mary would have a child, the Son of God, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Mary consented, and Jesus Christ was conceived in her womb (Luke 1:26-38). Mary then goes to visit her cousin Elizabeth, who greets Mary as "mother of my Lord." This greeting expresses the reality that the Lord, the God of the Old Testament, is present in the womb of Mary (Luke 1:39-45). Other passages of the Bible testify to the same fact. Mary is the Mother of Jesus Christ (Matthew 1:18-25). Jesus Christ is God (John 20:28). Therefore, Mary is Mother of God. Jesus Christ's origins are both divine and human. The miraculous conception of Jesus in the womb of Mary was the moment when the immortal, eternal God took on a mortal body and entered our history. From the moment of his conception, Jesus was both God and human, and from that moment Mary has been Mother of God. Therefore, belief in Mary as Mother of God is linked to belief in the reality of the Incarnation. This is a mystery which is beyond our understanding and must be accepted in faith. Some have refused to believe. Even in New Testament times there were those who denied that Jesus could be identified with God (John 8:12-59). Others denied that Jesus was truly human, and they would not "acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh" (2 John 7). Those who refused to accept either the divinity or the huma nity of Christ also denied that Mary is Mother of God. Early Church councils affirmed that Jesus is truly God and truly human. Further clarification came in the fifth century when Nestorius, the bishop of Constantinople, wrongly stated that there were two persons in Jesus Christ and that the son of Mary could not be identified with the Son of God. A general council of bishops at Ephesus in 431 condemned the teaching of Nestorius and deposed him. It affirmed that Mary is truly Mother of God because "according to the flesh" she gave birth to Jesus, who was truly God from the first moment of his conception. The expression, "according to the flesh," made it clear that Mary is not the source of Jesus' divinity. She did not give birth to God from all eternity. But since Jesus is truly God and truly human, Mary is really the Mother of God. In 451 another council at Chalcedon stated these truths as dogma (official doctrine). When we honor Mary as Mother of God, we are actually professing our belief that Jesus is truly God. We are not saying that Mary came before God. Rather, the Second Person of the Trinity, who existed from all eternity, "became flesh and made his dwelling among us" (John 1:14). The child foretold by Old Testament prophets, the child whom Elizabeth recognized as Lord, is Jesus Christ, our Lord and our God (John 20:28), and Mary is his Mother. 3. Marian dogmas: why and what? Concerning your questions about devotion to Mary, about the Immaculate Conception, Mary's Assumption, and her perpetual virginity. These questions are related to the larger issue of how God speaks to human beings. The idea that God's supernatural revelation is transmitted in two ways, through sacred Scripture and through sacred Tradition, has always been accepted by the Catholic Church. It is rejected by many other churches, especially those which interpret the Bible in a fundamentalist way. Often, people who belong to such churches attack Catholics because we believe "things that are not found in the Bible." They state that we can believe "only what the Bible says." Why do Catholics believe that God has revealed truths which are to be "handed on" through sacred Tradition? There are many reasons. The first is that we believe in the sacramental principle! We believe that God is constantly interacting with people. God did not simply drop a Bible from the sky and then stop communicating with people. God continues to speak to us through the Word, Jesus Christ (John 1:1), who continues to speak through his Church. Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit to lead the Church to the truth: "I have much more to tell you....But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth" (John 16:13). God's word, then, is addressed to the world through the teaching of the apostles and their successors, guided by the Holy Spirit. Second, the Church existed for a long time without the Bible as we know it. No New Testament works existed until at least twenty years after Christ's Resurrection, and the last book of the New Testament was written about one hundred years after the Resurrection. If all revelation had to be found in the Bible, the early Church would have had little to teach. Third, Church councils made the decisions about which books should be accepted into the Bible. Without the living teaching authority of the Church, without sacred Tradition, there would be no Bible, for there would have been no way to determine which books belonged in the Bible and which did not. This is another way of saying that the Church produced the Bible. The Bible did not produce the Church. Ask the question, "What is the pillar and foundation of truth?" Many Christians will answer, "The Bible, of course." But that's not what the Bible says! The Bible states that the Church is the "pillar and foundation of truth" (1 Timothy 3:15). Fourth, the Bible makes it clear that all of God's truth is not found in sacred Scripture. John's Gospel closes with the statement: "There are also many other things that Jesus did, but if these were to be described individually, I do not think the whole world would contain the books that would be written" (John 21:25). Fifth, the Bible itself indicates that God's truth would be "handed on" by preaching as well as by the written word. Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever listens to you listens to me" (Luke 10:16), thus showing that God's revelation would be brought to the world through the teaching of the apostles. The New Testament reports this mandate of Paul to Timothy: "And what you have heard from me through many witnesses entrust to faithful people who will have the ability to teach others" (2 Timothy 2:2). Sixth, Scripture explicitly acknowledges traditions passed on by the leaders of the Church and not found in the Bible. Saint Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, and to us: "...stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught, either by an oral statement or by a letter of ours" (2 Thessalonians 2:15). Finally, there is no passage in the Bible which says that the Bible is the only source of divine revelation. Therefore, anyone who asserts that the Bible is the only source of revelation is claiming something that is not in the Bible. Anyone who says we must believe only what we find in the Bible is asking us to believe something that is not in the Bible! What all this means is that the Catholic Church does teach doctrines about Mary which are not found explicitly in the Bible. But they are found there implicitly. Concerning the Immaculate Conception: The Church believes that it has been guided by the Holy Spirit toward belief in the Immaculate Conception, and that this doctrine is consistent with the New Testament, though not found explicitly in the New Testament. The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception also contains the belief that Mary was free of all personal sin: we trust that we have been guided to this belief by the Holy Spirit. Our Catholic belief in the Immaculate Conception means that she was preserved from some of the effects of original sin (theologians would argue about how this was done), but she had to cooperate with God's grace. As she grew up, she could have sinned when she was tempted, but she did not. Mary is the one who shows forth the goodness of God more than any other human being, except Jesus. Jesus is truly God, and is uniquely holy. Mary is the Mother of Jesus, who is truly God, and she is holy by the grace and merits of her Son (God is not limited by time, and theologians say that Mary was preserved free from sin by the "anticipated" benefits of Christ's life, death and resurrection), and by her cooperation with God's grace. With regard to Mary's assumption: The official doctrine of the Church does not decide the issue of whether Mary died or not. Most theologians today seem to feel that she died, as her son Jesus did. The Church does teach that by the Assumption Mary shares bodily in the Resurrection and experiences complete union with Jesus. I understand the doctrine to mean that Jesus caused her physical body, after death, to be transformed into the spiritual body we will all have in Heaven (see 1 Cor 15:42-44). The difference is that our physical body is subject to corruption, and we are "transformed" into the spiritual body, whereas Mary's physical body was not subject to corruption. Why? Because Mary's body was the "ark" which bore the body of Jesus for nine months. Because Mary was Jesus' Mother, and as such, would have been welcomed into Heaven by her Son with all the grace and power Jesus could have shared with His beloved Mother. (Would we do any less for our own mother if we were in Jesus' place?) Another way of looking at the Assumption is to compare it with the phenomenon described in 1 Thess 4:16-17. Some teachers and theologians describe Mary's Assumption in these very terms. They say that Mary has already experienced fully what we will experience fully only at the end of time. The Assumption seems to have been taken for granted by Catholics as far back as the historical records go. We Catholics believe that our doctrines must be congruent with the Bible, but not necessarily expressed explicitly in the Bible. We believe that the Church, guided by the Holy Spirit, can come to the knowledge of truths that are related to our spiritual benefit, and the Immaculate Conception and Assumption are such truths. The Bible speaks of "brothers and sisters" of Jesus (Mt 13:56-57). But the Catholic Church teaches that Jesus had no blood brothers or sisters and that his Mother Mary always remained a virgin. These truths have been arrived at from the Bible and from tradition. Even today "brothers and sisters" may be used in many ways. When we hear speakers address audiences as "brothers and sisters," we assume that the words refer not to blood relatives, but to friends or to members of a particular nation, group, or race. In the Old Testament, "brothers and sisters" might refer to members of the same tribe (Dt 15:12) or race (Dt 23:7), or to nephews (Gn 13:8), cousins (Lv 10:4), or relatives in general (2 Kgs 10:13). In the New Testament, two of those who are called brothers of Jesus, namely James and Joseph (Mt 13:56-57), are later identified as sons of another woman (Mt 12:56). The word "brothers" is often used for the followers of Jesus. For example, the risen Jesus asked Mary Magdalene to "go to my brothers." Mary "went and announced to the disciples, 'I have seen the Lord'" (Jn 20:17-18). Jesus said that those who do the will of his Father are his brothers (Lk 8:21), and in the New Testament, believers are called "brothers" more than 100 times. The New Testament never speaks of other children of Mary or Joseph, so it is impossible to prove from the Bible that Jesus actually had blood brothers or sisters. If there had been such blood brothers, it is difficult to explain why Jesus, as he hung on the cross, would have given Mary into the care of the beloved disciple. "When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, 'Woman, behold, your son.' Then he said to the disciple, 'Behold, your mother.' And from that hour the disciple took her into his home" (Jn 19:26-27). If Mary had other children, it seems that they would have cared for her. Further, if Jesus actually had blood brothers and sisters, it would be difficult to explain why the Church would have denied their existence. The most plausible reason why the Church has always held that Jesus was an only child is that he actually was an only child! With regard to the phrase that Joseph "had no relations with her until (or before) she bore a son, and he named him Jesus," the word "until" (or before) in English suggests that Joseph did have relations with Mary after the birth of Jesus. But the Semitic expression behind the Greek does not suggest either that he did or that he didn't. It focuses only on the time up to the birth of Jesus and says nothing about what happened after. There is a similar expression in 2 Samuel 6:23 where it is said that Michol was "childless to the day of her death"...Some translations use "to" instead of "until," but the Semitic expression behind both phrases is the same: and obviously Michol did not have children after her death. What this means is that the Bible doesn't give definite proof for the opinion that Mary had other children or for the opinion that she didn't. Early Christian writers agreed that Jesus had no blood brothers and sisters and that Mary remained a virgin. St. Jerome (345-420) wrote that "Ignatius, Polycarp, Irenaeus, Justin Martyr and all the other learned men going back to apostolic times" testified to the perpetual virginity of Mary. Our Catholic belief, therefore, goes back to the earliest days of the Church and has been a constant belief for almost 2,000 years. Since the Holy Spirit guides the Church, we can believe that the Holy Spirit led believers to the fact of Mary's perpetual virginity. This fact points to the uniqueness of Jesus as the only Son of God. The Bible states that Mary was a virgin when she conceived Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit (Lk 1:31-35). The tradition of the Church teaches that Mary remained a virgin. Why? Because she and Joseph witnessed the miracle of Jesus' conception and birth. They realized that God had entrusted them with the greatest treasure in the history of the world, God's only Son. They understood that their task in life was to nurture and protect the Savior of the human race. Many years later, Jesus would speak of those who renounced marriage "for the sake of the kingdom of heaven" (Mt 19:12). It cannot be surprising that Mary and Joseph would have wanted to renounce their right to have other children in order to dedicate their lives to the care of God's Son. The Church's belief in the perpetual virginity of Mary is significant because of what it says about Jesus and about us. The fact that Jesus was Mary's only child underlines his uniqueness as the only Son of God. The fact that Jesus was Mary's only child results in a special relationship between Mary and us. Since we are the Body of Christ (1 Cor 12:27), Mary is our Mother, and she has the same Mother's love for us that she has for Jesus. Jesus says to us as beloved disciples, "Behold, your mother." These facts, rooted in the Bible and clarified by the Church's tradition, help us to see Christ in the clearest possible light. They help us to know Mary as the Virgin Mother of Jesus and as our Virgin Mother. These beliefs, old as the New Testament and new as today, have enriched the lives of countless generations of Catholics. I hope that this information is helpful to you. The real key is that the Catholic Church believes that the Holy Spirit continues, as Jesus promised, to guide the Church to a better understanding of God's Word. 4. Do Catholics worship Mary and the saints? You asked also if we worship Mary, the Mother of Jesus. No, we do not worship Mary. We worship God alone. We do honor Mary and the Saints, just as other people honor great leaders. We have statues and pictures of the saints, but most towns have statues of prominent citizens and most people have pictures of relatives and friends in their homes. The Bible teaches us to honor our father and mother. Surely, Jesus honors his Mother in heaven, and surely he wants us to honor her too. The Catholic Church points out that true devotion to Mary differs from the unique worship paid to her Son, and should help people to know, love, and serve Christ better. You'll find this explained in chapter 14 of the enclosed book. If you read the chapter, you'll find that there are many Bible passages that teach us to honor the saints and pray with them. 5. Why do we honor Mary and the Saints? If you are wondering about devotion to our Blessed Mother and the Saints, you may want to read Chapter 14 of We Believe by Rev. Oscar J. Lulefahr, C.M. (Ligouri Publications, Ligouri, MO 63057, 1990, 1995, $7.95). You will find scriptural reasons for praying to Mary and the saints in Chapter 14, but Christians have always believed that those who have died in Christ are close to us. They are risen and alive. It's just common sense to want to talk with them. If you were able to go back to Nazareth and visit with Jesus at his home, wouldn't you also talk with Mary and Joseph? Jesus would not have wanted you to ignore them if you visited him 2000 years ago, and Jesus wouldn't want you to ignore Mary and Joseph today when they are so close to him in Heaven. Jesus would have wanted you to talk to them in Nazareth, and he wants you to talk to them now in Heaven (and talking to them is prayer). When people attack you because you pray to our Blessed Mother, to the saints, or to your loved ones who have died, you should feel sorry for them. They must think that Jesus locked the saints up somewhere where they can't see you, care about you, or help you. But our risen Lord has really given Mary, Joseph, and the saints NEW LIFE. They are in touch with you. They love you. They want to help you by their prayers. We insult Jesus if we think that he is so selfish that he doesn't want us to talk with Mary his mother, with Joseph, or with our friends who have died. We Catholics believe in the Communion of Saints. This means that we believe in the power of God to give the dead NEW LIFE in Christ. They are not less alive than we are. They are fully alive. They love us and want to help us by their prayers until we are with them one day in Heaven. If people want to attack you for believing in the power of God, for believing in Resurrection, they have a problem. Tell them that you respect their right to believe the way they want, but that they should respect your beliefs...especially when Catholics have had such beliefs for 2000 years. 6. Was Mary a virgin before and after Jesus' birth The Bible speaks of "brothers and sisters" of Jesus (Mt 13:56-57). But the Catholic Church teaches that Jesus had no blood brothers or sisters and that his Mother Mary always remained a virgin. These truths have been arrived at from the Bible and from sacred Tradition. Even today "brothers and sisters" may be used in many ways. When we hear speakers address audiences as "brothers and sisters," we assume that the words refer not to blood relatives, but to friends or to members of a particular nation, group, or race. In the Old Testament, "brothers and sisters" might refer to members of the same tribe (Dt 15:12) or race (Dt 23:7), or to nephews (Gn 13:8), cousins (Lv 10:4), or relatives in general (2 Kgs 10:13). In the New Testament, two of those who are called brothers of Jesus, namely James and Joseph (Mt 13:56-57), are later identified as sons of another woman (Mt 27:56). The word "brothers" is often used for the followers of Jesus. For example, the risen Jesus asked Mary Magdalene to "go to my brothers." Mary "went and announced to the disciples, 'I have seen the Lord'" (Jn 20:17-18). Jesus said that those who do the will of his Father are his brothers (Lk 8:21), and in the New Testament, believers are called "brothers" more than 100 times. The New Testament never speaks of other children of Mary or Joseph, so it is impossible to prove from the Bible that Jesus actually had blood brothers or sisters. If there had been such blood brothers, it is difficult to explain why Jesus, as he hung on the cross, would have given Mary into the care of the beloved disciple. "When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, 'Woman, behold, your son.' Then he said to the disciple, 'Behold, your mother.' And from tha t hour the disciple took her into his home" (Jn 19:26-27). If Mary had other children, it seems that they would have cared for her. Some people think that the expression found in Mt 1:24-25 (see also Lk 2:7) referring to Jesus as Mary's "first born" implies that Mary must have had children after Jesus. But "first born" was a legal term for Jewish people: the "first born" was to be pr esented in the Temple, as Jesus was (Luke 2:22; see Exodus 13:2). "First born" does not imply that there was a "second born," for there are ancient documents stating that a mother "died in giving birth to her first-born son." Some people have a problem with the expression in modern English translations that Joseph "had no relations with her until she bore a son, and he named him Jesus" (New American Bible translation). Our English word "until" implies "only up to and not beyon d," but the Aramaic word Jesus used usually meant "up to" without ruling out the beyond. The word "until" in English suggests that Joseph did have relations with Mary after the birth of Jesus. But the Aramaic expression behind the New Testament Greek d oes not suggest either that he did or that he didn't. It focuses only on the time up to the birth of Jesus and says nothing about what happened after. There is a similar expression in 2 Samuel 6:23 where it is said that Michol was "childless to the day of her death"...The New American Bible uses "to" instead of "until," but the Semitic expression behind both phrases is the same: and obviously Michol did not have children after her death. A New Testament passage which clarifies this usage of "until" is Matthew 28:20, where Jesus says, "I am with you always, until the end of the age." Here Jesus obviously means that he will be with us until the end of the world and beyond the end of the wo rld...that is, forever. Further, if Jesus actually had blood brothers and sisters, it would be difficult to explain why the Church would have denied their existence. The most plausible reason why the Church has always held that Jesus was an only child is that he actually was an only child! Early Christian writers agreed that Jesus had no blood brothers and sisters and that Mary remained a virgin. St. Jerome (345-420) wrote that "Ignatius, Polycarp, Irenaeus, Justin Martyr and all the other learned men going back to apostolic times" testifi ed to the perpetual virginity of Mary. Our Catholic belief, therefore, goes back to the earliest days of the Church and has been a constant belief for almost 2,000 years. Since the Holy Spirit guides the Church, we can believe that the Holy Spirit led b elievers to the fact of Mary's perpetual virginity. This fact points to the uniqueness of Jesus as the only Son of God. The Bible states that Mary was a virgin when she conceived Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit (Lk 1:31-35). The tradition of the Church teaches that Mary remained a virgin. Why? Be cause she and Joseph witnessed the miracle of Jesus' conception and birth. They realized that God had entrusted them with the greatest treasure in the history of the world, God's only Son. They understood that their task in life was to nurture and prote ct the Savior of the human race. Many years later, Jesus would speak of those who renounced marriage "for the sake of the kingdom of heaven" (Mt 19:12). It cannot be surprising that Mary and Joseph would have wanted to renounce their right to have other children in order to dedicate their lives to the care of God's Son. The Church's belief in the perpetual virginity of Mary is significant because of what it says about Jesus and about us. The fact that Jesus was Mary's only child underlines his uniqueness as the only Son of God. The fact that Jesus was Mary's only child results in a special relationship between Mary and us. Since we are the Body of Christ (1 Cor 12:27), Mary is our Mother, and she has the same Mother's love for us that she has for Jesus. Jesus says to us as beloved disciples, "Behold, your mother." These facts, rooted in the Bible and clarified by the Church's tradition, help us to see Christ in the clearest possible light. They help us to know Mary as the Virgin Mother of Jesus and as our Virgin Mother. These beliefs, old as the New Testament and new as today, have enriched the lives of countless generations of Catholics. 7. How can Mary, saints, or God hear all prayers made to them? Concerning your question about how Mary can respond to all the prayers addressed to her, or any of the saints, or even God can hear all the prayers addressed... I've often wondered about that myself. Theologians say that we must realize that we are in time. God and those who die are in eternity, where there is no passage of time, but an eternal now. I've read explanations of this by people as brilliant as C.S. Lewis, but it's still a mystery to me! I can see how it's possible, but I don't understand it. However, we may get some insight into the problem from some scientific theories which say that the faster we move in the universe, the slower time goes. Theor etically, at least, if people were to travel to another star in a spaceship whose speed approached the speed of light, they might be gone for 100 years by earth time, but they might age only 10 years while their friends on earth would age 100 years. Inter esting theory! If this can happen even to human beings who have not died, then certainly God can make it possible for those who are in eternity to be in touch with all the petitions addressed to them from time. Another way of looking at the problem is to note that we human beings are said to use only a tiny percentage of our intellectual ability. When someone gets to Heaven, that person might be able (even from our temporal point of view) to have the intellectu al capacity to do what seems impossible here on earth. 8. An explanation of the Immaculate Conception A glance at the headlines of a daily newspaper will show that something is seriously wrong with humanity. War, murder, crime, and evils of every description darken almost every page of the paper and of human history. A look into our own hearts reveals tha t something is amiss in each of us. We see the beauty of love, honesty, and mercy, but we often find it easier to hate than to love, to skirt around the truth, and to gossip rather than speak words of compassion. The Catholic Church describes what is seriously wrong with humanity as "original sin." Following Genesis 1-3, the Church teaches that God created human beings in God's image and likeness. God gave the first humans the freedom to choose, so that they might be able to give and receive love. God invited them to do what God defined as good, and to reject what God defined as evil. Unfortunately, those first humans, named as Adam and Eve, refused to trust and obey God. Tempted by Satan, an angelic being who had rebelled against God, they decided to do what they wanted instead of what God wanted. They disobeyed God. They sinned. Because Adam and Eve were parents of the whole of humanity, their sin affected the human nature they transmitted to their descendants. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church: The transmission of original sin is a mystery that we cannot fully understand. But we do know by Revelation that Adam had received original holiness and justice not for himself alone, but for all human nature. By yielding to the tempter, Adam and Eve comm itted a personal sin, but this sin affected the human nature that they would then transmit in a fallen state. It is a sin which will be transmitted by propagation to all mankind, that is, by the transmission of a human nature deprived of original holiness and justice (C 404). The Catholic Church believes that original sin does not make us or the world wholly evil, but that it damages us in many ways. We observe its harmful effects in our own conduct and in that of others. Original sin deprives us of the union with God and the holiness granted to the first human beings, leaving us in a condition where we are subject to physical death and unable to attain eternal life. It weighs us down with the tendency to do evil instead of good, making us incapable of overcoming sin or repair ing the damage caused by sin. It leaves us in a world where there is suffering and evil, where we can be hurt because people misuse freedom, where we learn bad habits from others, and where we can be a bad influence on others (C 399-409). The New Testament brings the Good News that Jesus Christ frees us from the shackles of original sin. Romans 5 admits the existence of original sin, but recognizes as well that we are redeemed from it by Jesus Christ. Romans 6:1-11 teaches that we gain a share in Christ's salvation through the sacrament of baptism. Baptism imparts the life of Christ's grace to abolish the death of sin. It erases original sin and turns us back to God. It gives us the promise of eternal life. However, we are still left with the consequences of our weakened human nature. We still have inclinations to sin and must look to Jesus for the grace to conquer sin. The Church teaches that Mary was not touched by original sin as we are. The dogma of the Immaculate Conception proclaims that what we receive through baptism, Mary received at the first moment of her conception. She was never tainted by original sin or pl aced under the limits it imposes. With the help of God's grace, she remained free of all personal sin as well. The Bible shows Mary as one uniquely privileged by God, but it does not explicitly teach that she was kept free of original or personal sin. However, the very fact that she was the Mother of Jesus Christ caused believers to consider that it was inappropri ate for Mary to be stained by sin. The angel's words to Mary, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you" (Luke 1:28) and Elizabeth's description of her as blessed among women (Luke 1:42) encouraged Christians to view Mary as uniquely graced by God. As early as the fourth century, theologians began to teach that Mary had been kept free of all sin by God because she was to be the Mother of Jesus Christ. By the seventh century, there was a liturgical observance proclaiming Mary's freedom from sin. Howe ver, there was much debate among theologians about how Mary could be free of original sin since the Bible teaches that salvation comes from Christ. In the thirteenth century, the Franciscan theologian Duns Scotus taught that Mary was preserved from all si n by the foreseen merits of Christ. God is not limited by time, and so Mary could be preserved from original sin by Christ just as those who lived and died in Old Testament times were, in the final analysis, redeemed by him. This teaching gradually prevailed. When Pope Pius IX questioned the bishops of the world in the mid nineteenth century, he was assured that belief in Mary's Immaculate Conception was universal among Catholics. In 1854, he proclaimed the Immaculate Concept ion to be a dogma of the Church: 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 (Ineffabili s Deus 1854, cited in C 491). Jesus is truly God, and is uniquely holy by reason of his divinity. Mary is human, and is holy by the grace and merits of her son. Jesus is free of original sin because he is God. Mary was kept free of original sin by the grace of Jesus. She was conceived by her parents in the normal way, but from the moment of her conception she existed in a state of union with God. She was granted the kind of grace and holiness which would have belonged to all human beings had there been no original sin. It is also Catholic dogma that Mary remained free from personal sin throughout her life (C 493). She was not immune to the problems of living in a world touched by sin. She had to cooperate with God's grace, and she had to cope with evil, above all the un just murder of her son on the cross. Mary was tempted as we are. But she did not sin. She cooperated with God's grace, and in this she is a model for us. When we are tempted to think that sin cannot be defeated, Mary witnesses to the fact that the grace o f Christ can conquer the powers of hell. Mary shows forth the goodness of God more than any other human being, except Jesus. Jesus is truly God, and is uniquely holy. Mary is the Mother of Jesus, and she is holy by the grace and merits of her Son and b y her cooperation with God's grace. The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, as we have said, is not found explicitly in the Bible, but it is consistent with Bible teaching. Matthew, Luke, and John, guided by the Holy Spirit, saw Mary as the first among believers and as one specially bles sed by God. The Holy Spirit led these authors to develop a direction toward a better appreciation of Mary and of her role in God's plan. The Church followed the lines of development set by the New Testament when it proclaimed the dogma of the Immaculate C onception. We can be confident, therefore, that the Church was guided by the same Holy Spirit who led the evangelists. We have every reason for believing that it is God's will that Christ's Mother be honored as Mary, conceived without sin. And it should be added that we have far more Scriptural reasons for believing in the Immaculate Conception than people have for attacking Catholic belief. Unless the Holy Spirit was absent from the Christian Church for the first 1500 years, the Church was guided by the Spirit to its belief about the Immaculate Conception. Finally, is it unreasonable that God would want to have the most perfect possible Mother for his only Son? The Immaculate Conception says as much about our reverence for Jesus as it doe s for our desire to honor Mary! 9. Bible & "brothers & sisters" of Jesus; see also topic 6 above Regarding your comments about the Bible's references to the "brothers and sisters" of Jesus, I'll summarize Catholic belief here (repeating some of the things said in my book). In the Old Testament, "brothers and sisters" might refer to members of the sa me tribe (Dt 15:12) or race (Dt 23:7), or to nephews (Gn 13:8), cousins (Lv 10:4), or relatives in general (2 Kgs 10:13). In the New Testament, two of those who are called brothers of Jesus, namely James and Joseph (Mt 13:56-57), are later identified as sons of another woman (Mt 27:56). The word "brothers" is often used for the followers of Jesus. For example, the risen Jesus asked Mary Magdalene to "go to my brothers." Mary "went and announced to the disciples, 'I have seen the Lord'" (Jn 20:17-18). Jesus said that those who do the will of his Father are his brothers (Lk 8:21), and in the New Testament, believers are called "brothers" more than 100 times. The New Testament never speaks of other children of Mary or Joseph, so it is impossible to prove from the Bible that Jesus actually had blood brothers or sisters. If there had been such blood siblings, where were they when Mary and Joseph took Jesus, age twelve, to the Temple? If Mary had other children, it is hard to explain why Jesus, as he hung on the cross, would have given Mary into the care of the beloved disciple. "When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mo ther, 'Woman, behold, your son.' Then he said to the disciple, 'Behold, your mother.' And from that hour the disciple took her into his home" (Jn 19:26-27). If Mary had other children, they would have cared for her. Some people think that the expression found in Mt 1:24-25 (see also Lk 2:7) referring to Jesus as Mary's "first born" implies that Mary must have had children after Jesus. But "first born" was a legal term for Jewish people: the "first born" was to be pr esented in the Temple, as Jesus was (Luke 2:22; see Exodus 13:2). "First born" does not imply that there was a "second born." The gravestone of a first century Jewish woman in Egypt reads that she "died in giving birth to her first-born son." Obviously, there was no second. Some people have a problem with the expression in modern English translations that Joseph "had no relations with her until she bore a son, and he named him Jesus" (New American Bible translation). The word "until" in English suggests that Joseph did have relations with Mary after the birth of Jesus. But the Semitic expression behind the Greek does not suggest either that he did or that he didn't. It focuses only on the time up to the birth of Jesus and says nothing about what happened after. There is a similar expression in 2 Samuel 6:23 where it is said that Michol was "childless to the day of her death"...The New American Bible uses "to" instead of "until," but the Semitic expression behind both phrases is the same: and obviously Michol did not have children after her death. Further, if Jesus actually had blood brothers and sisters, it would be difficult to explain why the Church would have denied their existence. The most plausible reason why the Church has always held that Jesus was an only child is that he actually was an only child! Early Christian writers agreed that Jesus had no blood brothers and sisters and that Mary remained a virgin. St. Jerome (345-420) wrote that "Ignatius, Polycarp, Irenaeus, Justin Martyr and all the other learned men going back to apostolic times" testified to the perpetual virginity of Mary. Our Catholic belief, therefore, goes back to the earliest days of the Church and has been a constant belief for almost 2,000 years. Since the Holy Spirit guides the Church, we can believe that the Hol y Spirit led believers to the fact of Mary's perpetual virginity. This fact points to the uniqueness of Jesus as the only Son of God. The Bible states that Mary was a virgin when she conceived Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit (Lk 1:31-35). The tradition of the Church teaches that Mary remained a virgin. Why? Be cause she and Joseph witnessed the miracle of Jesus' conception and birth. They realized that God had entrusted them with the greatest treasure in the history of the world, God's only Son. They understood that their task in life was to nurture and prote ct the Savior of the human race. Many years later, Jesus would speak of those who renounced marriage "for the sake of the kingdom of heaven" (Mt 19:12). It cannot be surprising that Mary and Joseph would have wanted to renounce their right to have other children in order to dedicate their lives to the care of God's Son. So those who contend that the Bible says that Mary had other children ARE TEACHING SOMETHING THAT IS NOT IN THE BIBLE. Furthermore, they are contradicting what all Christians believed until the 15th century! When we Catholics state our belief that Mary h ad no other children, we are not adding anything to the Bible. When those who deny Mary's virginity and say that she had other children, they are adding to what the Bible says. It seems to me that we who are Catholics are the real Bible believers. 10. Why Christmas on Dec 25 and Immaculate Conception on Dec 8? To respond to your question about December 8 and December 25: December 8 celebrates the Immaculate Conception of Mary, that is, our Catholic belief that Mary, by God's grace, was conceived free of original sin. Mary's birthday is celebrated on September 8, nine months later. Jesus' conception is recalled at the Feast of the Annunciation, March 25, which is, of course, nine months before Christmas. Many people mistake December 8, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception (of Mary) with the Annunciation, th e Feast of the (virginal) conception of Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit. 11. What is the meaning of the doctrine of the Assumption? With regard to Mary's assumption: The official doctrine of the Church does not decide the issue of whether Mary died or not. Most theologians today seem to feel that she died, as her son Jesus did. The Church does teach that by the Assumption Mary share s bodily in the Resurrection and experiences complete union with Jesus. I understand the doctrine to mean that Jesus caused her physical body, after death, to be transformed into the spiritual body we will all have in Heaven (see 1 Cor 15:42-44). Our ph ysical body is subject to corruption, whereas Mary's physical body was not subject to corruption. Why? Because Mary's body was the "ark" which bore the body of Jesus for nine months. Because Mary was Jesus' Mother, and as such, would have been welcomed into Heaven by her Son with all the grace and power Jesus could have shared with His beloved Mother. (Would we do any less for our own mother if we were in Jesus' place?) Another way of looking at the Assumption is to compare it with the phenomenon described in 1 Thess 4:16-17. Some teachers and theologians describe Mary's Assumption in these very terms. They say that Mary has already experienced fully what we will exper ience fully only at the end of time. The Assumption seems to have been taken for granted by Catholics as far back as the historical records go. We Catholics believe that our doctrines must be in harmony with the Bible, but not necessarily expressed explicitly in the Bible. We believe that the Church, guided by the Holy Spirit, can come to the knowledge of truths that are related to our spiritual benefit. The Assumption is one of these truths. 12. Meaning of the Incarnation; Joseph Jesus' biological father? As to your question about Joseph being the biological father of Jesus... The Church's clear teaching, as expressed in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and in Tradition and Scriptures, is that Jesus was conceived miraculously by a special divine inte rvention (C 484-507). For example, The Catechism states: "From the first formulations of her faith, the Church has confessed that Jesus was conceived solely by the power of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary, affirming also the corporeal aspe ct of this event: Jesus was conceived "by the Holy Spirit without human seed" (C 496). I would recommend that you read these paragraphs in the Catechism. They point out that we are dealing with a miraculous intervention of God, not a legend or theological construct. The theological implications of this belief are spelled out in the Catech ism. You might also want to read C.S. Lewis' reflections on the Incarnation in his book, Mere Christianity. A few other points: it is by no means certain that Mary was 14 years old when she became the mother of Jesus. This is a presumption with no particular basis in history. All women do not marry at the same age today, and we can be sure that all women did n ot marry at the same age in Jesus' time, especially in a small village like Nazareth. We should not assume that she was a naive little girl. St. John Chrysostom's explanation that an angel had to calm her is a pious legend without any basis in fact. The fact that Jesus was conceived in the womb of Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit was the greatest miracle in the history of the human race. Jesus is uniquely God and human, and the Catholic Church has always believed that he was conceived by God's p ower, not by human intervention. We cannot understand this, but it is certainly not beyond the power of God to accomplish. It results from the incredible Love God has for us. 13. Did God give Mary a choice to be Mother of Jesus? Regarding your question about Mary and whether she consented to be the Mother of Christ or whether God simply made her become the Mother of Christ without her consent, there are several things to be considered. First, we believe that God created humans w ith freedom and that God respects human freedom. Jesus Christ is the greatest proof that God respects our freedom. Jesus is "the image of the invisible God" (Col 1:15), and therefore is the one to whom we turn when we want to discover how God relates to people. Jesus did not force people to follow him or to do what was right. He chose Apostles, but he only invited them to follow, and when Judas turned against him, Jesus did not force him to choose the right thing. He allowed Judas to say no. When Jes us invited the rich young man to follow him, and the rich young man turned away, Jesus did not force him to change his mind (Mk 10:17-22). When Jesus said, "I am the bread of life," and many of his disciples refused to believe him, Jesus did not force th em to accept his word; he let them walk away (John 6:60-71). Therefore, Jesus, the image of the invisible God, teaches us that God respects human freedom. Now, is it possible that, in the most important event in human history, God would disregard human freedom and simply make Mary the Mother of God's Son without her consent? We read in Luke 1 that the angel announced God's will to Mary. The angel waits un til Mary says, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word." Only then does the angel leave. This indicates that Mary consented to God's will. The only other possibility is that Mary did not consent. In that case, she became pregnant by a miracle to which she did not freely consent! This would mean that the Son of God became a human being in the womb of a woman who did not want to become his M other! This would mean that God completely disregarded human freedom and human choice in the one event which would begin the process of our salvation. This is clearly an impossibility. To summarize, there are two possibilities: God either invited Mary to become the Mother of God's Son and accepted her consent, or God simply made Mary the Mother of God's Son without her consent. The first choice, it seems to me, is consonant with the Bible and with our understanding of God as given us through Jesus Chr ist. The second presents an image of God which is pagan in its implications (for pagans, the gods simply used human beings) and which contradicts Scripture and the nature of God. 14. Explain the titles of Mary in Litany of Loreto Regarding the Litany of Loreto: Mirror of Justice = Mary's is like a mirror who reflects the justice of God to us. Seat of Wisdom = the Holy Spirit, with the Gift of Wisdom, dwelt in Mary. Cause of our Joy = Mary brought Jesus into the world, and He is the source of our joy. Spiritual Vessel = Mary's body contained Jesus before He was born. Singular Vessel of honor = Mary's body contained Jesus before He was born, and she is worthy of special honor because of this. Mystical Rose = Mary is compared to a beautiful flower. Tower of David = Mary and Joseph are from the family of David, and Mary's virtue stands out like a tower. Tower of Ivory = ivory is a symbol of beauty and purity, and Mary possesses these virtues. Ark of the Covenant = the ark in t he Old Testament was a special dwelling place for God; Jesus dwelt in Mary's body. Gate of Heaven = Mary brought Christ into the world and he brings us to heaven; Mary helps us by her prayers. Morning Star = as the "morning star" shines brightly before the sun rises, so Mary as Mother of Jesus, who is the Light of the World (the Sun) preceded his coming. 15. Could Jesus and Mary sin? Our belief in the meaning of original sin is different from the understanding of most Protestants. Luther's opinion was that people are like "snow-covered dung heaps," that is, basically corrupted by sin, but the corruption is "covered over" by Christ's saving action. Catholics believe, on the other hand, that in spite of original sin we are basically good, and Christ's saving action makes it possible to overcome sin. Once we are united to Christ by Baptism, by grace, and by love, we are "good" to the very heart of our being. That's one reason why Catholics have so many "sacramentals," like incense, candles, stained glass windows, and statues: We believe that God's goodness is expressed through such works of art. That's one reason why we honor the saints: We believe that Go d's goodness can be seen in their lives. Mary is, of course, the one who shows forth the goodness of God more than any other human being, except Jesus. Jesus is truly God, and is uniquely holy. Mary is the Mother of Jesus, who is truly God, and she is holy by the grace and merits of her Son. We believe that Jesus is free of original sin because he is God, and we believe that Mary was free of original sin, the gift of her "Immaculate Conception," by the merits of Jesus, the Son of God. The exact meaning of original sin in Catholic theology is not easy to pin down, but I take it to mean, among other things, that we are of ourselves unable to attain salvation. We are weak human beings who are unable to overcome sin and unable to repair t he damage that sin does. There are many other aspects of original sin: we live in a world where there is so much suffering and evil, where we can be hurt because people misuse their freedom, where we learn bad habits because those around us "pass them on to us," and so on. Now, by the very fact that Jesus is God, he must be free from the basic weakness of original sin. That is, Jesus is the One who can and did overcome sin; he was able to repair the damage done by sin in that he united us to the love of God by his life, de ath and resurrection. However, he had to suffer many of the consequences of sin: he was truly tempted, and he suffered from the sins of other. But Jesus did not give in to temptation. He did not sin. In fact, theologians say it's impossible that he cou ld have sinned (because sin is saying no to God, and God couldn't say no to God!) But I think it's possible that he could have refused to go through with the crucifixion and could have left us to our own resources. It was, in fact, a terrible struggle for him to accept his passion and death, as we see from the agony in the garden. With regard to Mary: Mary was certainly tempted as we are, and I believe that she could have sinned. Our Catholic belief in the Immaculate Conception means that she was preserved from some of the effects of original sin (theologians would argue about how this was done), but she had to cooperate with God's grace. As she grew up, she could have sinned when she was tempted, but she did not. I'm enclosing copies of a few pages from Dr. Alan Schreck's book, Catholic and Christian (Servant Books), dealing wi th the Immaculate Conception. You may find them helpful. 16. Does the Church approve of modern appearances of Mary? About the recent reported appearances of the Blessed Mother: the Church does not make an official statement that appearances or visions are genuine until they cease. Until the last appearance, the Church cannot be sure whether the total message was genui nely from God. The devil could appear as a "good angel," or as anyone else 50 times, and say only good things in order to win the confidence of people. Then, after they are "won over," he could start telling lies. So the Church waits until the "visions " are finished. Thus, the Church has said that the appearances at Lourdes and Fatima are worthy of belief, and both places are approved shrines where Catholics are invited to worship and pray. In time, the Church may make official declarations about som e of the appearances now taking place. By the way, when reported "visions" are clearly false or when the visionaries recount things that are clearly contrary to Church teaching, the Church will state that the "visons" are not worthy of belief. Sometimes bishops will investigate reported visions and will state that so far there is nothing contrary to Church belief, but full approval comes only after the visions have ceased. 17. Why ten Hail Marys and only one Our Father in each decade? You asked why we say 10 Hail Marys but only one Our Father in each decade of the Rosary. I would suppose that some anti-Catholic asked this question of you. It has the ridiculous implication that if we say ten Hail Marys to one our Father, then we must b e honoring Mary ten times as much as God! First, the heart of the Rosary is not the vocal prayers, but the meditation on the mysteries of the Rosary. And these mysteries focus upon Jesus Christ. Second, the Hail Mary itself focuses on Mary's relationshi p to Christ. The first part comes directly from the Bible (the words addressed to Mary by Gabriel and Elizabeth) and the second part asks Mary to pray for us to God. We honor Mary because she is the Mother of Jesus Christ and because she will bring us c loser to Jesus. 18. What is the purpose of wearing a scapular "The brown scapular - does our Lord want me to wear that or to trust fully in Him alone?" The purpose of all sacramentals is to put us in touch with Christ. So the answer to your question is... If you choose to wear the brown scapular, it should help you to trust fully in Him alone! Scapulars and religious medals are blessed reminders to us o f the power of Christ. These scapulars and medals may have representations of Mary or the Saints on them, but the Saints themselves are people who bring us closer to Christ. The sacraments come to us from Christ, of course, and they have special value and importance. But sacramentals and indulgences are signs of God's love and presence. You probably have pictures of loved ones in your house; perhaps you have souvenirs and r eminders of departed relatives. These objects keep you in touch with the ones you love. Sacramentals and indulgences, when used properly, keep us in touch with the God we love. 19. How can God and the saints hear all our prayers? How can God respond to all the prayers people say at the same time all over the world? How can Mary or the saints respond to all the prayers addressed to them? Theologians say that we must realize that we are in time. God and those who die are in etern ity, where there is no passage of time, but an eternal now. I've read explanations of this by people as brilliant as C.S. Lewis, but it's still a mystery to me! I can see how it's possible, but I don't understand it. However, we may get some insight in to the problem from some of Einstein's theories which say that the faster we move in the universe, the slower time goes. Theoretically, at least, if someone were to travel to another star in a space ship whose speed approached the speed of light, they mi ght be gone for 100 years by earth time, but they might age only 10 years. Interesting theory, and if this can happen even to human beings who have not died, then certainly God can make it possible for those who are in eternity to be in touch with all th e petitions addressed to them from time. Another way of looking at the problem is to note that we human beings are said to use only a tiny percentage of our intellectual ability. When someone gets to Heaven, that person might be able (even from our temp oral point of view) to have the intellectual capacity to do what seems impossible here on earth. I suspect that the problem of how the saints and our loved ones are able to help us is tied into the myteries of God's almighty power and of the relationship between time and eternity. 20. Is December 25 really the date of Christ's birthday? Most Bible scholars and historians say that it is very unlikely that Christ was born on December 25. We do not know the exact date of Christ's birth, since it is not given in the Gospels. There have been many theories as to when and why we Christians st arted observing December 25. St. John Chrysostom tried to figure it from the Day of Atonement and John the Baptist's birthday, but scholars today say his theory is untenable. Most scholars hold instead the theory that December 25 was chosen because it i s the date of the winter solstice in the Julian Calendar, the date when the sun begins its return to northern skies. Pagans therefore celebrated this day in honor of their "sun god," and on December 25, 274, Emperor Aurelian proclaimed the sun-god princi pal patron of the Roman empire. As Christianity gradually conquered old pagan practices, December 25 was chosen as the day to observe Christ's birthday so that the old pagan festival might be replaced with a Christian celebration, the birthday of Christ, the "Sun of Justice" (a title given Him in the 3rd century). This theory is not certain, but it seems to be the best one available. These questions and answers are written by Rev. Oscar J. Lukefahr, C.M. Father Lukefahr is the director of the Catholic Home Study Service. This organization offers free instruction in the Catholic faith by mail. They offer five courses on: We Believe (A Survey of the Catholic Faith) Guide to the Bible The Privilege of Being Catholic Morning Star: Christ's Mother and Ours (on the Virgin Mary) Handbook of the New Catechism (on the new Catholic Catechism) For more information, please write: Catholic Home Study Service P.O. Box 363 Perryville, MO 63775-0363 or you may send E-mail to Father Lukefahr, frlukecm@compuserve.com