On this day in 1854, Blessed Pope Pius IX defined ex cathedra the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of our Lady, in these words:
"Accordingly, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, for the honor of the Holy and undivided Trinity, for the glory and adornment of the Virgin Mother of God, for the exaltation of the Catholic Faith, and for the furtherance of the Catholic religion, by the authority of Jesus Christ our Lord, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and by our own:
"We declare, pronounce, and define that the doctrine which holds 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, is a doctrine revealed by God and therefore to be believed firmly and constantly by all the faithful" (Ineffabilis Deus, 29).
7 comments:
Hmmm ... how would the Bishop of Erie translate that title?
Well, surely not "God ineffable". So, maybe going with dynamic equivalence, we might get something like,
"God who is so really great and big and super-good that everything we say isn't quite enough because he is even better than what we can say about him, so we can't really say anything about him, which is not to say that we can't say anything because we have to say something, just that whatever we do say somehow is unsaid."
Much more comprehensible, don't you think?
I was at the M16 range today and wrote the following in honor of Mary's Immaculate Conception. I might as well share it here.
Mary immaculate was so conceived,
This dogma for Catholics must be believed.
Original Sin her soul did not stain,
Nevertheless Mary still suffered pain.
Seven swords of sorrow pierced through her heart,
Many of these are depicted in art.
Triune is God, Father, Son, Holy Ghost,
But of His creatures, He loved her the most.
Bravo, Will!
We've actually been enjoying your artistic abilities quite frequently of late. Maria insists regularly on listening to "Uncle Will's songs".
For a beautiful take on Mary's Fiat, try Gueranger (I found the link at Mark Shea's blog 'Catholic and Enjoying It', where someone writes in that they found Gueranger online, for another way to get to this) : http://books.google.com/books?id=lho6AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA425&lpg=PA425&dq=DEcember+10+THe+third+day+within+the+octave+of+the+immaculate+conception&source=bl&ots=MXThW48mkW&sig=C82t57lMxfo3Ve3RNz4GePFyLJg#PPA435,M1
~Margo
So, uh. . .
The God Who Can't Be Effed?
or maybe
Don't Eff With God. . . ?
Sorry. . .
I wouldn't.
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