The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1868-12-13
MORNING STAR AND CATHOLIC MESSENGER.
NEW ORLEANS, SUNDAY, DECEMBER ID, 1868.
THE 1M1rAcuLATE CONCEPTION.

ss - & -ls1
This festival, instituted by Holy Church in
honor of the Mother Of God. is one that gives
peculiar joy to every loving child of Mary.
Though only fourteen y enT;,s have elapsed since
defined that Mary was exempted from the stain
Of original sin which all other descendants of
Adam contract theNmoment the soul animates
the body, yet this has always been the belief of
\ the Church, and the sanity Plus TX. did moth
ing moro than declare infallibly as head of the
Church, that such had always been the constant
part of the deposit of faith condedt to the keep
ing of Gods Church on earth.. We
must observe that non-Catholics lay greater
stress on this seeming difficulty than it de-
serves: first, SO far as the number of persons is
concerned who denied the immaculate Concep-
ton, or, rather who did not positively profess
it and secondly, in far as concerns the ar
guments of those who maintained Che contrary.
What the belief of the Church Isl is not Affect
ed by some few who maintain the contrary and
the universal assent of the whole Episcopate of
the world, and the cry of joy that arose from
millions of Catholics when the dogma was de-
fned-and no doubt could no longer be in indi-
vidual minds as to what the Church did teach
shows well what the sense of the Universal
Church was. AS regards tho controversy that
long ago sprung up, those who did not maintain
positively that Mary was immaculate in her
conception, did not SO much hold the contrary
as they urged that the Church had not author
lied the words that is, without saying the
Church taught that Mary was included in the
list of all of Adams descendants who were born
in sin, they insisted the explicitly taught
doctrine of original sin; that had been defined,
and then insisted that as the Church had not
defined the exemption of Mary from original
sin, the doctrine should not be taught.
Now, to answer the objections stated above.
We must bear in mind that in no sect is there
such real liberty of discussion given there is
in the Catholic Church. Individual writers,
. even editors of newspapers and writers of heavy
theological essays, are not allowed to ercommu-
nicate their opponents, and brand them rs here
tics, because their opponents do not agree with
them in everything. And though 1T may be
considered by some as an Infringement on the
liberty of a writer to debar him from knocking
down his adversaries by throwing "hecetic,"
and such like hard words at them, yet we may
fairly concede that in the long run, tho Church
is as right in debarring him from this pleasure,
as our civil laws are in curtailing his liberties
by not allowing him to make use of his fists or
revolver. So, then, in the Catholic Church
there are many subjects on which Catholics
hereto, SO long the question is not an article
of faith. Now. every truth that is explicitly
taught in the Bible, that is in SO many words
as is, for instance, the birth of our Lord Jesus,
is an article of faith; all the authoritative de-
cisons of doctrine by the teaching Church are
articles of faith.
Now, to the attentive reader of the sacred
word there will arise many questions which are
not expressly answered in so many words, and
on which he has to exercise his reasoning fac
ulties to find the truth, or else to go to an author
lied teacher to get solution of his difficulty.
Such, for instance, for one seeking the truth
from the Bible would be the question in refer
GDCe to Our blessed he0eeIDec. lie would nnu
that Jesus was God and Man. Well, then, He
had two natures-was He two persons Had
He two wills The human nature in Him is
Joined to the Divine-to the second person of
the Blessed Trinity-tO God. God is every
where is then tho body of Jesns ubiquitous
Every reader sees at a glance that there is but
one true answer to each of these questions; he
must see, also, that the questions are not 80
easy to be answered rightly by every one
even by those who make q study of the ques-
tions, still less by the great mass of Christians
whose household duties and business affairs
take UP nine-tenths of their time. Now, when
the Church decides one of these questions it
becomes an article of faith, and the man who
would then hold to the contrary would be q
hereto but even though the true answer is
evident to the vast majority of Christians, and
the man rejecting it shows great lack of good
sense and a blameable amount of rashness, yet
until the Church decides and he continues to
oppose, he cannot be called q hereto.
Thus some one reading the Bible finds out
that all the children of Adam conceived in
original sin and then he finds that it is said of
Mary that she was to crush the head of the
pent, that is1overcome the devil. The thought
would naturally suggest itself: was this woman,
Who was to crush the head of the serpent, who
was to give a body to God becoming incarnate-
was she conceived in sin like the other children
of Adamf Was she even for an instant in the
power of the dewitt
In the first ages of the Church so great was
the veneration of all Christians towards the
Mother of God, Sthat the idea of sin in connec-
ton with her never gained resting-place in
the minds of Christians-so that even when the
Church assembled in council had to decide the
dogma of Original Sin against heretics who de-
MED it, the assembled fathers expressly declared
that when speaking of sin the Blessed Virgin
was not to be mentioned.
It may here be asked why did not tho fathers
in that council define the dogma of the Immac-
ulate Conception Wemight answer that they
did indirectly. But why did they not do so
definitely, explicitlyf The answer is simply
that nobody seriously objected to it, as to en-
danger the faith of Catholics.
1t was only in after times, whom through ig
norance or malice, some openly denied her Inn
in her wisdom and good time, spoke authorita-
lively to all her children, showing them all and
individually what has always been her doctrine
in this matter.
So far for US Catholics 4; we go by the teach
ing of tie Church each one of us had not the
ambition making little Pnna of himaalf and