How can we affirm that Holy Mary knew that she was an immaculate creature from the moment of conception in the womb of Saint Anne?
Newsroom (26/06/2023 11:13, Gaudium Press) Yes! Mary Most Holy knew this sublime and almost unique condition among human beings: conception without original sin. By the way, only four persons were created free from original sin: Jesus, in his humanity; Mary; Adam and Eve. The last two committed original sin. St. John the Baptist, although conceived with original sin, was “born” without it. Different situation.
But, how can we affirm that Holy Mary knew that she was an immaculate creature since the conception in the womb of Saint Anne? The angel’s greeting made her think deeply: “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee” (Lk 1:28). “She was troubled by these words and wondered what this greeting meant” (Lk 1:29). On the basis of these pericopes, the Church declared the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. The Holy Church has also based itself on this saying of Mary Most Holy, taken from the Magnificat: “For he who is mighty and whose name is holy has done great things for me” (Lk 1:49). If, historically, Mary really spoke the words that make up the Magnificat, it is of little importance, since, as Br Clodovis Boff explains, St Luke, at a later stage, presents us with a refined and literary text (“Social Mariology”, Paulus, p. 326), but one that is absolutely faithful to the events, especially since the author of the third Synoptic Gospel stands out as a meticulous historian.
To claim that Our Lady only came to know in heaven that she was immaculate, data maxima venia, seems to me to be an illusion lacking in historical and theological foundation. At the very least, obsequious silence would be appropriate here. In effect, “[…] paraphrasing Heraclitus: of the great Mysteries of God one must speak softly, putting one’s hand over one’s mouth and with the utmost veracity, as Aristotle himself recommended” (Clodovis Boff, “Experiência de Deus”, Paulus, p. 149). Would not the theologians who dare this kind of Marial assertion also insist on the heterodox Christological thesis that Jesus did not know that he was God and knew it only after Easter?
Edson Luiz Sampel
Professor at the Higher Institute of Canon Law of Londrina
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