“For she was most pure in the matter of fault and incurred neither
original nor mental nor venial sin.”
4
Interestingly, Martin Luther, who Protestants claim as their founder,
certainly did believe in the Immaculate Conception:
“It is a sweet and pious belief that the infusion of Mary’s soul was
effected without Original Sin; so that in the very infusion of her soul
she was also purified from Original Sin and adorned with God’s
gifts, receiving a pure soul infused by God; thus from the first
moment she began to live, she was free from all sin.”
5
Sixth objection: “The Immaculate Conception is another recent
invention of Rome. It was not believed before 1854.”
The Immaculate Conception has always been the belief of the Church,
being implicitly contained in the Church’s teaching of the Virgin Mary’s
absolute purity and sinlessness. Just as Our Lord “grew in grace and
wisdom,” that is, manifested increasing signs of wisdom as He increased in
years, so the Church, which possesses the wisdom of God from her origin,
manifests it only according to the order of providence and her children’s
needs. If the Church did not believe in the Immaculate Conception before
1854, how was it that Popes and Councils over centuries made continuous
and explicit references to the doctrine in their pronouncements:
(i)
Pope Sixtus IV, Constitution Cum Praeexcelsa (1477); Grave
Nimis (1483).
(ii)
Council of Trent, Decree on Original Sin (1546).
(iii)
Pope St. Pius V, Bull Ex Omnibus Afflictionibus (1567).
(iv)
Pope Alexander VII, Brief Sollicitudo Omnium Ecclesiarum
(1661).
4
Expositio super Salutatione Angelica (c. 1272-1273).
5
Sermon, On the Day of the Conception of Mary, the Mother of God (Dec. 8,
1527): quoted in Grisar, Luther, Vol. 4, p. 238.
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