Athanasius of Suffering World has an excellent post on Our Lady's Immaculate Conception - we are not, of course, too late to talk about it, since the Feast of old had an Octave (and still does as far as I am concerned). He has also made use of his skills as a Classicist and has traced the etymological significances of the Latin Gratia and the Greek Kharis in relation to the unique relationship between God and His Immaculate Mother. His introduction to this exquisite piece was informative also, since I had forgotten that Pope Pius IX had sought the ''opinion'' of the Bishops on the matter of this logical Doctrine. I can't say I agree with the Pope in this sense - by implication his actions mean that doctrinal orthodoxy rests solely upon consensus rather than the authority of the Church (what would the position of the Traditional Latin Mass now be if the present Holy Father had sought the opinion of the Bishops!?). I once spoke to an eminent Church historian (my tutor in fact) about why the Orthodox faithful, with their wonderful liturgical tradition (preserved in tact, unlike us Westerners, in the last 40 years - well except the Russians and the Greeks of course), disagreed so vehemently with the Doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, and his response was that we placed more emphasis upon St Augustine's understanding of Original Sin than they did. Indeed, St Augustine was little known in the East until the Middle Ages. To me, the doctrine represents the logical result of one argument to the next. That is not to say that Catholic Doctrine can be ''explained'' always using syllogistic arguments (can anyone fully explain the mystery of the Blessed Trinity, or the Hypostatic Union?), but in the case of Our Lady, whose personal spotlessness and eternal beauty are far beyond the reach of any of our minds, the doctrine of her Immaculate Conception is both a mystery and very logical - I wonder whether in this respect she acts as a kind of mediator between the eternal mystery of God and the understanding and logic of the minds of Men? Surely understanding and mystery emanate from the same Divine source?
Do read the post, it's excellent.
Thank you for the link and your kind comments, Patricius!
ReplyDeleteI think in regard to the Pope writing to the Bishops it should be taken more as 'check' on the faith of the laity - John Henry Newman explained in his 'On consulting the laity' that 'consult' here was more like a doctor checking the pulse of a patient rather than asking the patient's opinion! I think that the Church has always had a belief in the Immaculate Conception (the Orthodox more or less do too, albeit without the concept of original sin as you explain), but the doubts over the theological explanation delayed the pronouncement. Therefore, rather than overriding the notion of Tradition, the IC is actually a perfect embodiment of that Tradition preserved by the Church in her laity even when the academics and hierarchy could not agree. The Pope could exercise his infallible authority simply by confirming that Sacred Tradition and putting an end to all doubt!
Of course, nowadays you can't rely on bishops and laity to believe in what has been handed down at all...
Yes, I just want to affirm Athanasius' remarks about the Orthodox. At my friends Greek Orthodox church, there are iconographic style paintings on the wall depicting the Immaculate Conception of Mary, so it is present in Orthodox belief.
ReplyDeleteCwA - Are you sure? I know some so-called Orthodox believe it privately but it is not a defined article of faith in the Orthodox church
ReplyDeleteWell unless my eyes deceived me. Even if they did my Orthodox friend said quite openly that it was the Immaculate Conception. The idea of articles of faith is not really an Orthodox concept (from what I've studied anyway). They believe a lot, but little is written down in the forms of documents. 'Latins' are for more prescriptive.
ReplyDeleteSo you may be right, that it is not an 'article of faith' in the East but it is held as you say 'privately'. I could be talking rubbish. I shall silence myself now!!