Pope Francis reflected on the mystery of the Immaculate Conception at his Angelus address on Friday, December 8th, as the Church celebrates the Marian Solemnity.
Ahead of the traditional prayer of Marian devotion, Pope Francis said the words of the angel Gabriel in the Gospel of Luke contain the key to understanding the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception.
The Pope said Gabriel calls Mary “full of grace”, even before pronouncing her name.
In this way, he said, God “reveals the new name, which God has given her and which befits her more than the one given by her parents.”
The Holy Father said “full of grace” means that “Mary is full of the presence of God”.
“And if she is entirely pervaded by God, there is no place in her for sin. This is extraordinary,” he said, “because unfortunately the whole world is contaminated by evil.”
Mary alone, he continued, is the “ever-green oasis” of humanity. She is “the only uncontaminated person, immaculately created to welcome fully – with her ‘yes’ – God who came into the world”.
Pope Francis went on to say that, when we call Mary “full of grace”, we are paying her “the greatest compliment, which is the same offered her by God.
Because Mary is without sin, he said, she is immune to ageing, since “sin makes one old, not age”, and worthy of the name tota pulchra, or “all fair” or “completely beautiful”.
“Since her youth depends not on age, her beauty consists not on external appearances. Mary, as the day’s Gospel shows, does not excel in appearance. She is from a simple family; she lived humbly in Nazareth, an almost unknown place.”
Finally, Pope Francis reflected on the secret of the “beautiful life” lived by Mary, “full of grace”. {1}
Ahead of the traditional prayer of Marian devotion, Pope Francis said the words of the angel Gabriel in the Gospel of Luke contain the key to understanding the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception.
The Pope said Gabriel calls Mary “full of grace”, even before pronouncing her name.
In this way, he said, God “reveals the new name, which God has given her and which befits her more than the one given by her parents.”
The Holy Father said “full of grace” means that “Mary is full of the presence of God”.
“And if she is entirely pervaded by God, there is no place in her for sin. This is extraordinary,” he said, “because unfortunately the whole world is contaminated by evil.”
Mary alone, he continued, is the “ever-green oasis” of humanity. She is “the only uncontaminated person, immaculately created to welcome fully – with her ‘yes’ – God who came into the world”.
Pope Francis went on to say that, when we call Mary “full of grace”, we are paying her “the greatest compliment, which is the same offered her by God.
Because Mary is without sin, he said, she is immune to ageing, since “sin makes one old, not age”, and worthy of the name tota pulchra, or “all fair” or “completely beautiful”.
“Since her youth depends not on age, her beauty consists not on external appearances. Mary, as the day’s Gospel shows, does not excel in appearance. She is from a simple family; she lived humbly in Nazareth, an almost unknown place.”
Finally, Pope Francis reflected on the secret of the “beautiful life” lived by Mary, “full of grace”. {1}
Is the Douay-Rheims Roman Catholic translation of Luke 1:28 equivalent to saying that Mary was without sin?
And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. (KJV).
And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” (Luke 1:28). (ESV).
And the angel being come in, said unto her: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. (Douay-Rheims Roman Catholic Bible).
And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. (KJV).
And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” (Luke 1:28). (ESV).
And the angel being come in, said unto her: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. (Douay-Rheims Roman Catholic Bible).
Gabriel greeted Mary as: "favoured one", verb - perfect passive participle - nominative singular feminine. Gabriel himself explains the unusual manner of his greeting to Mary for us: But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. (Luke 1:30). To have "found favour with God", indicates that God's grace/favour was bestowed upon her. The phrase demonstrates nothing more than was said of Noah, Moses and David.
The Greek verb in question is charitoo - Mary is a recipient of God's grace and as such highly favoured:
"Cognate: 5487 xaritóō (from 5486 /xárisma, "grace," see there) – properly, highly-favored because receptive to God's grace. 5487 (xaritóō) is used twice in the NT (Lk 1:28 and Eph 1:6), both times of God extending Himself to freely bestow grace (favor)." {2}
The other occurrence of charitoo in the New Testament:
..to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. (Ephesians 1:6).
As events in Luke's gospel progress, Mary's own language (and also that of her cousin Elizabeth), confirm that she is indeed highly favoured and blessed. However, to say that Mary is sinless is to wander off into dangerous error and idolatry. Mary confesses that God is her Saviour in Luke 1:47. In other words, God is Mary's saviour and deliverer. If Mary had no sin she would not need to be saved or delivered.
And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her. (Luke 1:38).
And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.” (Luke 1:41-45).
And Mary said,
“My soul magnifies the Lord,and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for he who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.. "(Luke 1:46-49).
The prophet Daniel received a comparable greeting from Gabriel:
And he said, “O man highly esteemed (greatly loved) fear not, peace be with you; be strong and of good courage.” And as he spoke to me, I was strengthened and said, “Let my lord speak, for you have strengthened me.” (Daniel 10:19; cf. Daniel 9:23,10:11,19, ).
Stephen was "full of grace": And Stephen, full of grace (charitos) and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people.(Acts 6:8 cf. Acts 6:5).
God is able to make all grace abound to you.. (2 Corinthians 9:8; cf. 1 Peter 1:2).
The term "full of grace" does not depict sinlessness unless it is applied to Jesus Christ:
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14).
The term "full of grace" does not depict sinlessness unless it is applied to Jesus Christ:
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14).
The Assumption of Mary
The Assumption of Mary is the Roman Catholic dogma set out in the Apostolic Constitution of Pope Pius XII on November 1st 1950:
The Assumption of Mary is the Roman Catholic dogma set out in the Apostolic Constitution of Pope Pius XII on November 1st 1950:
The Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory [Pius XII, Munificentissimus Deus 44]. {3}
Munificentissimus Deus is an extremely problematic document, and although Pope Pius XII declared the Assumption of Mary an infallible divinely revealed dogma, it directly contradicts the scriptures. Concerning Mary's perpetual virginity, Matthew 1:25 tells us that Joseph did not know Mary intimately until after she gave birth to Jesus. Mark 6:3 and Matthew 13:55–56 refer to James, Joseph, Jude and Simon, the brothers of Jesus, the son of Mary. These verses also refer to the sisters (plural) of Jesus. Concerning Mary's alleged Assumption, nothing is heard of her after Acts 1:14. The critical choice before us is whether we trust the inerrancy of the scriptures or the alleged infallibility of Papal doctrines. (Proverbs 30:6).
Forever, O LORD, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens. (Psalm 119:89 cf. Psalm 119:160; Isaiah 40:8; Matthew 24:35; 1 Peter 1:25).
Forever, O LORD, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens. (Psalm 119:89 cf. Psalm 119:160; Isaiah 40:8; Matthew 24:35; 1 Peter 1:25).
John's vision in the book of Revelation describes a “beast" (the Antichrist), rising out of the sea having seven heads and ten horns (Revelation 13:1). The dragon (Satan) gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority. (Revelation 13:2). ..the whole earth marvelled as they followed the beast. And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?” (Revelation 13:3-4). .. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation. (Revelation 13:7). Daniel’s vision of the four beasts confirms a final world government, consisting of a confederacy of ten kings (horns), corresponding to the ten toes in Daniel 2:39-43, who will yield their power and authority to the beast. (Revelation 17:12-13).
..terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth; it devoured and broke in pieces and stamped what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. (Daniel 7:16-24 cf. Daniel 2:41-42).
Since Vatican II, Evangelicals and Catholics Together (ECT), Rome has been swallowing up whole denominations piecemeal, despite the fact that the reasons for the Reformation remain, and have in fact widened. The Mariology statements set out in Munificentissimus Deus took place in 1950 and were not known to the Reformers. Furthermore, the treasury of merit, purgatory, indulgences, justification through the sacraments, and other false doctrines were all reaffirmed in 1992 in the updated Catechism of the Catholic Church. Shortly after his election, Pope Francis met with leaders of various denominations including Orthodox, Anglican, Lutheran, Methodist, and also Jewish, Muslim and Buddhist leaders. Like his immediate predecessors, his aim is for all religions to unite for peace and justice under Rome.
..terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth; it devoured and broke in pieces and stamped what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. (Daniel 7:16-24 cf. Daniel 2:41-42).
Since Vatican II, Evangelicals and Catholics Together (ECT), Rome has been swallowing up whole denominations piecemeal, despite the fact that the reasons for the Reformation remain, and have in fact widened. The Mariology statements set out in Munificentissimus Deus took place in 1950 and were not known to the Reformers. Furthermore, the treasury of merit, purgatory, indulgences, justification through the sacraments, and other false doctrines were all reaffirmed in 1992 in the updated Catechism of the Catholic Church. Shortly after his election, Pope Francis met with leaders of various denominations including Orthodox, Anglican, Lutheran, Methodist, and also Jewish, Muslim and Buddhist leaders. Like his immediate predecessors, his aim is for all religions to unite for peace and justice under Rome.
Billy Graham can pick up the tab as the man chiefly responsible for evangelicalisms movement toward Rome since the 1950s. Both Franklin Graham and Anne Graham Lotz have followed in his footsteps. Some other names involved in the mammoth slide towards Rome are Rick Warren, Kenneth Copeland, Joel Osteen, Bill Johnson, James Robison, John and Carol Arnott and Benny Hinn. On June 10 2016, various New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) fake "apostles and prophets", including Mike Bickle, Ché Ahn, Kris Vallotton and Stacey Campbell–attended a private meeting with the Pope along with dozens of other Protestant leaders from North America and Europe. In fact it is extremely rare to find a church these days that is not involved in ecumenism. They have all abandoned the essential principles of the apostles teaching (Acts 2:42) and the Reformation. (Romans 3:12-13). Luther and the early reformers emphasised scripture over tradition, faith over works, and grace over merit, as distinct from Roman Catholic doctrine.{4} The gospel plus anything else is a false gospel. The onset of the end time apostasy and one world religion prophesied in the scriptures is well and truly upon us:
And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. (Matthew 24:10-14).
Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and with the wine of whose sexual immorality the dwellers on earth have become drunk.” And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns. The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality. And on her forehead was written a name of mystery: “Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth’s abominations.” And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. (Revelation 17:1-6).
“Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues; for her sins are heaped high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. (Revelation 18:4-5).
{1} http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/12/08/pope_angelus_immaculate_conception/1353687
{2} http://biblehub.com/greek/5487.htm
{3} http://w2.vatican.va/content/pius-xii/en/apost_constitutions/documents/hf_p-xii_apc_19501101_munificentissimus-deus.html{4} https://archive.org/stream/fourhundredyear00daugoog#page/n292/mode/2up{1} http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/12/08/pope_angelus_immaculate_conception/1353687
{2} http://biblehub.com/greek/5487.htm