Description

As the Roman Catholic church celebrated the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, Jorge Bergoglio, also known as Pope Francis, reflected on what they consider to be the mystery of the Marian Solemnity.  The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception is their teaching that Mary was conceived in her mother Anne’s womb, without original sin.  In his address on Friday, December 8^th, Pope Francis built on this belief by stating that Mary was “full of grace” which meant she was without sin.   He went on to explain that being “full of grace” meant that Mary was full of the presence of God and therefore there was no place for sin.

Was Mary a sinless one?  The four dogmas of Mariology are Perpetual Virginity, Immaculate Conception, Divine Motherhood, and Assumption.  In these teachings the Catholic church has proclaimed that she was always a virgin, never was the subject of original sin, never sinned, intercedes to the Father as we pray to her, and was assumed to heaven without dying.  She is the Queen of Heaven, the Divine Mother of God.  Does this make her a goddess?

The question before us is this:  “Is Mary a goddess?”  Over 1.1 billion Catholics seem to believe this (in practice if not in belief).  What is of importance to us, however, is what the Bible has to say about Mary.  She was “highly favored” by God.   In this lesson we will discuss the birth of our Lord and His impact upon the world as the Savior of mankind and Mary’s role in the Divine plan.