#virginmary — Public Fediverse posts

https://www.laviezine.com/1633942/nj-teen-set-on-priesthood-had-virgin-mary-vision-before-tumor-shrank/ NJ teen set on priesthood had Virgin Mary vision before tumor shrank #BrainTumor #CatholicChurch #Exclusive #God #lifestyle #NewJersey #NewYork #NewYorkCity #NYC #priests #Religion #students #teens #VirginMary

Immaculate Conception

This is the doctrine that the Virgin Mary was/is free from original sin from the moment of her conception. It’s 1 of the 4 Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. The feast day of the Immaculate Conception is December 8.

It wasn’t defined as a dogma until 1854, by Pope Pius IX in the papal bull Ineffabilis Deus. While the Immaculate Conception asserts Mary’s freedom from original sin, the Council of Trent (1545-1563) had previously affirmed her freedom from personal sin non-dogmatically.

Many Protestant churches reject this doctrine as unscriptural. Some Anglicans accept this as a pious devotion. The teaching of the Immaculate Conception among Oriental Orthodoxy varies. The Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church & the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church accept it.

Anne (who eventually becomes a saint), the mom of the Virgin Mary & Jesus’ maternal grandma, shows up for the 1st time in the 2nd-century apocryphal Gospel of James. Anne & her husband Joachim (who also became a saint) were infertile. But God heard their prayers. Mary was then conceived.

Within the Gospel of James, Mary’s conception happens without physical sexual intercourse between Anne & Joachim. This is to demonstrate Mary’s purity. The Eastern Orthodox Church believes that Mary was conceived by her parents like we all were.

Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, & Cyrus of Jerusalem came up with the idea of Mary as the new Eve. While yet immaculate & incorrupt, she wasn’t subject to original sin. Ephraim the Syrian said she was as innocent as Eve before the Fall.

Ambrose asserted Mary’s incorruptibility, attributing her virginity to grace & immunity from sin. Severus, the Bishop of Antioch, agreed to affirm Mary’s purity & immaculateness. John of Damascus extended the supernatural influence of God to Mary’s parents. This suggests they were purified by the Holy Spirit during her generation. According to John of Damascus, even the material of Mary’s origin was deemed pure & holy.

By the 4th century, the idea of Mary being free from sin was more widespread. But her being free from original sin, passed down from the OGs Adam & Eve, raised questions. The question became more acute when the feast of Mary’s conception brought the objection that, as adult spicy time is sinful, & to celebrate Mary’s conception was to celebrate a sinful act. (Let’s get 1 thing straight: God doesn’t make married adult spicy time between 2 consenting MARRIED adults a sin! He (God) in fact encourages a healthy marital sex life. “Be fruitful & multiply,” ring any bells! And how exactly do we multiply? This is the conclusion of our TED talk.)

The feast of Mary’s conception came from the Eastern Church in the 7th century. It reached England in the 11th century. From there, it spread out to Europe. It was given official approval in 1477 & extended to the whole church in 1693. The word “immaculate” wasn’t used until 1854.

This doctrine caused a “civil war” between the Franciscans & the Dominicans during the Middle Ages. The Franciscan “Scotists” were in favor & the Dominican “Thomists” against it.

The English ecclesiastic & scholar Eadmer (circa 1060-circa 1126) reasoned that Mary might have been conceived without original sin because of God’s omnipotence. It was also appropriate for her role as Mother of God. Potuit, decuit, fecit: “it was possible, it was fitting, therefore it was done.”

Others, like St. Bernard of Clairvaux (of the St. Bernard dog breed fame, 1090-1153) & Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) objected because if Mary were free of original sin at her superfluous conception. Then she would have no need of redemption. Thus making Christ’s saving redemption unneeded.

In 1439, the Council of Basel, in schism with Pope Eugene IV (who lived at the Council of Florence), declared the Immaculate Conception a “pious opinion” consistent with faith & Scripture. The Council of Trent made no explicit declaration on the topic. But did exempt her from the universality of original sin.

They also affirmed that she remained free from all stains of sin during her life, even the venial ones. By 1571, the revised Roman Breviary set out an elaborate celebration of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8.

Some devotees go so far as to hold that Anne had conceived Mary just by kissing her husband. They also believe that (St.) Anne’s dad & grandma had likewise been conceived without spicy adult time. However, (St.) Bridget of Sweden (circa 1303-1373) told how Mary herself had revealed to her that Anne & Joachim conceived their daughter through a spicy adult time, which was sinless because it was pure & free of sexual lust.

In the 16th & 17th centuries, Spain exploded with Immaculatist devotion. This led the Habsburg monarchs to demand the Holy See elevate this belief to the status of dogma.

In France in 1830, Catherine Laboure (May 2, 1806-December 31, 1876) saw a vision of Mary standing on a globe while a voice commanded her to have a medal made in imitation of what she saw. The medal said, “O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee,” which was a confirmation from Mary herself that she was conceived without sin. Laboure’s vision marked the beginning of a great 19th-century Marian revival.

In 1849, Pope Pius IX issued the encyclical Ubi primum, soliciting the bishops of the church for their views on whether the doctrine should be defined as dogma. 90% of those who responded were supportive. Although the Archbishop of Paris, Marie-Dominique-Auguste Sibour, warned that the Immaculate Conception “could be proved neither from the Scriptures nor from tradition.”

In 1854, the Immaculate Conception dogma was proclaimed with the bull Ineffabilis Deus. Ineffabilis Deus found the Immaculate Conception in the Ark of Salvation (Noah’s Ark), Jacob’s Ladder, the Burning Bush at Sinai, the Enclosed Garden from the Song of Song/Song of Solomon, & many more passages.

The pope’s advisors singled out 2 Bible passages: Genesis 3:15 – “I’ll put enmity between you & the woman.” This is a prophecy which reached fulfillment in the figure of the Woman in Revelation, crowned with stars & trampling the Dragon underfoot. Luke 1:28 – Specifically the phrase “full of grace” by which Gabriel greeted Mary was another reference to her Immaculate Conception: “she was never subject to the curse & was, together with her Son, the only partaker of perpetual benediction.”

Four years after the proclamation of the dogma, in 1858, the young Bernadette Soubirous (of the Lourdes grotto fame) said that Mary appeared to her at Lourdes in southern France, to announce that she was the Immaculate Conception. The Catholic Church later endorsed the apparition as authentic. There are other “approved” Marian apparitions in which Mary identified herself as the Immaculate Conception. For example, Our Lady of Gietrzwald in 1877, Poland.

The feast day of the Immaculate Conception is December 8. The Roman Missal (which contains texts & rubrics (a set of rules)) & the Roman Rite Liturgy of the Hours (a set of Catholic prayers) include references to Mary’s Immaculate Conception in the feast of the Immaculate Conception.

Its celebration seems to have begun in the Eastern church in the 7th century & may have spread to Ireland by the 8th century. The earliest well-attested record in the Western Church is from England early in the 11th century. It was suppressed there after the Norman Conquest (1066). The 1st thorough exposition of the doctrine was a response to this suppression. It continued to spread through the 15th century despite accusations of heresy from the Thomists & strong objections from several prominent theologians.

Beginning around 1140, St. Bernard of Clairvaux (Yes, like the dog breed. That’s where the dog breed got its name.), a Cistercian monk (This is a religious order of monks & nuns that branched off from the Benedictines.), wrote to Lyons Cathedral to express his surprise & dissatisfaction that it had recently begun to be observed there.

But in 1477, Pope Lixtus IV, who was a devoted Immaculist, put it on the Roman calendar via the papal bull called Cum praexcelsa. In 1481 & 1483, Pope Sixtus IV published 2 more bulls which prohibited anyone from preaching or teaching against the Immaculate Conception, or for either side to accuse the other of heresy, under threats of excommunication.

Pope Pius V kept the Feast on the Tridentine calendar. But suppressed the word “Immaculate.” Pope Gregory XV, in 1622, prohibited any public or private assertion that Mary was conceived in sin. In 1624, Pope Urban VIII allowed the Franciscans to establish a military order dedicated to the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception.

The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo & Eritrean Orthodox Tewahed Churches believe in the Immaculate Conception of the Theotokos. The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church celebrates the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on August 13 (Nehasie 7).

Eastern Orthodoxy does not exempt Mary from original sin. But they do affirm Mary’s purity & preservation from personal sin.

In the mid-1800s, some Catholics who were unable to accept the doctrine of papal infallibility left the Roman Church & formed the Old Catholic Church. They reject the Immaculate Conception.

Protestants overwhelmingly condemned the announcement of Ineffabilis Deus. Protestants teach that Mary was a sinner, saved through grace, like everyone else.

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#KYSupremeCourt: Denial of #ZoningPermit to #Church Did Not Violate RLUIPA

In Missionaries of Saint John the Baptist, Inc. v. Frederic, (KY Sup. Ct., Dec. 18,2025), the #KentuckySupremeCourt held that #RLUIPA was not violated by denying a conditional use permit to a #church that wished to build a grotto to honor the #VirginMary’s appearance at a grotto in #Lourdes, #France.

https://religionclause.blogspot.com/2025/12/ky-supreme-court-denial-of-zoning.html

Today’s Thought “Idols are nothing against the first and the last God” (June 20)

In this world, we do find people who adhere to many gods. Lots of idols are worshipped as if they are helping gods. The Divine Creator, the El-Elyon, Isra’el’s King and Redeemer, Adonai–Tzva’ot, the Lord of Armies, the Almighty said:

“6 … I am the first, and I am the last; and besides me there is no God. 7 And who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for me, since I established the ancient people? and the things that are coming, and that shall come to pass, let them declare. 8 Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have I not declared unto thee of old, and showed it? and ye are my witnesses. Is there a God besides me? yea, there is no Rock; I know not any.” (Isa 44:6-8 ASV)

“ I am Jehovah, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King.” (Isa 43:15 ASV)

He Who brought it about is the One Who never changes and should be praised as the Almighty, who called forth the generations from the beginning.

“ and the four living creatures, having each one of them six wings, are full of eyes round about and within: and they have no rest day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.” (Re 4:8 ASV)

“ Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I, Jehovah, the first, and with the last, I am he.” (Isa 41:4 ASV)

“ I am the Alpha and the Omega, saith the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” (Re 1:8 ASV)

People should know that there is no god like this Only One true God.

“ Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have I not declared unto thee of old, and showed it? and ye are my witnesses. Is there a God besides me? yea, there is no Rock; I know not any.” (Isa 44:8 ASV)

When Jerusalem fell, the enemies of Israel would claim that their gods were stronger than the God of Israel. It would take faith to believe that Israel’s God had a long term plan in which his people would return, and life would resume in the land promised to Abraham. Jehovah God had promised them forgiveness, Isaiah is saying, and He could be trusted, because His prophecies always come true. Many thousands of years later the majority still prefers to have faith in their own gods and idols, hoping they can do the best for them. Lots of people have made themselves graven images of their gods and of people they call saints. Lots of people claim that when they worship such an image, it is really a god or a ‘saint’ in heaven that they are worshipping, and the sculpture is only a representation of the real thing. But in truth, the heathen god they believe in has no existence. And the ‘saint’ whose icon they kiss is nothing but dust in the grave. They have no power to save. This happens also a lot in so-called Christian households.
Some centuries ago several protestant churches fought against those worshippers of statues. They even went so far to destroy those crosses and statues in churches. But from the 1980ies we saw again crosses and statues and painted windows appearing in protestant churches.

In many churches and households, people believe they can burn a candle in front of a picture of a Virgin Mary or Buddha. They are deceived. They are putting their trust in an illusion. Only the living God can see, and hear, and save. They should come to know that there is nobody like Jehovah.

“ For who is God, save Jehovah? And who is a rock, besides our God,” (Ps 18:31 ASV)

“5  I am Jehovah, and there is none else; besides me there is no God. I will gird thee, though thou hast not known me; 6 that they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none besides me: I am Jehovah, and there is none else.” (Isa 45:5-6 ASV)

“ saying to them that are bound, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Show yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and on all bare heights shall be their pasture.” (Isa 49:9 ASV)

“ Unto thee it was showed, that thou mightest know that Jehovah he is God; there is none else besides him.” (De 4:35 ASV)

“ They that fashion a graven image are all of them vanity; and the things that they delight in shall not profit; and their own witnesses see not, nor know: that they may be put to shame.” (Isa 44:9 ASV)

“ Let all them be put to shame that serve graven images, That boast themselves of idols: Worship him, all ye gods.” (Ps 97:7 ASV)

The crosses, statues, paintings and idols in which so many people take such pride and delight are delectable things. People give a lot of value to them and give a lot of hope in them, but those engraved images have in reality no value for the spiritual life. Those who profess and teach that one could, is according to God a teacher of lies.

“ What profiteth the graven image, that the maker thereof hath graven it; the molten image, even the teacher of lies, that he that fashioneth its form trusteth therein, to make dumb idols?” (Hab 2:18 ASV)

Both the makers and the idols, are witnesses against themselves, for the idols palpably see and know nothing.

“4 Their idols are silver and gold, The work of men’s hands. 5 They have mouths, but they speak not; Eyes have they, but they see not; 6 They have ears, but they hear not; Noses have they, but they smell not; 7 They have hands, but they handle not; Feet have they, but they walk not; Neither speak they through their throat. 8 They that make them shall be like unto them; Yea, every one that trusteth in them.” (Ps 115:4-8 ASV)

Make sure that you do not belong to those who bow in front of crosses or pictures of God or a god, Jesus or another person, so that you shall not fail to see or know and shall not be put to shame.

“All who make idols are nothing, and the things they treasure are worthless. Those who would speak up for them are blind; they are ignorant, to their own shame.” (Isa 44:9 NIV)

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Preceding

To make God a man

Today’s Thought “The One Who brought it about” (June 17)

Today’s Thought “The servant, His chosen one, whom God supports and in whom God takes pleasure.” (June 18)

Today’s Thought “Witnessing servants of God” (June 19)

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Additional reading

1. A Book to trust #12 Archaeology confirming or denying claims of the Bible #3 Material evidence to survive
2. Christian in Christendom or in Christianity
3. Displeasures and Actions of the Almighty God
4. Forbidden Fruit in the Midst of the Garden 4
5. After darkness a moment of life renewal
6. Main verses in the Bible telling us Who God is #1 Exclusive Divine Eternal Unseen Creator and Sovereign Spirit God with set apart Name Jehovah
7. Main verses in the Bible telling us Who God is #8 Some more attributes of God
8. Paul’s warning about false stories and his call to quit touching the unclean thing
9. Seeds and weeds for being the greatest nation
10. Necessity of a revelation of creation 11 Believing and obeying the gospel of the Kingdom of God
11. From nothingness to a growing group of followers of Jeshua 4 Trusting the Right One

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