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Show !: ; - : THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. i I 1 , - The historic Catholic Church unchangeable J ","'' iinKjrishnl'lo solemnly defined through -her j r, Supreme Pont iff", on the Sth of December, 1S51, the I ; doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of the Vir- " 1i sin Mother of God. in thee words: j "By ilie authority of ur Lord Jesus Christ, of f ' " the Blessed Apostles. Peter and Paul, and by our ! - ) own authority,-, we declare, pronounce and defhie j that ihe doctrine which holds that the most Blessed ?' 'i Virgin Mary, in the first instant of her conception, t by a special grace and privilege of Almighty God, ! . V in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior ! ' ; ; ? of mankind, was preserved free from all stains of h": 4 original sin. has been revealed by God, and Iherc- , fore is to be believed .firmly and steadfastly by all i the faithful." I j 1 ,? This is the authoritative defining of the doe- I . trine declaring the Blessed Virgin to have been i ' -. roncrived and born free of the mark or stain of - original sin. What is original sin? The sin we I , inhejit from our first parents, Adam and Eve, in ! f .1- whicli each tne of our race is conceived and born, I ; ; Uil which remains until removed by the Sacrament I i , 1 of Baidism. Aliat was the sin of Adam and Eve? I , It wa of triple nature, that is, of disobedience, of , i . i 'unbelief, of rebellion. Adam and Eve were created I 4 by God in sanctifying grace in purity, justice and j , holiness and when they rebelled against God, for j . 1 . all sin is-a rebellion, they lost their purity, justice ! , ( and holiness, and came under'the dominion of sin. T They could. not impart to their offspring that which tly had not themselves, that is, purity, jus-tice jus-tice and holiness.. Their children and their ehib i : V dren's children inherited their nature, and that j ; ; -a nature was a sinful nature. 1 '" Now, by the will of God, the Blessed Virgin, ; destined before the creation of Adam to be the J I Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, true God and true I r Man, was conceived in Eve's original state, that is, I , in purity, justice and holiness. That is, we take it, I ' what is meant by the Immaculate Conception of - -. the Blessed Virgin. All sin leaves a stain upon the ! soul, as the minutest drop of ink discolors white , cloth, but the sin of Adam, embracing all sin, 1 rl, . changed the original nature of the soul, and it is 1 . l this changed nature we all inherit. ,T Apart from the impregnable authority of Tloly I ; Fcripture, and the traditional support of ihe teach- : . f ing of the Church, it is clear to the enlightened in- , tellect, that our Blessed Redeemer could never I 1 have taken His own Divine flesh and blood from i a body that at any time was defiled by sin, or came ! under, even for an instant, the dominion of Satan. If The decree of the Eirst Council of Baltimore .ti t OSJ6), electing Mary in her Immaculate Concep- -l - tion principal Patron of the United States, wai : confirmed by Rome on February 7, 1 Long be- i : fore this, however, the Immaculate Conception was declared on the 8th of November, 1760, principal Patron of all the possessions of the Crown of j i Spain, including those of America. The feast in j . our republic is a holiday of obligation. |