'With regard to the doctrine of the Immaculate
Conception of the B.V.M., I think, in order to obtain a clear mind on the subject,
it is necessary to remember that the doctrine is not a modern "Roman Catholic
Invention" -indeed when the Vatican council declared it de fide they
claimed only to be confirming the teaching of the early fathers and bishops of
the Church-a claim which has very solid foundation. (It is a historical fact of
some interest that the doctrine was passionately held and defended by the Church
in England from very early days.) The meaning of the doctrine is simply that
Our Lord is truly human, taking substance of the Blessed
Virgin, and is the author of the new race. In order to break the entail of
original sin by the direct intervention of God and His prevenient Grace, Our
Lady was conceived without the stain of original sin (sine macula delicti)-hence
the word "immaculate"-and was saved by the childbearing of Jesus. So
the fathers can write of the Immaculate Virgin Mother of Her Saviour and ours.
Putting the dogma simply, what it amounts to is that by
the prevenient grace of God, Our Lady was conceived in that state of grace which
we are born into through the Sacrament of Baptism ....
'It is an interesting
and significant fact that the Feast of the Conception of the B.V.M. was left in
the Prayer Book Calendar by the reformers, while they removed, among other
feasts of Our Lady, the Assumption. The word "immaculate" does not
appear in the calendar because it was not in common use-but the whole meaning
of the Feast of the Conception of the B.V.M. depends upon the dogma that it was
unique-otherwise why keep a feast about it? Moreover the Christmas Preface of
the Prayer Book was inserted by the Reformers; it is not taken
from the Roman Misssal and is peculiar to the B.C.P. Here there is emphasis
upon Our Lord taking substance of the B.V.M. "and that without spot of
sin" -sine macula delicti-and the collect speaks of our Lord being born of a pure virgin.' (On another
occasion in the same context Raymond had written: written: 'Surely the word
"pure" means something more than that the Virgin Mary was qualified
to be a member of the Girls Friendly Society ?')
The Life of Raymond Raynes
Raymond Mosley (Author)
No comments:
Post a Comment