B. “entirely without sin”

THE ANSWER IS…..B…..”entirely without sin.”

Martin Luther wrote: “She is full of grace, proclaimed to be entirely without sin—something exceedingly great. For God's grace fills her with everything good and makes her devoid of all evil.” (Personal {"Little"} Prayer Book, 1522).

Martin Luther also wrote:

“It is a sweet and pious belief that the infusion of Mary's soul was effected without original sin; so that in the very infusion of her soul she was also purified from original sin and adorned with God's gifts, receiving a pure soul infused by God; thus from the first moment she began to live she was free from all sin" (Martin Luther: Sermon: "On the Day of the Conception of the Mother of God," 1527).

St. Augustine, a Doctor of the Church, said that in honor of our Lord Jesus Christ, we should not even question the fact that the holy Virgin Mary was without sin.

"Having excepted the holy Virgin Mary, concerning whom, on account of the honor of the Lord, I wish to have absolutely no question when treating of sins—for how do we know what abundance of grace for the total overcoming of sin was conferred upon her, who merited to conceive and bear him in whom there was no sin?—so, I say, with the exception of the Virgin, if we could have gathered together all those holy men and women, when they were living here, and had asked them whether they were without sin, what do we suppose would have been their answer?" (Nature and Grace 36:42 [A.D. 415]).

According to the Bible, the Blessed Mother said that “all generations” would call her “blessed.” (Luke 1:48)

Catholic try to be Biblical by giving her the title “Blessed.”

In Luke 1:28, an angel calls her “full of grace.”

In Luke 1:42, the Blessed Mother is called “most blessed among women.”

God gave her so much grace that she was able to avoid sin. The rest of us will be given enough grace to avoid sin once we get to heaven, but God, understandably, wanted the Mother of Jesus to have a purified soul that would be prepared to raise our Savior. It is only because of our Lord’s Sacrifice on Calvary that this kind of abundance of grace was made available to her. The Lord was her Savior, just as much as he was our Savior.

www.catholicculture.org/docs/doc_view.cfm?recnum=788 (Martin Luther’s Devotion to Mary)

http://ic.net/~erasmus/RAZHOME.HTM (Biblical Defense of Catholicism)

http://www.ewtn.com/library/ANSWERS/FR94101.HTM (The Protestant Reformation and Mary)

www.tanbooks.com/doct/facts_luther.htm (foul language of Luther)

http://www.ewtn.com/library/PAPALDOC/L10EXDOM.HTM (Pope Leo X’s condemnation of Martin Luther’s errors)

www.catholic.com/library/Mary_Full_of_Grace.asp (Early Church Fathers on Mary’s sinlessness)

Back to www.StillCatholic.com

Quick Links: Church Fathers, Life of St. Augustine, St. Irenaeus (Bishop of Lyons), Clement of Rome, Clement of Alexandria, St. Ignatius of Antioch, Pelagianism, The Confessions by St. Augustine, The City of God by St. Augustine, the Martyrdom of Polycarp, Epistle to St. Polycarp, St. Basil the Great, St. Cyril of Jerusalem, St. Cyprian of Carthage, St. Jerome, St. Gregory of Nyssa, St. Barnabas, St. John Chrysostom, St. Ambrose, Eusebius, The Faith of the Early Church Fathers book, Did the Church Fathers Believe in Sola Scriptura? Foundations of Protestantism, Reformation, Martin Luther, John Calvin, Calvinism, Ulrich Zwingli, Henry VIII, Gnosticism, Justification, Grace, the Catholic Church, Suppression of Monasteries, Celibacy of the Clergy, On Nature and Grace, Methodism, John Wesley, Church of England, Anglican Church, Summa Theologica, Council of Trent, Fathers of the Church, Life of St. Augustine, Clement of Rome, Pope Leo the Great, Pope Gregory the Great, Apostolic Succession, Still Catholic, Catholic Encyclopedia, Bible, Catechism, Catechism by Topic, Jesus Christ, Vatican Web Site, Catholic Answers, Vatican Radio, U.S. Bishops, Saints, Hot Entertainment, Christian Pilgrimages, Catholic News Service, Catholic World News, Zenit (Pope News), Catholic Blogs, Catholic Information Network, St. Peter, Patron Saints, Church Fathers, St. Augustine, The 21 Ecumenical Councils, Eternal World Television Network (EWTN), Catholic Almanac, Our Sunday Visitor, Ignatius Press, Tan Books, Google News, Doctors of the Catholic Church, Young Adult Groups, Online Dating, Ave Maria Singles, Mass Times.org, Marriage Encounter, Today's Mass Readings, Scripture and Tradition, Movie Reviews, Real Presence Association, Eucharist, Order of the Mass, Church History, Catholic Reformation, Annulments, Natural Family Planning, Catholic Apologetics, How to Say the Rosary, the Seven Sacraments, Lent, Purgatory, Heaven, Hell, Catholic Colleges, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, St. Catherine of Siena, St. Padre Pio, St. Francis of Assisi, Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI, Catholic Distance University, St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, Dr. Scott Hahn, Jimmy Akin, Michael Dubruiel, Amy Welborn, Catholic Exchange, Catholic Apologetics Network, Biblical Evidence for Catholicism, Catholic Apologetics Links, Catholic Apologetics (Coronum), Scripture Catholic, Catholic Theology Articles, Theology Library, National Catholic Bioethics Center, Catholic Culture, Summa Theologica, Confessions, City of God, G.K. Chesterton, Existence of God,. Still Catholic.