On December 8, 1854, Pope Pius IX put forth the Doctrine of The Immaculate Conception: “The Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instance of Her conception, by a singular privilege and grace granted by God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race, was preserved exempt from all stain of original sin.”
When this happened, some Catholics were joyful. Others, puzzled. “Why did the Pope do that? It will only make it more difficult for Protestants to become Catholics!”
Most Protestants did not care much one way or the other about The Doctrine of The Immaculate Conception. Some thought it was a little “extreme”. But, Protestant Fundamentalists cared. In the Doctrine, they could clearly see The Church, validating what they found in Scripture. They knew the Angel Gabriel told the truth in Luke, 1:29 when he announced: “Hail, Mary, full of Grace. The Lord is with Thee.” Real Fundamentalists had no trouble with Pope Pius IX’s Doctrine, and by it, many were encouraged to seek entry to The Church.
The Doctrine of the Immaculate Conception helps all humanity to see Mary’s importance. Catholic Fundamentalism believes that most things in The Creation Program were written and downloaded to provide a series of sieves with which wheat is separated from chaff. The Doctrine is such a sieve, separating complete from less complete believers.
If we haven’t thought much about Mary, we should do so. If Mary is not a part of our faith, we are missing something as important to God as our own mother is to us. God without Mary is like a person without a mother.
