Immaculate Conception

… zvaMaria, kwete Jesu!

Vanhu vazhinji, kusanganisira maKatorike akawandisa, vanowanzokanganisa iyo Immaculate Conception yekunamba kwaJesu mudumbu raMaria.

Zvisinei, “Kunamba Kusina Kuchena” kunoreva kunambwa kwaMariya, kwete Jesu.

Chechi yeKaturike inoti Mariya akaberekwa asina kuchena–kuti nenyasha dzakakosha kubva kuna Mwari, “akachengetedzwa kubva pachivi chose chepakutanga” kubvira paakatanga kuvapo (Papa Pius IX, Mwari asingataurike). Izvi hazvisi zvakanyanya a zvinodiwa zvinodiwa sezvazviri zvakakodzera nokuda kwekudaidzwa kwake kwakasiyana kuti abereke Mwanakomana waMwari. Saka, tinoona Mary se Evha Mutsva uye Areka yeSungano Itsva.

Mukubereka Jesu, Maria akaita zvisina kumboitwa nechimwe chisikwa. “Akabereka Mwanakomana,” akanyora Saint Clare weAssisi (d. 1253), “Iye denga rakanga risingagoni kumuringana; asi iye akamutakura murutanda rwedumbu rake tsvene, akamubata pachipfuva chake choumhandara.” (Tsamba yechitatu kuna Agnes Akaropafadzwa wePrague).

Dai Mwari vakasarudza mutadzi kuti ave mai veMwanakomana wavo? Ehe, kana Aida, Aigona kudaro. Asi zvakanga zvakakodzera chete kuti Anosarudza mhandara yakachena kwazvo.

Chaizvoizvo, Iyo Immaculate Conception inotidzidzisa nezvaJesu, zvichisimbisa sezvazvinoita hutsvene Hwake husinga nzwisisike. Chokwadi, Hutsvene hwaMaria hunonongedzera zvakananga kuhutsvene hwemwanakomana wake, uyo akanga ari mutsvene zvokuti munhu haangambofungi kuti akaitwa nenyama inotadza.

Vamwe vanowanzopikisa kuti Immaculate Conception haiwaniki muBhaibheri.

Ichokwadi kuti chirevo, “Immaculate Conception,” haiwaniki muBhaibheri, uye ichokwadiwo kuti Bhaibheri hapana parinotaura, “Maria akaberekwa asina chivi.” Asi ipapo, shoko rokuti “Utatu Hutsvene” hariwanikiwo muBhaibheri. Uyewo Bhaibheri haritauri, “Kuna Mwari mumwe chete wechokwadi, inoumbwa nevanhu vatatu vanogara nokusingaperi.”1

Zvisinei, dzidziso yeImmaculate Conception ingaratidzirwa kuva dzidziso yechokwadi yeBhaibheri.

Kusatadza kwaMaria kunoratidzwa zvakasimba, semuyenzaniso, mukuzvidza kwaMwari pamusoro peNyoka mu Genesis 3:15, “Ndichaisa ruvengo pakati pako nomukadzi, nepakati pembeu yako nembeu yake; ichakupwanya musoro, uye iwe uchamupwanya chitsitsinho chake. Pano chirongwa chehumwari chinoziviswa kudzoreredza hukama hwemunhu hwakadonha naMwari, zvakakonzerwa nekudarika kwaAdhamu naEvha. Maererano nechirongwa ichi, Mukadzi neMbeu Yake vachaparadzaniswa nevamwe vose vavazukuru vaAdhamu naEvha vakatadza—kuti vadzivirwe kutukwa kwechivi chokutanga., zvavanofanira kushandura. Kusachengetedzwa kwoMukadzi neMbeu Yake kunoratidzirwa no“ruvengo” urwo Mwari anopikira kuisa pakati pavo neNyoka nembeu yeNyoka., kana nemamwe mazwi pakati pavo nechivi.

Mbeu yeMukadzi, ehe saizvozvo, ndiJesu. Mukadzi akadudzirwa nenzira yokufananidzira kuti Mwanasikana weZioni, chiratidzo cheJerusarema (maona Isaya 37:22). Asi, mumutauro chaiwo, Kunzwisisa Kristu, ehe saizvozvo, anofanira kuvawo Mhandara Maria, Mutakuri weMudzikinuri.

 

VaKristu vekare vaikudza utsvene hunoshamisa uye hwakasiyana hweMhandara Maria, iyo yavaitaura nguva dzose muukama hwapedyo noutsvene hwoMwanakomana Wake. Semuyenzaniso, mune nezve 170, Mutsvene Melito weSardis akataura nezvaJesu, Gwayana risina gwapa, “Akaberekwa naMaria, hadzi yakanaka,” zvichirevawo kuti haana gwapa (Easter Homily).

Mutsvene Hippolytus weRoma (d. 235) akamuti “Mariya asina ruvara uye akabereka Mwari;” uye, achimuenzanisa nematanda akashandiswa kuvaka Areka yeSungano, akamuti “asingaori” (Hurukuro Yokuguma Kwenyika 1; Mhinduro paMapisarema 22; Theodoret weCyr, First Dialogue).

The Kudzivirirwa kwako, munamato unobva pakati pezana ramakore rechitatu, anodana Mariya kuti “akachena uye ari oga akaropafadzwa.” Mutsvene Ephraim muSiriya (d. 373) akati nezvaKristu, “Iwe wega naAmai vako makanaka kupfuura vamwe vese; Nekuti hamuna gwapa kwamuri, kana mavara pana Mai vako” (The Nisibene Hymns 27:8).

Mutsvene Ambrose weMilan (d. 397) akadana Mukadzi Wedu "Mhandara kwete isina kusvibiswa chete asi Mhandara iyo yakaitwa nenyasha, vasina gwapa rose rechivi” (Mhinduro paMapisarema 118 22:30).

Kusimbisa kuti varume nevakadzi vatsvene muBhaibheri, pasinei nekutya kwavo kukuru, vaiva vatadzi, Mutsvene Augustine weHippo (d. 430) akaita zvakasiyana naMaria, “nezvaani, nokuda kwokukudzwa kwaShe, Ndinoshuva kusave nemubvunzo kana uchibata zvitadzo,Nekuti tinoziva sei kuwanda kwenyasha kwakaiswa pamusoro pake kukunda kuzere kwechivi?, akanga akafanira kuti ave nemimba uye abereke uyo akanga asina chivi?” (Masikirwo naNyasha 36:42).

Vamwe vevanyori veChechi vakare vakabvumira mukana wekuti Maria akanga atadza. Tertullian naOrigen ndivo vakatanga kutsigira maonero aya mukunyora (cf. Tertullian, Nyama yaKristu 7; Against Marcion 4; Origen, Homilies pana Ruka 17).

Mazwisisiro kubva paMuchato paKenani

Vamwe vaizounzawo Mutsvene Irenaeus naTertullian naOrigen nekuda kwekutaura kwake pamusoro pake paMuchato weMuchato kuKana. (Johani 2:1). Akanyora kuti Maria, “vanoda kutora mukombe wechiratidzo nguva isati yasvika,” yaive “cheki(ed)” naJesu nokuda kwo“kukurumidza kusingafaniri” (Vanyengeri 3:16:7). Zvisinei, kugumisa kuti Irenaeus aidavira kuti Maria akanga atadza kwaizova kuzvikudza. Irenaeus haana kuratidzira vavariro youtere kwaari kana kuti mufambiro wake mukurwisana naMwari. Kana vavariro yake yekuda kuona Mwanakomana wake achiratidzwa kunyika kwaiva kumuda, ipapo “kukurumidza” kwake kwakarasika, asi kwete mutadzi. (Kusiyana, mune zvake Homily pana John 21:2, Mutsvene John Chrysostom akakurudzira kuti chinangwa chaMaria chive chisina maturo, izvo, zvirokwazvo, angava mutadzi.)

Kutaura chokwadi, Utsvene hwakakwana hwaMariya hahurevi kuti ainyatsonzwisisa Mwanakomana wake, asi kuti ainyatsoteerera Iye naBaba Vake, uye tinozviona paKana, kunyanya (ona Johane 2:5).

Nezvo“kuda kwake,” Severus weAndiyoki (d. 538) noted, “Haabvi kwaari kana kuenda, nenzira yomunhu akatsiurwa; uyewo haana kunyarara, achipfidza pakuda kwake, sezvinoitika kumunhu akatsiurwa” (Homily 199).

Nharo Pakati pevaKatorike

Pasinei nemamiriro avo ehterodox, vanyori ava vaiva nesimba rakati pamusoro pomufungo worudzidziso wezvizvarwa zvapashure. Pesvedzero yaOrigen zvikurukuru yakanga yakatanhamara pakati paMadzibaba okuMabvazuva, Vatsvene Basil Mukuru (d. 379), John Chrysostom (d. 407), Cyril weAlexandria (d. 444), nevamwe.

Vanopesana neKatorike vakaita zvakawanda zveizvi,asi chokwadi ndechekuti zvagara zvichibvumidzwa kuti vakatendeka vabvunze dzidziso isati yanyatsotsanangurwa..2

Pope Sixtus IV vakatsigira kunonoka 1483 izvo maererano neImmaculate Conception, zvaibvumirwa kuti vaKaturike vabvume kana kuti varambe dzidziso iyi “sezvo nyaya yacho isati yasarudzwa neChechi yeRoma neDare reVaapostora” (Kurema kwazvo).

Zvakanga zvakadaro mumazuva evaApostora. Idi rimene rokuti “kwakanga kune nharo huru” pakati paavo vakaungana paDare reJerusarema rinobvumikisa misiyano yemirangariro yakanga iripo pakati pavakuru vakuru veChechi panhau inokosha. (onai Mabasa avaApostora, 15:7).

Kana nyaya yacho yangotongwa, zvisinei, gakava rose rakapera uye hapana kumwe kusawirirana kwakashivirirwa (maona 15:12, 28). Uyezve, nepo vamwe vanaBaba vokutanga vakaramba kusatadza kwaMaria, nzvimbo yavo yakanga iri kure nokubvumirana. Vazhinji veMadzibaba vakasimbisa hutsvene hwake husina kunaka, sezvinoratidzwa muzvinyorwa zvevanachiremba vakadai saVatendi Athanasius, Ambrose, Augustine, nevamwe. Kutenda mukusava nezvivi kwaMaria kwakavapo muChechi yekutanga, kuMabvazuva nokuMadokero; uye nokufamba kwenguva kudavira kuti akanga asina kuita chivi cherudzi rwupi norwupi muupenyu hwake hwose kwakakunda pfungwa dzose.

Mairi zvakafanira kucherekedza kuti hapana chinhu mudzidziso dzeChechi chinotaura kuti mukati menhambo dzokuumbika dzedzidziso avo vanotenda zvakarurama vachakurumidza kukunda kana kuti kunyange kuzviwana vamene vari muuzhinji.. Tora muenzaniso wehondo yeChechi nevateveri vaArius, vakaramba huMwari hwaKristu. José Orlandis anorondedzera kuti dzidziso yenhema yaArius haina kuparara sei pakapera Dare reNicaea asi kuti yakakura mupesvedzero yayo kusvika pakuti “kwakaratidzika sokunge kuti chiArius chaizokunda.. Mabhishopu akatanhamara eNicene akadzingwa uye, sezvakatsanangurwa naSt Jerome, ‘nyika yose yakagomera ndokuziva kushamisika kwayo kuti yakanga yava Arian’” (Nhoroondo Pfupi yeChechi yeKaturike, Four Courts Press Limited, p. 39; Jerome, Nhaurirano Pakati peLuciferian uye muKristu weOrthodox 19).

Nyanzvi dzakabvunza kana Madzibaba aiti hutsvene hweMhandara aitenda zvechokwadi kuti aive akasununguka kubva kuchivi chekutanga pamwe nezvivi zvemunhu.. Dzidziso huru yenguva iyoyo, kunyanya kuMadokero, chakanga chiri chokuti chivi chaAdhama naEvha chakapfuudzwa kubva kuvabereki vomunhu kupfurikidza neshungu muvatano. Izvi zvaizoreva kuti Jesu chete, iye oga akaberekwa pasina kusangana, angadai akatiza chivi chekutanga. Zvisinei nekuti chivi chekutanga chinotapuriranwa sei, zvisinei, Chokwadi chinoramba chiripo ndechokuti pane chimwe chinhu chaifanira kunge chakaitwa panyaya yaMaria kuti adzivirirwe pazviri. Augustine akajekesa kuti akanga asiyana naye (uye nokuda kwake oga), kunyange zvazvo asina kutsanangura rini uye sei izvi zvakaitika (maona Masikirwo naNyasha 36:42, kumusoro).

Iyo Immaculate Conception haina kunyatsotsanangurwa kusvika pakati pezana ramakore rechigumi nemapfumbamwe. Inofanira kutaurwa nenzira yekuenzanisa, zvisinei, kuti Humwari hwaKristu hwakanga husina kunyatsotsanangurwa kusvika 325 (Dare reNicaea); Humwari hweMweya Mutsvene, 381 (Dare reConstantinople); the Two Natures in Christ, 451 (Council of Chalcedon); the Two Wills in Christ, 681 (Third Council of Constantinople); and the Canon of the Bible, 1441 (Council of Florence). Each of these teachings, like the Immaculate Conception, has always been believed by the Church, though not officially declared until it became necessary (or beneficial) to do so. With the exception of a relatively few individuals over the course of two thousand years, Mary’s sinlessness was never in doubt. It was only the questions of rini uye sei God brought about this miracle that took so long to resolve.

Though all of the major concerns regarding the Immaculate Conception had been sufficiently addressed by the late Middle Ages, a dogmatic definition would not come for many more centuries. The usual impetus for dogmatic pronouncements is the need to counter heretical teachings endangering the cohesiveness of believers. This was not the case with the Immaculate Conception, zvisinei, as universal agreement had long since been reached in the hearts and minds of the faithful. Nonetheless, sensing the moral and spiritual corruption that Modernism would unleash upon society, the Church of the mid-nineteenth century saw the promotion of the perfect sanctity of the Mother of God as objectively beneficial to Christians.

Obedience

Critics of the Immaculate Conception will some times cite particular Bible verses that seem to diminish Mary’s pristine holiness. One such verse is Ruka 8:21, in which, upon being told that His Mother and brethren have come to see Him, Jesus remarks, “My mother and my brethren are those who hear the word of God and do it.” Saint Ambrose said of this verse, “The Mother is not denied—as certain heretics would artfully make out—for she is acknowledged even from the Cross (maona Johani 19:26-27). Asi, preference over ties of flesh is given to a type of relationship which is prescribed from above” (Tsanangudzo pamusoro peEvhangeri yaRuka 6:38).

In a similar passage, found in the eleventh chapter of Luke, a woman in the crowd calls out to Jesus, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts that you sucked!”; to which He responds, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” (11:27-28). These words, kunyange zvakadaro, are a direct reference to Mary.

Earlier in that same Gospel, Elizabeth tells her, “Blessed is she who believed that there would be fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord” (Ruka 1:45). She likewise says, “Wakaropafadzwa iwe pakati pavakadzi, uye chakaropafadzwa chibereko chedumbu rako!” (1:42). Uye Mary herself exclaims, “Tarirai, henceforth all generations will call me blessed” (1:48). Jesu, zvino, is not disputing His Mother’s blessedness, but clarifying the reason why she is so blessed: her obedience to the Word of God. Consequently, in both Ruka 8:21 uye 11:28, mention of His Mother impels the Lord to praise those who hear and keep the Word of God.

Absence of Original Sin

Probably the Bible verse which non-Catholics believe most directly refutes the Immaculate Conception is in Saint Paul’s Tsamba kuvaRoma 3:23, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (maona Tsamba Yokutanga yaJohani, 1:8 & 10, zvakare).

They interpret this general statement about the human race in an absolute sense to mean every single person has sinned. Yet what of individuals such as infants and the mentally ill, who are incapable of sinning? Mary is merely another exception.

What really needs to be made clear is that Mary’s sanctification did not occur apart from the Redemption. Zvakasiyana, she too came under the curse of original sin, though she was spared from its taint through God’s intervention. Kuzvitaura neimwe nzira, had she been invulnerable to original sin by nature—as only Her Son is—then the Immaculate Conception, God’s special intervention on her behalf, would not have been necessary.

Mary herself confirms her need for a Savior in Luke 1:47. Mwari asingataurike likewise makes it clear that she was preserved from the stain of original sin “by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race” (kusimbisa kwakawedzerwa). In Mary’s case the merits of Calvary were applied ahead of time, ndizvo, in anticipation of Her Son’s death. God saved the rest of the human race by raising it up after it had fallen; He saved Mary by preventing her from falling in the first place. The extraordinary way in which she was saved made Mary more, not less, indebted to God than the rest of humankind.

Sometimes, in discussing the Immaculate Conception, the question of whether or not Mary suffered pain in childbirth is raised. There is an ancient belief that she did indeed deliver the Christ Child without pain, implying she was exempted from Eve’s punishment and transgression (maona Genesis 3:16).

Panguva imwe, it is possible to imagine Mary endured labor pains in spite of her sinlessness. Consider the related question of whether or not she underwent natural death, also a part of Adam and Eve’s punishment (maona Genesis 3:19 or Paul’s Tsamba kuvaRoma 6:23). The broad consensus among Catholic theologians is that Mary did indeed die, in order to perfectly conform to Her Son. If she had not been spared from death, it follows she may not have been exempted from other forms of suffering for the same reason. The truth of the Immaculate Conception, naizvozvo, does not hinge upon the matter of Mary’s birth pangs or lack thereof.

It is impossible to settle the mystery of the Virgin’s delivery from Scripture alone. Isaya 66:7 inoti, “Before she was in labor she gave birth; before her pain came upon her she was delivered of a son.” Irenaeus, for one, took this as proof Mary had delivered without travail (Apostolic Preaching 54).

Pane rimwe divi, the Bhuku raZvakazarurwa, 12:2, says the Woman “cried out in her pangs of birth, in anguish for delivery.” Like the Woman in Genesis 3:15, Catholics tend to interpret the Woman in Revelation 12 in the ultimate sense as Mary. This does not preclude the birth pangs being understood symbolically, zvisinei. It has been suggested the pangs represent Mary’s anguish, not from the physical birth of the Savior at Bethlehem, but from the spiritual birth of the Church at Calvary (cf. Pope Pius X, Ad Diem Illum; Johani 19:26-27) where she watched her son die.

One of the earliest non-biblical references to Mary’s freedom from pain in childbirth is found in an apocryphal writing called The Protoevangelium of James, which was likely composed around the middle of the second century. Because of this work’s realistic description of the birth of Jesus, emphasizing the corporeal nature of the Incarnation (as opposed to The Ascension of Isaiah, semuyenzaniso, in which Mary is completely unaware of the delivery), it is thought that The Protoevangelium of James was written to combat gnostic Docetism, which maintained Christ’s body was an illusion. Those who immediately discount the apocryphal writings because they are not inspired texts ought to consider that Saint Jude makes reference to two such works, The Assumption of Moses uye Enoki wekutanga, in his New Testament Tsamba (maona Judhasi 1:9, 14).

Though useless as sources of theology, the Apocrypha do give witness to religious ideas that were prevalent among Christians in the first centuries. They were often written around orthodox Christian beliefs, saizvozvo, that had not yet been fully defined by the Church. Many beliefs about the Blessed Virgin were incorporated into such accounts—some authentic, some not, some from Scripture and Sacred Tradition, some from the minds of heretics. Mary’s freedom from labor pain, zvimwe, is verified by early orthodox writers the caliber of Irenaeus and Clement of Alexandria. The very fact that her painless delivery is mentioned by believers of varied backgrounds and influences—orthodox and heterodox—suggests the idea predates the writings; that it was not dreamed up by a later group but taught by the Apostles.

  1. To discern the doctrine of the Trinity from Scripture, Christians have had to compare and connect various Biblical teachings, zvakaita se Isaya 44:6, “I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god;” with Mateu 28:19: “Naizvozvo endai muite vadzidzi vamarudzi ose, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
  2. Once a teaching has been raised to the level of a dogma doubt among the faithful is no longer permissible. An historical instance of a Saint going against this principle would be that of Andrew of Crete, WHO, at the Monothelite synod of Constantinople in 712, denied there are two wills in the Person of Christ, even though this had been dogmatically defined at the Third Council of Constantinople in 681. Realizing his error, he recanted a year later and made a profession of faith against Monothelitism and other heresies.

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