Virgo Virginum, Oct. 1, 2008

To All who may Read or Hear this, Greetings in the Name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ!
Virgo Virginum. Virgin of Virgins. Mother of Christ. Queen of Heaven. God-bearer. Theotokos.

We honor the Blessed Virgin Mary in many ways - in our daily lives, in our devotions at Church and at home, in our prayers, and as role model for the ideal Christian life.
From time to time throughout the long history of Christianity the role of the Virgin Mary in God's plan for the redemption of mankind from the snares of Original Sin has been the source of discussion, debate and at times, violent confrontation.

In most recent times, there has come forth the opinion of other Prelates that Mary should be accorded such a unique level of reverence and veneration that she must also be considered the purest of the pure, and held safe and isolated from the presence of Original Sin, even from the time of her conception.
Thus became formalized, some 150 years ago, by Pius IX of blessed memory, this notion of immaculate conception. It was not until the formalizaton of Papal infallibility by the First Vatican Council that the true impact of this dogma was felt.

Now let us examine exactly what this belief does to the nature of the Blessed Virgin and her vital role in the Incarnation of Jesus Christ.
Were it not for the temptation of the Serpent, and Eve's consent to that temptaton, there would have been no need for a Redemption. The preternatural perfection of God's creation, Mankind, had no need of a Redeemer since Mankind, prior to Eve's failing, had no knowledge of sin or evil.
God, in His infinite wisdom, created mankind with free will. He did this for a reason; He was to put us to a Test, and without freedom to choose the Test would be void of meaning.
We failed the Test because Eve freely chose to violate God's command.
We failed the Test because of a choice freely exercised. This choice was freely exercised from a preternatural state, free from sin and its encumbrances.

And so we - you, I, and every person who walked the earth after that fateful day - became needful of Redemption, a Redemption that was promised virtually immediately upon the fall of man from grace in the Garden. And it was a Fall precipitated by a free choice.
And it is no less important that our Redemption be initiated by a free choice. And since the Fall of Man was precipitated by the free choice, made by Woman, from a sin-free preternatural state, so is it that the path from sin to Redemption would also be the result of a free choice.

Again, the choice was to be made by a woman - a young Jewish girl, about two thousand years ago, that we today honor as the Virgin Mary. A messenger from God, the angel Gabriel, appeared to her and told her that she was to be the Mother of the God-Man who would redeem the world. Mary, being a virgin, was naturally confused as the angel Gabriel continued to explain that all of this would happen through the operation of the Holy Spirit. The Message was much more than what I am saying here, and you are encouraged to review the accounting as the Evangelist Luke has given it to us. Be mindful as you read. This was a young girl, sworn to virginity, confronting what seemed to her to be an impossibility, and being brought to the brink of her decision by the angel Gabriel's encouraging words, finally consenting with "be it done unto me according to thy word."

The intense mental struggle, the forces of Darkness vying with the Promise of Light and Truth, are only vaquely implied by the Gospel account. This young girl was confronting an Ultimate Impossibility - giving birth and remaining a Virgin Most Pure. During her time of decision, however short it may have been, she would be the first to doubt this possibility but, over the long history of Christianity, certainly not the last.
But we as Christians, Catholic Christians to be sure, not only accept the Virgin Birth of Christ as truth, we embrace it eagerly!

Immaculate Conception of Mary? Now that is a completely different issue.
Conceived without sin, entering this world without the trappings of Eve's failing, unencumbered by the need for Redemption, without fear of the Temptor or his minions, this is the preternaturally pure Virgin that Immaculate Conception would bring us. The true "ewig Weibliche" of Goethe personified by a simple teenager in ancient Palestine, totally innocent, totally pure, totally devoid of anything approaching a state less than that of Absolute Perfection, the preternatural Child of the Eternal. This is all very poetic, very inspiring, but leaves something lacking.

As Eve, in her Preternatural state, chose Evil over Good and by that choice encumbered mankind with Original Sin, now comes Mary who must make another Choice whereby mankind can be led back from the Darkness of Sin to the Light of Salvation. To relieve Mary of Original Sin would do nothing less than so mitigate the weight of that Choice, and completely upset the "balance" of the Redemption by Jesus Christ as the response to the Fall of Man. As Woman led humanity from the sin-free state, so again, Woman must lead humanity from our sinful state to her Son and our Redemption.

Mary was not, and is not, divine in any way. She was, and always remained, totally human in every aspect. Sharing in the burden of the Fall of Man only elevates her Choice. Being isolated from that burden would render her Choice virtually meaningless, for as most people readily understand, perfect circumstances make hard decisions easy.

And if Mary's choice was to be easy, it is impossible to comprehend how that choice would be worthy to bring forth the Redeemer, Mediator and Advocate for all mankind, our Saviour Jesus Christ.
So a young virginal Jewish girl, sullied by Original Sin, burdened by its impact, doubting of mind and fearful of consequence, is not in any way something to be held back from the Virgin Mary.
To burden the souls of our faithful today with requiring belief in something not founded at all in Scripture, and something which runs against the nature of the need to balance the decision of Eve with a decision for Redemption, is of dubious value. And such a requirement, framed as Dogma required for our eternal salvation, has no place in the Catholic Church.

This is not to say that one is not free to believe therein if one so desires, if one so believes it to be of comfort, or of aid to one's soul. And we have no objection to such private pious belief or practice. Nor do we have objection to the many and various devotions to the Virgin Mary which have grown up surrounding the fond notion of the Immaculate Conception.

This is, however, to say that to require such a belief as being necessary for salvation is not proper. Not for the last one hundred fifty years; not today; not ever.
We shall always love, honor, venerate and revere the Virgin Mary in our lives and in our Churches. She is the God-Bearer, Mother of Christ, Queen of Heaven and more. She is the role model for purity, motherhood, devotion and love, and in this she shall remain exalted in our daily lives.

Virgin of Virgins, our Mother.

We need not ask for more.

With the Blessing of Almighty God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, shall this letter be shared with all the Faithful in all the Churches upon its reception, commencing this First day of October in the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand and Eight.

+ Leo Augustine I
Old Catholic Province of Our Lady of the Angels