Catechism of the Catholic Church · Part One › Section Two › Chapter Two › Article 3 · Paragraph 2 (§§484–511)
Paragraphs · 28
The Catechism's text is under copyright, so each paragraph is quoted briefly here with a link to the full text at vatican.va.
I. Conceived by the Power of the Holy Spirit. . .
- §484 — The Annunciation to Mary inaugurates "the fullness of time", The time of the fulfilment of God's promises and preparations. Mary was invited to conceive him in whom the "whole fullness of deity" would dwell "bodily".vatican.va
- §485 — The mission of the Holy Spirit is always conjoined and ordered to that of the Son. The Holy Spirit, "the Lord, the giver of Life", is sent to sanctify the womb of the Virgin Mary and divinely fecundate it, causing her to conceive the eternal…vatican.va
- §486 — The Father's only Son, conceived as man in the womb of the Virgin Mary, is "Christ", that is to say, anointed by the Holy Spirit, from the beginning of his human existence, though the manifestation of this fact takes place only progressively: to the shepherds, to the magi, to John the Baptist, to the disciples.vatican.va
- Catechism — CCC 487 — 'What the Catholic faith believes about Mary is based on what it believes about Christ' — the principle that orders every chapter of the book.vatican.va
- §488 — "God sent forth his Son", but to prepare a body for him, he wanted the free co-operation of a creature. For this, from all eternity God chose for the mother of his Son a daughter of Israel, a young Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee,…vatican.va
- §489 — Throughout the Old Covenant the mission of many holy women prepared for that of Mary. At the very beginning there was Eve; despite her disobedience, she receives the promise of a posterity that will be victorious over the evil one, as well as the promise that she will be the mother of all the living.vatican.va
- §490 — To become the mother of the Saviour, Mary "was enriched by God with gifts appropriate to such a role." The angel Gabriel at the moment of the annunciation salutes her as "full of grace".vatican.va
- §491 — Through the centuries the Church has become ever more aware that Mary, "full of grace" through God, was redeemed from the moment of her conception.vatican.va
- §492 — The "splendour of an entirely unique holiness" by which Mary is "enriched from the first instant of her conception" comes wholly from Christ: she is "redeemed, in a more exalted fashion, by reason of the merits of her Son".vatican.va
- §493 — The Fathers of the Eastern tradition call the Mother of God "the All-Holy" (Panagia), and celebrate her as "free from any stain of sin, as though fashioned by the Holy Spirit and formed as a new creature".vatican.va
- §494 — At the announcement that she would give birth to "the Son of the Most High" without knowing man, by the power of the Holy Spirit, Mary responded with the obedience of faith, certain that "with God nothing will be impossible": "Behold, I am the handmaid…vatican.va
- §495 — Called in the Gospels "the mother of Jesus", Mary is acclaimed by Elizabeth, at the prompting of the Spirit and even before the birth of her son, as "the mother of my Lord".vatican.va
- §496 — From the first formulations of her faith, the Church has confessed that Jesus was conceived solely by the power of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary, affirming also the corporeal aspect of this event: Jesus was conceived "by the Holy Spirit without human seed".vatican.va
- §497 — The Gospel accounts understand the virginal conception of Jesus as a divine work that surpasses all human understanding and possibility: "That which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit", said the angel to Joseph about Mary his fiancee.vatican.va
- §498 — People are sometimes troubled by the silence of St. Mark's Gospel and the New Testament Epistles about Jesus' virginal conception. Some might wonder if we were merely dealing with legends or theological constructs not claiming to be history.vatican.va
- Catechism — CCC 499 — Mary's virginity in giving birth — the doctrine behind the Fathers' painless birth, in the Catechism's words.vatican.va
- §500 — Against this doctrine the objection is sometimes raised that the Bible mentions brothers and sisters of Jesus. The Church has always understood these passages as not referring to other children of the Virgin Mary.vatican.va
- §501 — Jesus is Mary's only son, but her spiritual motherhood extends to all men whom indeed he came to save: "The Son whom she brought forth is he whom God placed as the first-born among many brethren, that is, the faithful in whose generation and formation she co-operates with a mother's love."vatican.va
- §502 — The eyes of faith can discover in the context of the whole of Revelation the mysterious reasons why God in his saving plan wanted his Son to be born of a virgin.vatican.va
- §503 — Mary's virginity manifests God's absolute initiative in the Incarnation. Jesus has only God as Father. "He was never estranged from the Father because of the human nature which he assumed.vatican.va
- §504 — Jesus is conceived by the Holy Spirit in the Virgin Mary's womb because he is the New Adam, who inaugurates the new creation: "The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven."vatican.va
- §505 — By his virginal conception, Jesus, the New Adam, ushers in the new birth of children adopted in the Holy Spirit through faith. "How can this be?"vatican.va
- §506 — Mary is a virgin because her virginity is the sign of her faith "unadulterated by any doubt", and of her undivided gift of herself to God's will.vatican.va
- §507 — At once virgin and mother, Mary is the symbol and the most perfect realization of the Church: "the Church indeed. . by receiving the word of God in faith becomes herself a mother.vatican.va
In Brief
- §508 — From among the descendants of Eve, God chose the Virgin Mary to be the mother of his Son. "Full of grace", Mary is "the most excellent fruit of redemption" (SC 103): from the first instant of her conception, she was totally preserved from the stain…vatican.va
- §509 — Mary is truly "Mother of God" since she is the mother of the eternal Son of God made man, who is God himself.vatican.va
- §510 — Mary "remained a virgin in conceiving her Son, a virgin in giving birth to him, a virgin in carrying him, a virgin in nursing him at her breast, always a virgin" (St.vatican.va
- §511 — The Virgin Mary "co-operated through free faith and obedience in human salvation" (LG 56). She uttered her yes "in the name of all human nature" (St.vatican.va
Scripture cited · 103 verses
Genesis 3:15 · Genesis 3:20 · Genesis 13:8 · Genesis 14:16 · Genesis 18:10 · Genesis 18:11 · Genesis 18:12 · Genesis 18:13 · Genesis 18:14 · Genesis 21:1 · Genesis 21:2 · Genesis 29:15 · Isaiah 7:14 · Matthew 1:18 · Matthew 1:19 · Matthew 1:20 · Matthew 1:21 · Matthew 1:22 · Matthew 1:23 · Matthew 1:24 · Matthew 1:25 · Matthew 2:1 · Matthew 2:2 · Matthew 2:3 · Matthew 2:4 · Matthew 2:5 · Matthew 2:6 · Matthew 2:7 · Matthew 2:8 · Matthew 2:9 · Matthew 2:10 · Matthew 2:11 · Matthew 2:12 · Matthew 13:55 · Matthew 27:56 · Matthew 28:1 · Mark 3:31 · Mark 3:32 · Mark 3:33 · Mark 3:34 · Mark 3:35 · Mark 6:3 · Luke 1:26 · Luke 1:27 · Luke 1:28 · Luke 1:29 · Luke 1:30 · Luke 1:31 · Luke 1:32 · Luke 1:33 · Luke 1:34 · Luke 1:35 · Luke 1:36 · Luke 1:37 · Luke 1:38 · Luke 1:43 · Luke 2:8 · Luke 2:9 · Luke 2:10 · Luke 2:11 · Luke 2:12 · Luke 2:13 · Luke 2:14 · Luke 2:15 · Luke 2:16 · Luke 2:17 · Luke 2:18 · Luke 2:19 · Luke 2:20 · Luke 2:48 · Luke 2:49 · John 1:3 · John 1:13 · John 1:16 · John 2:1 · John 2:11 · John 3:9 · John 3:34 · John 16:14 · John 16:15 · John 19:25 · John 19:26 · John 19:27 · Acts 10:38 · Romans 1:3 · Romans 1:5 · Romans 8:29 · 1 Corinthians 1:17 · 1 Corinthians 2:8 · 1 Corinthians 7:34 · 1 Corinthians 7:35 · 1 Corinthians 9:5 · 1 Corinthians 15:45 · 1 Corinthians 15:47 · 2 Corinthians 11:2 · Galatians 1:19 · Galatians 4:4 · Ephesians 1:3 · Ephesians 1:4 · Colossians 1:18 · Colossians 2:9 · Hebrews 10:5 · Revelation 12:17