QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS – IF THE MOTHER OF JESUS HAS KNOWN SIN

Where is it written in the Bible that Mary never knew sin?

Mary is “full of grace” (Luke 1:28). The fullness of grace – which is a gift from the Almighty – is not compatible with sin. The Greek “kecharitoméne” translated as “full of grace” is the perfect passive vocative feminine singular participle of the verb “charitoo” which means “to fill with grace”. The prefix “ke” indicates the verb in the perfect tense, while the suffix “méne” indicates the verb in the form of a passive participle. Therefore the meaning of “kecharitoméne” translated by Jerome as “gratia plena”, that is “full of grace”, is “you who were filled with grace and who continue to be filled with it”. In the proto-gospel we read these words that God addresses to the serpent: “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” (Genesis 3:15) Christ, son of Mary, crushed the head of the ancient serpent, triumphing over death.

Where is it written in the Bible that this woman is Mary?

The enmity between the woman and the serpent means that this woman has not been a friend of sin even once. But Eve was a friend of sin because of the serpent’s seduction and its disobedience. Likewise, the Chosen People have often turned away from God, even abandoning themselves to idolatry. The Church too is, at the same time, holy and sinful. This woman can only be Mary, the full of grace, from whom Christ is descendant. The fullness of grace in Mary is not compatible with sin, as has already been said. Therefore, as Mary was conceived without sin, she also lived without ever sinning.

If Mary never knew sin, why does she call God “my savior”?

Mary was redeemed in a preventive way and therefore preserved from the experience of sin, not only original but also personal, since the fullness of grace kept her from falling into it. For this reason, the angel, entering her, greets her calling her “full of grace”. Mary’s salvation is singular, since in her the Son worked and completed the redemption in advance. For this reason Mary, despite never having known sin, calls God “my savior” (Luke 1:47). It is precisely in view of the merits of Christ that Mary was redeemed in advance, from the first instant of her conception.

If Mary has never known sin, why does Paul say: “There is no righteous person” (Romans 3:10), and also: “Everyone has sinned” (Romans 3:23), without adding “except Mary”?

Scripture says that Jesus Christ never sinned (Hebrews 4:15). Now, why does Paul say that “there is no righteous person”, and that “all have sinned”, without adding “except Jesus”? It is obvious that Jesus must be excluded from the universality of sin, just as his mother, Mary, must be excluded. The Holy Spirit who spoke through Paul was not interested in saying at that moment that Mary was without sin. He was teaching on that occasion that there is no superiority on the part of the Jew over the non-Jew, since all have sinned, but they are freely justified by the grace of God, by virtue of the redemption achieved by Jesus Christ (Romans 3: 23-24 ). But Jesus himself and Mary his mother (redeemed in advance and in a singular way, by the merits of the Son) must be excluded from the universality of sin. God in his time chose to reveal on another occasion that Mary was without sin from the first moment of her conception, and he revealed it especially through Pius XII, with the bull “Ineffabilis Deus” of 8 December 1854. Let us not forget that divine revelation was progressive, and we see this in the Bible itself.