CHAPTER IV

OF THE THIRD ARTICLE

“WHO WAS CONCEIVED BY THE HOLY GHOST, BORN OF THE VIRGIN MARY”

QUESTION I

What is propounded to be believed by the Faithful in the Third Article of Faith

That God has conferred a singular and most surpassing blessing on the human race, in delivering us to liberty from the slavery of the relentless tyranny of Satan, the faithful may understand from what has been set forth in the preceding article. But if we place before our eyes the plan and manner in which he was pleased to accomplish this, nothing can seem more glorious, nothing more magnificent, than the goodness and beneficence of God. The grandeur, therefore, of this mystery, which the Sacred Scriptures very often propose to our consideration as the principal source of our eternal salvation, the pastor will begin to teach with the exposition of this third article. Its meaning he will teach to be, that we believe and confess that the same Jesus Christ, our only Lord, the Son of God, when he assumed human flesh for us in the womb of the Virgin, was not conceived, like other men, from the seed of man, but, in a manner transcending the whole order of nature, by the power of the Holy Ghost; so that the same person, remaining God as he was from eternity, became man, what he was not before. But that such is the meaning of these words, is clear from the confession of the Holy Council of Constantinople, which says: Who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and WAS MADE MAN. The same truth we also find unfolded by St. John the Evangelist, who imbibed from the bosom of the Saviour himself, the knowledge of this most profound mystery; for when he had declared the nature of the divine Word in those terms: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, he at length concludes, and THE WORD WAS MADE FLESH, and dwelt among us.

QUESTION II

By his temporal Nativity no confusion of natures was made in Christ

For the Word, which is a Person of the Divine Nature, assumed human flesh in such a manner, that the hypostasis and person of both divine and human nature are one and the same; and hence this admirable union preserved the actions and properties of both natures, and, as we read in the great Pope St. Leo: neither did the glorifying of the inferior nature destroy itself, nor its assumption upon the inferior.

QUESTION III

The Holy Ghost did not alone accomplish the work of the Incarnation

But as an explanation of the words [of this Article] must not be omitted, the pastor will teach that, when we say that the Son of God was conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost, we do not mean that this Person alone of the Holy Trinity accomplished the mystery of the Incarnation. For although the Son alone assumed human nature, yet all the persons of the Holy Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, were authors of this mystery; for we must hold that rule of Christian faith, that whatsoever God does extrinsically in created things is common to the three Persons, and that one neither does more than, nor acts without, another. That, however, one Person proceeds from another, this alone cannot be common to all, for the Son is begotten of the Father only, the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and the Son; but whatever originates from them extrinsically is the work of the three Persons without any sort of difference; and of this latter description is to be considered the Incarnation of the Son of God.

Of those things, nevertheless, that are common to all, the Sacred Scriptures are wont often to attribute some to one person, some to another: thus, to the Father they attribute supreme power over all things; to the Son, wisdom; to the Holy Ghost, love; and because the mystery of the Incarnation declares the singular and boundless love of God towards us, it is, therefore, in a peculiar manner attributed to the Holy Ghost.

QUESTION IV

Not all matters touching the Conception of Christ are supernatural, but most of them are

In this mystery we perceive that some things were done, which transcend the order of nature, some by the power of nature. Thus, in believing that the body of Christ was formed from the most pure blood of the Virgin Mother, we therein acknowledge human nature, seeing that this is a law common to all human bodies. But what transcends the order of nature and human understanding is, that, as soon as the Blessed Virgin, assenting to the words of the angel, said: Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it unto me according to thy word, the most sacred body of Christ was immediately formed, and to it was united a soul actually enjoying the use of reason; and thus, in the same instant of time, he was perfect God and perfect man. That this was the new and admirable work of the Holy Ghost, no one can doubt, whereas, according to the order of nature, no body, unless within the prescribed period of time, can be endued with a human soul. There is, furthermore, that which is worthy of the greatest marvel, that as soon as the soul of Christ was united to his body, the Divinity itself also was united with both body and soul; and thus at the same time his body was formed and animated, and the Divinity united to body and soul. Hence, at the same instant, he was perfect God and perfect man; and the most Holy Virgin, having, at the same moment, conceived God and man, is truly and properly called Mother of God and man. This the angel signified to her when he said: Behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a Son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest; and by the event was verified the prophecy of Isaiah: Behold a Virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son; and his name shall be called Immanuel. Elizabeth also, when filled with the Holy Ghost, she understood the conception of the Son of God, declared [the same truth] in these words: Whence is this to me, that the Mother of my Lord should come to me? But, as the body of Christ was formed, as we have before said, of the most pure blood of the immaculate Virgin, without any aid of man, but by the sole operation of the Holy Ghost; so also, at the moment of his conception, his soul received an overflowing fulness of the Spirit of God, and a superabundance of all graces. For God gave not to him, as to other men, who are adorned with grace and holiness, his Spirit by measure, as St. John testifies; but poured into his soul all graces so abundantly, that of his fulness we all have received.

QUESTION V

Christ cannot be called the Son of God by adoption

Although he possessed that Spirit, by which holy men attain the adoption of the sons of God, Christ cannot, however, be called the adopted Son of God; for, being the Son of God by nature, the grace or name of adoption can in no wise be deemed applicable to him.

QUESTION VI

To what meditations the first part of this Article should give rise

Concerning the admirable mystery of the Conception, these remarks form the substance of what appeared to require explanation. In order that abundant fruit unto salvation may result to us, the faithful should recall particularly to their recollection, and frequently reflect, that it is God who assumed human flesh; but that he was made man in a manner which we cannot comprehend in our minds, still might express in words; finally, that he vouchsafed to become man, in order that we mortals might be regenerated children of God. When to these subjects they shall have given attentive consideration, let them, in humility and faithfulness of heart, believe and adore all the mysteries contained in this article, nor curiously investigate or scrutinize them; an attempt scarcely ever unattended with danger.

QUESTION VII

What is meant by Christ being born of a Virgin

This comprises another part of this article of the Creed, in the exposition of which the pastor will exercise considerable diligence; because the faithful are bound to believe, that Christ our Lord was not only conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost, but was also born of the Virgin Mary. The words of the angel, who first announced the most happy tidings to the world, declare with what joy and delight of heart the belief of this mystery should be meditated on by us: Behold, says he, I bring you good tidings of great joy, that shall be to all the people. And from the song chanted by the heavenly host we may infer the same sentiments: Glory, say they, to God in the highest; and on earth peace to men of good will. Hence also began the fulfilment of that splendid promise made by Almighty God to Abraham, that in his seed all nations should one day be blessed; for Mary, whom we truly proclaim and honour as Mother of God, because she brought forth him who is at once God and man, was descended from King David.

QUESTION VIII

Christ was not born after the usual course of nature

But as the Conception itself utterly transcends the order of nature, so also, in the birth [of our Lord] nothing but what is divine is presented to our contemplation. Besides, a circumstance wonderful beyond expression or conception, he is born of his mother without any diminution of her maternal virginity; and as he afterwards went forth from the sepulchre whilst it was closed and sealed, and entered the room in which his disciples were assembled with closed doors; or, not to depart even from natural things, which we witness every day, as the rays of the sun penetrate, without breaking, or injuring in the least, the solid substance of glass; after a similar, I say, but more exalted manner, did Jesus Christ come forth from his mother’s womb, without any injury to her maternal virginity, which, immaculate and perpetual, we celebrate with most just praises. This was the work of the Holy Ghost, who, in the conception and birth of the Son, so favoured the Virgin Mother, as to impart to her fecundity, and yet preserve her perpetual virginity.

QUESTION IX

Christ is justly called a second Adam, Mary, a second Eve

The apostle sometimes calls Jesus Christ the second Adam, and institutes a comparison between him and the first; for as in the first all men die, so in the second are all made alive; and as, in the natural order, Adam was the father of the human race, so [in the supernatural], Christ is the author of grace and glory. The Virgin Mother we may also in like manner compare with Eve, making the second Eve, that is, Mary, correspond with the first, as we have already shown the second Adam, that is, Christ, to correspond with the first Adam. For Eve, by believing the serpent, entailed malediction and death on the human race; and, after Mary believed the Angel, the divine goodness made her instrumental in bringing benediction and life to mankind. From Eve we are born children of wrath; from Mary we have received Jesus Christ, and through him are regenerated children of grace. To Eve it was said, In sorrow shalt thou bring forth children: Mary was exempt from this law, for, preserving her virgin integrity inviolate, she brought forth Jesus the Son of God, without experiencing, as we have already said, any sense of pain.

QUESTION X

The chief types and figures under which the Conception and Nativity of Christ were veiled

The mysteries of this conception and nativity being, therefore, so great and so many, it was suited to the views of Divine Providence, to signify them by many types and prophecies. Hence the holy fathers understood many things, which we read in various passages of Scripture, to relate to them, particularly that gate of the sanctuary, which Ezechiel saw shut; the stone cut out of the mountain without hands, as it is in Daniel, which became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth; the rod of Aaron, which alone budded of all the rods of the princes of Israel; and the bush which Moses saw burn without being consumed. The holy Evangelist describes in detail the history of the birth of Christ; and, as the pastor can easily refer to that account, it is unnecessary for us to say more on the subject.

QUESTION XI

The mystery of the Incarnation is often to be inculcated upon the people. What advantage is to be derived from the meditation thereon

But he should labour to impress these mysteries, which were written for our learning, deeply on the minds and hearts of the faithful, in order that, in the first place, by the commemoration of so great a benefit, they may make some return of gratitude to God, its author; and next, in order to place before their eyes, as a model for imitation, this surpassing and singular example of humility. For what can be more useful, what better adapted to subdue the pride and haughtiness of the human heart, than frequently to reflect that God humbles himself in such a manner as to communicate to men his glory, and assume the frailty and weakness of man; that God becomes man, and that he, at whose nod, as the Scripture saith, the pillars of heaven tremble and dread; that supreme and infinite majesty ministers unto man; that he whom the angels adore in heaven is born on earth! When God, then, doeth such things towards us, what, I ask, what should we not do, to testify our obedience to his will? With how prompt and eager a mind should we not love, embrace, and perform all the duties of Christian humility? The faithful should also know in how salutary lessons Christ doth instruct us at his birth, before he begins to utter any speech. He is born in poverty: he is born as a stranger in an inn: he is born in a lowly manger: he is born in the depth of winter. For so are these things recorded by St. Luke: And it came to pass, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered, and she brought forth her first-born son, and wrapped him up in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, became there was no room for them in the inn. Could the evangelist have comprehended under more humble terms the whole majesty and glory of heaven and earth? He does not say, there was no room in the inn; but there was no room for him who says: The world is mine, and the fulness thereof; and this another evangelist records in these words: He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

When the faithful shall have set these things before their eyes, let them also reflect, that God vouchsafed to assume the lowliness and frailty of our flesh, in order that the human race might be exalted to the highest degree of dignity. For this single reflection, that he who is true and perfect God became man, alone is sufficient proof of the exalted dignity conferred on man by the divine bounty; so that we may now glory that the Son of God is bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh, a privilege not granted to angels, for no where, says the apostle, doth he take on him the angels; but of the seed of Abraham he taketh.

We must, moreover, take care lest, to our greatest prejudice, it come to pass that [these blessings] rise in judgment against us; that, as at Bethlehem, the place of his nativity, there was for him no place in the inn, so also, now that he is no longer born in the flesh, he be not unable to find a dwelling in our hearts, in which he may be spiritually born; for he, being most desirous for our salvation, makes this an object of his most earnest wishes. As then, by the power of the Holy Ghost, and in a manner transcending the order of nature, he was made man and was born, and was holy and even holiness itself; so does it become our duty to be born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, but of God; to walk as a new creature in newness of spirit; and to keep that holiness and purity of soul that so much becometh men regenerated by the Spirit of God. For thus shall we reflect some faint image of this holy conception and nativity of the Son of God, which we believe in firm faith, and believing which, we admire and adore the wisdom of God in a mystery, which is hidden.