Reflection for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin, Tuesday 8th December
Our's is a Church born out of the fires of the Reformation, and for most of our history up until the mid-1800s we were also a Protestant one as well. Whilst the Church of England retained various vestiges of the Catholic faith and Church order, such as the threefold order of Bishops, Priests and Deacons, we were theologically a Reformed Church. And whilst the Prayer Book describes our Church as Catholic, this was more a case of our identifying ourselves as being the ancient Church in England, not a new sect that had broken away from Rome.
Indeed, if you want a good example of the Protestant nature of the Church prior to the mid-1800s, then one only need look at Archbishop John Whitgift, who died in 1604. The thesis he submitted for the title of Doctor of Divinity bore the title 'That anti-Christ the Pope'! Hardly the sign of a Catholic clergyman.
That said, since the mid-1800s and the rise of the Tractarians, the Church of England has come to reassert its Catholic roots. This has been expressed through the reform of our liturgy in the post-War period, so that it now more closely follows that of the Roman Missal. We've also seen the rediscovery of vestments, saints and the reservation of the Blessed Sacrament.
As a Clergyman I fall into very much into the traditionalist Catholic party of the Church. I look to Rome and the Catholic Church Fathers more than anywhere else for my theology, ethical thought, and liturgy. I also have a particular interest in the person and theology of the Blessed Virgin Mary, something that would have Archbishop Whitgift spinning in his tomb, had he not been cremated in the fire that destroyed his final resting place, Croydon Minster in the late-1800s. (His tomb has been restored, even if his mortal remains are now lost to us.)
Today the Church celebrates the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Mary, the Catholic Church teaches, was born Immaculately, that is free from the stain of original sin - she did not have the ability to sin herself.) An Immaculate Conception is different to a virgin birth: we know who Mary's parents were, Ss. Joachim and Anna (also known as Holy Annie, God's granny!) and she was conceived as we were, just free from sin. That is not to say her birth was no unusual. Both of her parents were old when she was conceived, older than was considered normal or safe for the conceiving of children at that time. So her conception was miraculous.
This miraculous conception and her being free from sin are important factors in who Mary is. The Church Father Irenaeus in his book 'Against Heresies' tells us that Mary is the second Eve, just as Jesus is the second Adam. And just as Jesus comes to undo Adam's sin, so Mary must first undo that of Eve's Which leads us to the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin, which we celebrate on 25th March. At the Annunciation Mary says yes to the Angel's message that she will bear Jesus in her womb, just as Eve had said yes to the serpent/ Satan, a fallen angel. Mary's yes undoes that of Eve's. But in order for her yes to be efficacious as the second Eve, so like Eve she needs to be free from sin, hence her immaculate conception.
Because of this, and because she bears Jesus in her womb as Tabernacle, Ark of the New Covenant and Throne of God, she is highly exalted, even above all creatures. And yet, whilst she is to be highly exalted over all creation, yet she is not God, nor to be worshipped, something which belong to God alone. (And Mary is very much a human, as by necessity for our salvation, Christ must be both divine and human, both God and man, the latter he receives from Mary, remove either element and our salvation is nullified.) As a human even an exalted one, her lowly praises and prayers join with ours when we pray to, and praise God. As my favourite Marian hymn puts it:
- Blessed Mary ever virgin and co-redemptorix, pray for us.
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