Dear Elaine:

If you have read my comments about mixed marriage in previous posts you will know that I make a major point of saying that the Church discourages mixed marriages. To marry a non-Catholic is rife with problems, especially in the raising of children.

Even if your husband is open and supportive of your Catholicism and raising the children Catholic he CANNOT be a full spiritual leader of the home as God meant him to be. He cannot model Catholicism to your children because he is not Catholic. He cannot teach your children Catholicism because he is not Catholic. He cannot fully participate in family worship of God in Mass because he is not Catholic. It is just not a good idea.

But, if you must, you can get married to a non-Catholic Christian. You have to have the bishop's permission and you must ...

1) promise to see to it that there are no stumblingblocks in your way to prevent you from practicing your faith.

2) promise to raise the children fully Catholic.

3) both you and your intended spouse receive pre-cana counseling

4) your wedding be a Catholic wedding in a Catholic Church according to the normal protocols

CONCERNING PRAYING TO MARY AND THE SAINTS: As for his reluctance at the idea of praying to Mary, this involves the Communion of the Saints. Praying to Mary is no different than asking me to pray for you. We are asking for Mary's intercessions. "Prayer" does not necessary mean "worship" -- it means "to petition", "to ask". If your husband asks you to pass the salt to him at the supper table, he has just "prayed" to you (that is, he asked you).

We ask Mary to help us, to intercede for us before her Son. This is no different than you asking me to pray (intercede) for you before God concerning your marriage.

But Mary is dead, people will say. No, she is alive and in heaven. Those in heaven are part of the body of Christ. Is Christ's body paralyzed? If there can be no communication at all between the body in heaven and the body on earth, that means that the body is paralyzed -- one part of the body is disconnected from the rest of the body. CHRIST'S BODY IS WHOLE.

CONCERNING MARY'S SINLESSNESS: When one understands the economy of the sacred then this doctrine becomes understandable.

The Immaculate Conception, like all the Marian dogmas, is part of the deposit of faith handed down by the apostles. We do have extant manuscripts going back as far as the Nisibene Hymns of the 4th century (around A.D 370) that mention the Immaculate Conception of Mary. These 4th Century documents mentioned this idea not as a new notion, but as a common belief already held for many years.

I cannot give a whole analysis here in this forum because it would be too long, but briefly, the basis of all the Marian Doctrines goes back to the Old Testament where we learn about the nature of the sacred. Understanding the sacred, which almost no one does in the United States (the U.S. is a very profane (folk) culture that has little understanding of things sacred), is critical to understanding the Marian Doctrines and much of what God reveals to us in His Word. 

For example, from the Old Testament we learn that when God sets aside something as sacred and imprints it with His own hand (such as the Ark of the Covenant) that it must be made of the purest materials, unblemished, untouched, and never used for non-sacred purposes either before, during, or after its purpose for being. What is once touched by God in this way must remain pure forever.

We learn these notions from such passages in the Old Testament as the story of the soldier who saw the Ark of the Covenant begin to fall into the mud and he reached out and grabbed the Ark to prevent it from falling. Despite the fact that he was well-intentioned, he was struck dead on the spot. Why? Because he touched the Holy Ark without having consecrated hands to do so.

Again in the Old Testament we see this notion of pure sacredness. In the Holy of Holies where dwelt the Ark of the Covenant no one could enter except the High Priest once a year. A rope was tied to the ankles of the High Priest before he entered the Holy of Holies. This rope would be used to drag out his body in case he died while in the Holy of Holies. That is how important that the Holiest of holy things that God has set his finger upon MUST be kept untouched and undefiled.

Again in the Old Testament we see this theology of the Sacred in the manner of the Old Testament Sacrifice of the lamb. The lamb had to be a lamb, and not a sheep (in other words, pre-sexual so that the lamb was of course virginal), the lamb had to be free of all blemish and pure. Only then could it be used for sacrifice to God.

This is why the Lamb who took away the sins of the world had to be virginal and unblemished (without sin or flaw). Jesus Christ was that Lamb.

Now with this said, we can begin to understand the Marian doctrines. Mary was the Ark of the NEW Covenant. Like the Ark of the Mosaic Covenant she was to hold the very presence of God in her womb. Thus that womb MUST be pure, unblemished, untouched.

Thus Mary HAD to be immaculately conceived to be free from the blemish of original sin. She HAD to live a sinless life (by virtue of being free from the stain of original sin) in order to remain unblemished and pure to be the Ark of God. She had to be virgin and give virgin birth for the same reason. As the Ark of God she had to be unblemished, pure, and untouched.

But after the birth of Jesus she HAD to remain a virgin because of the nature of the holiness and sacredness that God made her womb. Can you imagine let's say, the Chalice of the Blood of our Lord, once it has worn out and cannot be used for the Holy Mass anymore, being used to remove water from the toilet? Such an idea is loathsome. Even though the Chalice is no longer used in Sacred Ministry, it MUST STILL be treated as a Sacred object and if disposed of, disposed of properly.

Although Mary's main mission to give birth to the Savior was over, the sacred vessel of her womb, made holy by the very touch of God, had to remain pure, undefiled, and unblemished. She HAD to be perpetually virgin. If she was not then God was lying about the nature of the sacred in the Old Testament.

Finally, Mary HAD to be assumed into heaven. We do not know for sure if Mary died and then was assumed or if she was assumed without dying. Either way, the sacred vessel of her womb could not be allowed to decay. She HAD to be assumed body and soul into heaven, or otherwise, again, God would have lied in the Old Testament about the nature of the Sacred.

Mary was free from the stain of original sin, but not the effects of original sin -- as in the effects of the world. She suffered worldly sufferings, and was subject to the evils in the world of weather and men. But she was free from the stain of original sin, a singular grace given to her, that allowed her be made sanctified by the merits of the Cross, before the Cross in chronology. Thus she was able to remain sinless all her life. This is a singular and wondrous grace given by God to Mary because she HAD to be this way or God could not used her womb as the most sacred Holy of Holies where His presence would dwell in the Ark of the New Covenant.

How did Mary remain sinless? This is not something we can even imagine. She was able to remain sinless because she was "saved by the Cross" from original sin. It is original sin that imbues man with what is called CONCUPISCENCE.

Concupiscence is that fallen nature of man. It is propensity of human nature to sin that comes from original sin. If one is saved from original sin then one is saved from concupiscence. If one is saved from concupiscence, then their human nature is not contaminated by a fallen nature and it makes being sinless possible.

Jesus was sinless because he did not contain concupiscence. He was freed from original sin and had no stain of original sin upon him.

In Luke 1:28 we read: "And the angel being come in, said unto her: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women." This is a Scriptural implication of Mary's sinlessness. The Angel said she was FULL of grace. Mary was FULL (100%) of grace. If one is 100% full of grace there is no room for sin. The Angel called Mary FULL OF GRACE as if it were her name. It was a characterization of her ontological reality and not just a comment for the moment.

OTHER RESOURCES:

Other that may interest your friend are the following which has information about questions and issues that non-Catholics have about the Catholic Church:

Catholic Answers The Library has several pamphlets on major issues of concern to Protestants

Scripture Catholic: Providing Scriptural Evidence for the Teachings of the Catholic faith

Biblical Catholicism (various articles and books written by Dave Armstrong proving the biblical basis for Catholicism)

I hope this helps.

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary