Dogma of the Catholic Faith
Catholics fully and unconditionally believe that Christ was conceived without the participation of a man. That is, the original sin from the Mother of God was removed by God himself. However, the Catholic Church did not immediately come to accept this fact. The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin was accepted as a dogma on December 8, 1854 by Pope Pius the Ninth. And although another dogma “on the infallibility of the pope” was adopted somewhat later, it is believed that the statement of the purity of the Virgin Mary falls under the conditions of the Ex_cathedra (the official teaching of the pope), and therefore dogmatic infallibility can extend to it.
The Catholic Church substantiates the statement about the sinlessness of the Virgin Mary with words from the proto-gospel addressed to the serpent about the “state” of enmity between his seed and the seed of the holy wife, which will “strike the devil in the head,” as well as the statements of many Church Fathers.
The sinlessness of the Virgin Mary in Orthodoxy
In Orthodoxy, the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary is not accepted as a dogma. Moreover, adherents of this direction of Christianity consider the freedom of the Mother of God from sin to a large extent as a consequence of her contact with Divine grace. Nevertheless, the Orthodox Church does not completely deny the possibility of sinless conception. In fact, its leadership never expressed its opinion on this matter. Orthodox Christians generally do not consider it necessary to attach too much importance to this issue.
However, there is an opinion that the sinless conception, as formulated by the Roman Catholic Church, separates the Virgin Mary from the rest of the descendants of Adam, who committed original sin, and puts her in a special position, which is unacceptable. But at the same time, it is emphasized that if any Orthodox Christian deems it necessary to believe in the virgin birth, he will not be considered a heretic.
Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Quotations
from the BULL "INEFFABILIS DEUS" OF POPE Pius IX (December 8, 1854) By a special gift of grace and in foreknowledge of the merits of Christ, the Most Holy Virgin Mary, from the moment of Her conception, was preserved from all defilement of original sin. God loved Her more than any other creature. <…> Therefore, He miraculously poured out on Her an abundance of spiritual gifts, drawn from the depths of His Divine nature. He bestowed upon Her more than all the angels and saints, so that She, always preserved from every stain of sin, always perfect and beautiful, appeared in such a fullness of purity and holiness, which no one but God can in any way comprehend, and no one, except God, cannot imagine... ...We declare, proclaim and define that the doctrine which holds that the Blessed Virgin Mary was from the very first moment of Her Conception, by the special grace and favor of Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race , preserved untainted by any stain of original sin, is a doctrine revealed by God, and must therefore be firmly and constantly believed by all the faithful. This “radiant and completely unique holiness” with which She was “endowed from the first moment of Her conception” was entirely given to her by Christ: She was “redeemed in the most sublime manner in anticipation of the merits of Her Son.” More than any other created being, the Father blessed Her “in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” (Eph 1:3). He chose Her “before the foundation of the world, that She might be holy and blameless before Him in love.” _________________ “Rejoice, O Blessed One! The Lord is with You; Blessed are You among women" (Luke 1:28) . “I will rejoice in the Lord with joy, my soul will rejoice in my God; for He clothed me with the robe of salvation, He clothed me with the robe of righteousness, as He placed a crown on a groom, and adorned me with ornaments like a bride” (Entrance Antiphon [Is 61:10]) . “Adam and Eve will be freed from mortal aphids, O Most Pure One, in Your holy Nativity” (kontakion for the Nativity of the Virgin Mary) . “Come, all faithful ones, to the Virgin as fathers: behold, behold, even before the womb of the foreseen Mother of our God, the Vessel of virginity is born, Aaron’s vegetated Rod from the root of Jesse, prophetic preaching, and the vegetation of the righteous Joachim and Anna. She is born, and the world is renewed with Her. The Church is reborn and adorned in its splendor. The holy Temple of the Divine, the companion of the Divine, the virgin Vessel, the royal Palace: in Him the glorious indescribable union of the natures that came together in Christ, the perfect sacrament was performed. In veneration to Him, we glorify the Nativity of the All-Immaculate Virgin. (Great Supper) “By angelic prophecy, the most pure fruit of Joachim and Anna of the righteous came forth today, the Virgin, heaven and the throne of God, and the friend of purity, joy proclaiming to the whole world, our life Intercessor, oaths taken away, blessings given. Thus in Thy Nativity, O God-Called Virgin, grant peace to the world and great mercy to our souls.” “You have given, Lord, from the barren root of the holy Anna to vegetate, most pure the fruit, and to give birth to the Mother of God.” “To the Worker of our thoughts and the Planter of our souls, You have shown the barren land to be fruitful: You have made the ancient dry, bountiful, good-willed, fruitful rein of the Holy Anna, most pure is the fruit grow the Mother of God." (M. Skaballanovich. The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Publishing house “Prologue”. Kiev, 2004) “Let all creation rejoice now, let nature shout with joy. Let the heavens rejoice, and let the clouds pour out righteousness. Let the mountains ooze with the sweetness of honey, and let the valleys rejoice, for the Lord had mercy on His people and raised up a mighty savior in the house of David, His servant—this Immaculate and Most Pure Virgin, from Whom will come the salvation and hope of the peoples”... (St. Andrew of Crete First Sermon on the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary) . Prayer Tota Pulchra es (4th century) Tota pulchra es, Maria et macula originalis non est in te. Vestimentum tuum candidum quasi nix, et facies tua sicut sol. Tota pulchra es, Maria, et macula originalis non est in te. Tu gloria Jerusalem, tu laetitia Israel, tu honorificentia populi nostri. Tota pulchra es, Maria. (translation) “You are all beautiful, Mary, and there is no original sin on you. Your clothes are white as snow and your face is like the sun. You are all beautiful, Mary, and there is no original sin on you. You are the glory of Jerusalem, you are the joy of Israel, you are worthy of honor by our people. You are all beautiful, Maria.” “...Therefore, now the Virgin is born, alien to the corruption of her ancestors, she is betrothed to God Himself, she gives birth to the mercy of God, and not the people of God become the people of God, the unmerciful receives mercy, the unloved becomes beloved - because from Her the beloved Son of God is born, in whom is all the favor of God ..." (St. John of Damascus "Word for the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary") "Oh, that I, your co-celebrant, possessed such an abundant gift of speech that I could glorify those glorious deeds that our Divine Savior, the Provider of all creation, showing people an example He showed us His mercy when, for our redemption, He deigned to inhabit the pure body that He received from the most immaculate Virgin.” (Speech of Emperor Constantine to the Holy (I Nicaea) Council) “Therefore, with all generations, we please You, the only one blessed among women, whom neither the sun, which stirred up the flame of lust, burned, nor the beneficial power of the moon damaged at night (Psalm 120, 6). For you did not give your spiritual foot into confusion (Psalm 120:3); but, having established it on the Stone, it remained motionless, and the Lord preserved You” (St. Anastasius of Antioch. “Word on the Annunciation”) . “Now the daughter of Adam, having escaped from the fall of the foremother Eve and remaining clean from the filth that arises from this, appears before the Creator as beautiful and flourishing and arranges salvation for the human race” (Photius of Constantinople “Conversation on the Annunciation of the Theotokos”) “... It was necessary, after all, that from such a root and in this way the Mother of God received a spiritual body, from the root - closest to God of all people, in a way that is the power of prayer. Taking advantage of these appropriate initiators, She came into the world who brought God to people, destroyed the enmity between them, opened the way for prayers to Heaven, and abolished the mediastinum of division. Even though similar things happened to others, and birth as a fruit of prayer was not unknown to those who lived in ancient times or in later times, She, who opened the treasury of grace-filled gifts for everyone, became the cause not only of those who came after Her, but and those who were in times past speak about Her. They all ascend to Her: either because the ancient relates to the new in the same way as a shadow receives its form and form from the body, or because She was a common adornment even before coming into the world, when God from ancient times adorned His Mother with honors which He has appointed for the human race. From this it is clear that this did not happen in the same way to the rest [the righteous] and to the Most Pure One; the similarity is no closer than between shadows and truth, images and the thing itself. Just as among the ancients, blood was a cleanser from sins even before the great Sacrifice [of the Son of God], but both of these sacrifices were so different in reality that they coincided in appearance and name - after all, both: blood and sacrifice, and for the remission of sins, - in the same way here. After all, One [Virgin] was truly the result of holy prayer, in which there was nothing contrary to God, and She alone was the gift of God, which is worthily given to those who ask and accepted by those who wish. After all, what the Virgin had combines the hand of the giver and the receiver. Therefore, nature could not bring anything consistent with the birth of the Virgin, but God Himself, called [by the spouses], did everything and, pushing nature aside, directly, so to speak, created the Virgin as the first man. And first of all, and most legitimately, the first person is the Virgin, who first and only revealed the nature [of man].” “The Blessed Virgin, one of all the already past and future people, was able to do this and gloriously preserved the human essence pure from everything alien to Her. After all, no one will be born clean from an unclean person (Job 14:4). This is above any miracle, and puts into awe not only people, but also the angels themselves, and puts to shame any verbal exaggeration. After all, [Virgo], being exactly the same person and not having anything more in Herself compared to other people, is all Still, One escaped the common illness.” (St. Nicholas Cabasilas. “Homily on the Most Glorious Nativity of Our Blessed Lady Theotokos”) “Anyone who begins to investigate [this subject] can find [the above] numerous and clear evidence. Firstly, when God wished to descend on Her, nothing prevented His descent, and He could not have descended if a prohibiting barrier had been erected between [Him and the Virgin]. And this would have happened if anything close to sin had been internalized by the Blessed Virgin. It is said: your iniquities have created a division between Me and you (cf. Is. 59:2). One should not think that the barrier existed, and God Himself, by His condescension, destroyed the wall; after all, when He had not yet descended, there was nothing with which to destroy the obstacle, I am talking about the blood and passion [of Christ]. After all, this was the only way to destroy sin. For even among those who lived under the law and had images of grace [it was known] that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins (Heb. 9:22)…… …And both in this world and in paradise, She revealed a pure and perfect man, as in the beginning he was created and as he was to remain, and as he might later become, having fought for His nobility. Since it was necessary for human nature to meet with the Divine and unite so firmly that in the two natures one Hypostasis became, then each nature had to first show itself in unclouded purity. And God revealed Himself as much as it was possible for Him to appear. The Virgin alone showed the man; and thus, being God and becoming man, Jesus appeared, not before the two [natures] of which He was separately manifested. And just as God, having first laid reason as the foundation, and then created the sensory principle, thirdly, creates from both a combination, that is, man, so, being God from the beginning, and appearing as a man hardly at the end of centuries, He became the God-man in these last days...” (St. Nicholas Kavasila) “... It was a matter of perfect justice that our nature, which was voluntarily enslaved and defeated, itself again entered into the struggle for victory and overthrew voluntary slavery. That is why God was pleased to take upon Himself our nature from us, miraculously uniting with it Hypostasis. But the union of the Highest Nature, the purity of which is incomprehensible to our minds, with the sinful nature was impossible before it purified itself. Therefore, for the conception and birth of the Giver of purity, a completely Immaculate and Most Pure Virgin was necessary... ...He alone was not conceived in iniquities, and His birth was not in sins, contrary to what the prophet David testifies about himself and about every other person (Ps. 50, 7). He alone was completely pure and did not even need purification for Himself: for our sake He took upon Himself suffering, death and resurrection. God is born from the Immaculate and Holy Virgin, or, better, from the All-Pure and All-Holy. This Virgin is not only above all carnal defilement, but even above all unclean thoughts... ...Having Her body purer than the spirits themselves purified by virtue, so that it could receive the very Hypostatic Word of the Pre-Eternal Father, - Ever-Virgin Mary, as the Treasure of God, is now placed according to her heritage was in the Holy of Holies, so that at the appropriate time, as it was, it would serve for enrichment and for worldly adornment. Therefore, Christ God glorifies His Mother, both before birth and after birth.” (St. Gregory Palamas, Archbishop of Thessaloniki, Omilia XIV. “On the Annunciation of our Most Pure Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary”) “So, when all people - I will say briefly - were subjected to corruption, then the merciful God, not wanting the creation of His hands to be destroyed, creates another new sky, earth and sea, in which the Incontainable One deigned to be contained in order to recreate the human race. This is the blessed and glorious Virgin. Oh miracle! She is the sky, because the sun of truth emerges from impregnable treasures. She is earth, because from the undefiled loins of incorruption she sprouts life. She is the sea, because from Her depths She wears out a spiritual pearl. And so, a new creation of the Incomprehensible has already appeared, the royal palace of the All-Tsar has been prepared; a reasonable dwelling for the Inconceivable has been arranged. How majestic this world is! How worthy of wonder is creation, adorned with the growths of virtues, fragrant with the flowers of purity, shining with the rays of contemplation, having in abundance all other blessings; to put it briefly, it is worthy for God to dwell among people... But nothing is as worthy of God as the blessed and wonderful Virgin. To verify the truth of this, listen to what the long-suffering Job says: the sky is not pure, and the stars are not blameless before God. But what is purer than Virgo? What is more pure than Her? God, the highest and purest light, loved her so much that through the invasion of the Holy Spirit he essentially united with Her and was born from Her as a perfect man, without changing or mixing his properties.” (St. Gregory Palamas. Homilia 58, 3) . “Divine grace completely freed Mary, completely, as if she had been virginally conceived... Since she was completely free from sin and the punishment of her first parents - an advantage that she alone among people was awarded, there was no way for (ungodly) thoughts to penetrate Her soul, and it became the sanctuary of the Divine, both in body and soul.” (Gennady Scholarius, Patriarch of Constantinople, quoted from “Orthodox Christianity” by Archpriest John Meyendroff) . “...by the command of Nikon, the former patriarch, a new book was printed in your reigning city of Moscow, and its name was called the Tablet, and that, sir, book of the apostolic rule, and the holy father of the ecumenical councils and the nine local councils, and all theologians, does not agree with the Divine Scripture, but stolen from it..., and among the Divine Scriptures, many heretical and blasphemous words were printed in it, and that book was sent to the churches of God in all the cities and monasteries of your pious state, and now, sir, from that book in the churches of God, and in all of Christ's faith split and confusion; Likewise, sir, in all Nikon’s newly printed books, in sacred services... and in other ranks, there is great corruption and violation of piety. And about this to us... John Chrysostom writes (Mar. l.199; Cor. l.145): For it is a matter of convicting a priest, but silence is enmity to God and man... And I, your pilgrim, seeing in that new book of ancient heretics blasphemous and noteworthy words, ... fearing the judgment of God, I dared to approach you, the great sovereign, the builder of Christian piety, ... this is known to be done... And again about the Most Holy Theotokos it was printed: ... the filthiness of the ancestral was in Her. And that, sir, was printed from a heretic, because the Most Holy Theotokos was sanctified from her mother’s womb and prepared for God as a dwelling, and the Holy Spirit was in the autumn for the conception of the Word of God, and not cleansed from filth, and about this it has been written at length... Yes, about the Most Holy Theotokos in that Nikon book it was printed ... completely contrary to the Divine Scripture, which is true: ... the Holy Spirit came upon her, and cleansed me with the word of the Archangel Gabriel. Zane is the filth of the ancestral byasha in her. And that, sir, is printed against the Most Pure and Ever-Virgin Mother of God from false heretical blasphemies. The Holy Spirit descended on the Most Pure Mother of God and in the autumn for the conception of the Son of God, and did not cleanse the filth.” And our reverend father John of Damascus and other theologians testify in octane decoration (1 tone on Monday hymn 5): Waving lips will not be able to tell your Nativity, O Young Lady, the ineffable sacrament... And again: Your Nativity, Mother of God, surprises the angels more than nature , horrifies people: it is unspeakable and incomprehensible to everyone. ...Neither the tongue of the earthly, nor the mind of the disembodied will be able to say your Christmas (2nd tone on Wednesday, hymn 3). ...You had an undisputed conception and an unspeakable birth, O Pure One (canticle 7 on Friday). ...The miracle of your birth cannot be expressed by the tongue: for I am glorified by my conception, Pure One, the image of birth is incomprehensible (dogmatist voice 7). ...To your ineffable Nativity, All-Immaculate, Image, Virgin, Blessed of God, for our sake, who can say from man (week tone 7, song 6). ... St. Tarasius, Archbishop of Constantinople...: This, even the holy of saints, the undefiled Words, the palace, the virgin blossom, the ark of the sacred, the holy mountain, the God-containing canopy, the burning bush, the fiery chariot of God, the undefiled dove, ... the God-enlightened cloud, ... God preserved the speed to her own home”... The Most Pure Virginity of the Mother of God Mary came about not precisely through abstinence, like other people, but through the invasion of the Holy Spirit, which is more than human nature. ...Oh, it’s scary to write and talk about that incongruous, great and terrible Queen and Lady! But the Nikonian books are heretical and corrupt writings, forcing me to write about this. ...And now, great sir, we are afraid of the same thing, so that with that Nikonian book we may not anger our most merciful and great intercessor, the Most Holy Theotokos, about whom we live and place all our hope in this present and future century, amen. ...And we, sir, are afraid, lest we fall away from the true faith and perish in our souls.” (Certificate of the Old Believer priest Nikita Dobrynin to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, see I.N. Subbotin “Historical and dogmatic-polemical works of the first schismatic teachers”, vol. 4, part 1, publishing house “Brotherhood of St. Peter the Metropolitan”, Moscow ., 1878) “The Mother of God was driven from the throne by Nikonian heretics, thieves, whore’s children. Yes, it would not be bitter for a Christian! It will be bitter, don't worry. Christians have only hope, hope, with their son and God. And the heretics threw him off the throne and dishonored him.” (Avvakum Petrov “From the interpretations of the psalms”, “The Life of Archpriest Avvakum written by himself and his other works” / Ed., introductory article and commentary by N.K. Gudziya. - [M.]: Academia, 1934) . “The heavenly groom to the bride in the song speaks the Sitsa: all my neighbor is red, and there is no vice in you. The storytellers of the Divine Scripture in the first reckon this pure of the Virgin. For the sake of the sake and in the sun, a bride, Yuzhe John Holy form in the Apocalypse, at chapter 12, is formed to be the same with the same purity and holiness of Nitsia who is looking closely, they do not accelerate the verb: as below the ancestral sin, it is also appropriate, and the Orthodox Church is seen in agreement, singing, singing. On the day of the Nativity of Her Blessed Sitsa: we sing your holy Christmas, honor and the immaculate conception of your, godly god-stained ” (“ Crook ”, part I, fox 40 and about., Ed. 1908. The book was approved by the Cathedral of 1666-1667-“ ““ Whether anyone will now begin to pre -conquest about the wines of the Great Cathedral on the Cathedral and, in the writer of the Board, may he be self -associated and the heir to the oath of this cathedral. ”)“ We are all for example: “Here, I am conceived in lawlessness, and my mother gave birth to me in sin.” " And you are alone, to which these words do not relate, because you did not conceive in lawlessness, and were not born in sin. It is clear that it was necessary for you to conceive without sin, because you should have accepted the one who had to free the world from sins and smooth out all lawlessness ”and“ what kind of may, the Most Holy Devil, we are in the troubles of conception, without you, without you Sin conceived. " (Lazar Baranovich, Archbishop of Chernigovsky “Pipes for the days of the deliberate holidays” (1684, Kiev)) . “The third big privilege that God has committed the Most Holy Virgin is that she freed her from original sin, because the Most Holy Virgin began and was born without a original sin ..., and there was no original sin on the Most Holy Virgo, but there was God's grace, therefore an angel Gabriel said to her: Rejoice the fertile, the Lord is with you. From those words of the angel, we can understand the pure conception of the Most Holy Virgin. When the vessel is filled with oliva, it is impossible to add water to it or something else, because there is no longer a place, and in the Most Holy Virgin there is not only the original, but also everyone, sin, because it is full of God's grace. ” (“The key of understanding by the priest by the legitimate and Svetsky, the impaired, from the unworthy Ironika Ioannika Galyatovsky, the rector and hegumen of the monastery of the Bratsk Kiev”) . “The Eastern Church admits that the blessed Virgin was not involved in sin. This teaching is strengthened even more because it is protected by the Western Church itself. For although the Western Church is chasing all sorts of innovations, however, in relation to this dogma, it quite converges with the Eastern Church. ” (Innocent Popovsky, rector of the Kiev-Mogilyansk Academy (1704-1707)) . “From the conception of her Blessed Virgin, was an inexhaustible source of blessings for the Earth. The Blessed Virgin is the mother of the returned promise. Gifts and mercy of communication and contemplation of love were returned to humanity with her; Unity with God, - lost by the ancestors during the fall. " (Archbishop. Innocent Kherson "The Word on the Assumption of the Mother of God") . “This dogma (about the immaculate conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary) undoubtedly has the right to its place ... However, this difference is exaggerated by a polemic if, along with others, the basis for the discharge of churches: the communication of the Churches of the Western and Eastern did not interfere with the existence of this teaching in the West from IX centuries ... The doctrine of the immaculate conception ... had the goal of serving the dope as a merciful representer for people and authorized the reverent veneration of the Mother of God among Western Christians. Thus, it stemmed from a good source ... Catholics can ask what unquestioned church authority or at what universal cathedral their teachings were convicted, like heresy? " (Prot. Svetlov: “Christian creed in an apologetic presentation”, vol. I, p. 89 and trace, ed. 1910, quoted in the railway “Faith and Life”, 1911, N3, p. 61) . “Niconian ... our Most Holy Lady of the Virgin, only from the embodiment of the Son of God confess Orthodox, and to the conception of Christ confess the being of the girl, and, like other wives, I have an aircraft in itself, but it is supposedly cleansed only by the archangel expression: so they are printed in them in them the book of the tablets. The Mary of the Virgin will take the honor of the Virgin and make the vice to join, but God was unable to create an invented sky for himself and not involved in the earth. ” "... Yes, we are not embarrassed that we are wincing in this dogma as Latins, for this is Orthodox faith." (Pavel Belokrinitsky monk “A brief consideration, or comparing about different religions, i.e. the beliefs for the heresies of the convicts, but those only from which the acting secrets are baptism and chirotony according to the rules of the Holy Councils to the Orthodox Church for acceptance are worthy, the scientist sent by the sent The universe from the Belokrinitska Old Believers of the monastery by monks Alimpiy and Paul, presented in the monastery of the Slavic fathers for the Cathedral of Distantness of general with all the Podanayan societies ”) . _____________ Fedor Permyakov “extracts from the sacred and holy scriptures and creations of holy fathers and teachers of the Church. On the introduction of Patriarch Nikon and his successors to the novelty and false teachings ”(Staropomory-Fedeseevites) : Chapter 33 on the Blessed Virgin Mary, new teaching. St. The Virgin Mary until the day of the Annunciation had a well -breeding. Tablet, p. 651, ed. 1656, the Mother is not the home of a Virgin with corruption, but I will come to the Holy Spirit to Nude, and I will cleanse the word of the Archangel Gabriel, Zanya is a well -thoroughbred by Byaasha in it. The Object of Theophylact, Fox. 21st, 2nd accounts, ed. 1753 Joachim, Patriarch of Moscow, he wrote such a covenant, clearly showed himself the jealousy of Russian rustic peasants, by which the wife of a husband could not be an undecided head of a man. And he was not satisfied, he also wanted the Mother of God as the same rustic peasant to subordinate the law, and write her image in the likeness of Russian Babits (i.e., integrated). Ancient teaching. St. The Virgin did not even have any badness, it was holy and pure. Act of the 6th Ecumenical Council, volume 6, p. 153. [ In the third edition of the “Acts of the Ecumenical Councils” of the Kazan Theological Seminary, this p. 146. ] Belief, Holy, and regarding how God the Word, the Uniform Son of the Father, before the centuries and times Smallly born of God himself and the Father, puzzled and encouraged by our human fall, by voluntary desire, and according to the will of the God of the parent, and by the divine dejection of the spirit, without separating from the bowels of the birth, he came down to us derogatory. Because he, as one and the same, has a desire with the Father and Spirit, so the creature is unlimited and incomprehensible nature. He cannot in no way describe, and does not use space like us. By nature, it could perform God's actions and entered into an inexperienced, decorated by purity of virginity, the womb of the holy and glorious, and God -wise, and pure from all filth, in the body and to his liking, and in thought ... and he has come down to a truly man since this Higher Conception of the Most High from the Most Holy Virgos. Chet-Mineya, November 21 days, on the introduction of the Blessed Virgin Mary, fox. 71 column. For the angels, if not the briefing of secrets, are borne by the servants with the command of the Lord Service by the entry of it: and the first is surprised, seeing the life of the illegitimate vascular, which wears signs of the purity of eternal, and the property of such flesh, the sinful filth will be approaching ... To the day you gave you. Come in a booty of consecration to the prosperous Danel. Cry the ark of the word to the temple of the Lord. VNII in the Church of the Lord, the world of joy and fun. To Zachariah, as if to the prophet, both the saint and his relative, with Joachim of the Speech: come, Zachary, undeveloped canopy, arrival, priestly, immaculate ark, accumulates, prophet, cadillate of an immaterial coal, accept, a prior, a spiritual censer ... the same and the same and the same Holy Tarasius about the same verb. The Holy Spirit was fulfilled, cry: Oh! Sapokovitsa is undeveloped, oh! Nebelly, oh! The girl is beautiful, Oh! Wife decoration, oh! The wooden fertilizer: you are blessed in wives, you are asked by purity, you are imprinted by the virginity, you are Adam's oath of permission ... Held the angels, in it is not a law, but grace is perfect perfect. The ancient ceremonial solemn, the word of the Holy Tarasia, Patriarch Konstantin Grad, on the introduction of the Blessed Virgin Mary, sheet 39 vol. This is even the holy holy, the undeveloped word of the Hall, the virgin flowering, the ark of the Holy, the Holy Mountain ... The blueberries are incorrect. Sheet 43 vol. Take, priestly, an unprecedented ark, take, prophet, censer of an immaterial coal ... Agnine is verbal, God's purification, the vessel is undeveloped. Fox 44. The Holy Spirit was fulfilled, resumed (Zakhary): Non -circular lad out, oh! The girl is unpaid, oh! The girl is beautiful ... You are blessed in the wives, you are sprinkled with purity. Sheet 48. The Virgin was pretended to be created from creating the world ... and pure and undeveloped. Monk Evfimiy, on the introduction of the Virgin, foxes. 50 vol. In the daytime, trileties are the striking of the lad, it comes to the legal church, the Almighty is betrayed by the Almighty and is like undeveloped and uncontrollable. Sheet 58 column. Your blessed womb, I also wore it, who suffered all sorts of wear. Make a lot and you, oh! Sapokovitsa, undeveloped, and unpaid girl, even heaven is even exceeded. St. John Damaskin, on the Annunciation of the Virgin, foxes. 139 column. Rejoice, delighted, brown in the true censer, and an honest murder and undisputed purity treasure. Rejoice, delighted, undeveloped Agnitsa. The seventh canonnik, the canon on the introduction of the Blessed Virgin Mary, was shed., Ch. 4. The immaculate agnia and the undeveloped hell, the Virgin Mary Mariam is introduced into the house of the God of God, the Angels of God is gratifying, and VSI please please. Song 9. Preteen, the Virgin, pure, your miracle by force of word. The body of Bo in you I understand more than the words, the course of sinful is unpleasant. Rev. Maxim Greek, Word 1, p. 27 and 28. I confess and preach to myself and every faithful, the condensate of my Mother of God, the representative to all the Orthodox Christian, all over the Holy and Prezerny and Prefinode, and Preferentye, and before the Divine Restiye Resti From her and in it the only begotten Son of God, and in the birth and grove ... no way, never, the Christian, who is the Sitsevo that the wisdom is by no means wisdom about the omnivorus and more poorly, the girl of honest cherub and the glorious Seraphim. Chapter 24, p. 503. Satanskoye on the God of Mother annoyance, repent, pray, sturge, if you want to excreate the bitter torment of the Kropronyovs, like the annoyers and hulniki to the Most Holy Mother of God. ________________ “When I was a young novice, I once prayed before the icon of the Mother of God, and Jesus’s prayer entered my heart and began to be pronounced there. And once in the church I listened to the reading of the prophecies of Isaiah, and at the words: “I will take it from and clean” (Isa. 1, 16), I thought: “Perhaps the Mother of God sinned at least with the thought.” And marvelous, in my heart, along with prayer, the voice clearly said: "The Mother of God never sinned even with thought." So the Holy Spirit in my heart testified to her purity. But during earthly life, she had some incompleteness and sinless imperfection errors. This can be seen from the Gospel when she, returning from Jerusalem, did not know where her son was, and then, together with Joseph, she searched for him for three days. (Luke 2, 44-46). " (St. Siluan Athos) . “If there were no virgin Mary, then there would be no salvation. But the Mother of God herself received a lot from her son. As the church legend testifies, even before her Christmas, the Virgin Mary was prevented by the spirit, so that the consequences of original sin did not spread to her. This special action of God's grace was simultaneously combined with the special moral efforts of the Virgin of Mary herself ... ... Having left this world, she was not devoted to the earth, but her body miraculously disappeared - the Mother of God was accepted by his son with the soul and body to heavenly kingdom. And now she is with Christ and is inseparable with Him. The veneration of the Mother of God is based on the understanding of the special significance of the Blessed Virgin in the Christian community to save the human race, on its personal holiness, which exceeds the holiness of any of the people, and even angels. The Lord saves the world with His Mother. Neither in church legend, nor in the gospel narratives, it does not act as the one at which the saving mission of her son is directed, for it is already prevented by the Holy Spirit from the influence of original sin. Otherwise, it could not be, for the sinless God could not connect with the darkened by sin of human nature. He was in everything like us - except sin. And when it is said about the recreation in Christ of the pristine nature of man, it refers to the fact that the Savior, having received from his mother a human nature unlucky sin, did not repeat the sin of Adam, but subordinating his human will to the will of the Divine, realized the original idea of the Creator about the creator about Man, likened to God, becoming the "second Adam." (Metropolitan Cyril (Gundyaev) “The Word of the Shepherd. God and man. History of salvation” Publishing House Publishing Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, 2004 The head “On the Mother of God”) . “The Orthodox Church calls Mary of the Blessed, and she also calls her“ pure ”, or“ immaculate ”(in Greek Achrantos). All Orthodox according to the fact that the Mother of God is free from actual sin. But is it also free from original sin? In other words, do the Orthodox agree with the Catholic doctrine of the immaculate conception, proclaimed as a dogma Pope Paim IX in 1854? The dogma says that Maria since her conception by her mother, St. Anna, the special action of God was freed from "every trace of original sin." In fact, the Orthodox Church never made official and final statements on this issue. In the past, individual Orthodox authors if they did not directly affirm the doctrine of the immaculate conception, then at least they were close to it, but after 1854 the vast majority of the Orthodox rejected this dogma for several reasons. Orthodox feel that the dogma is not necessary; They also feel that in the form in which he was formulated by the Roman Catholic Church, he implies a incorrect understanding of the original sin; They are suspicious of this dogma, since he tears Mary from other descendants of Adam, puts her in a completely different plan than all other righteous husbands and wives of the Old Testament. Nevertheless, from an Orthodox point of view, the question is generally more likely to the field of theological opinions, and if today one of the Orthodox feels the motivation to believe in an immaculate conception, he will not be considered a heretic for this. ” (Metropolitan Callist War) "Church of God")
The opinion of the Old Believer churches
It is interesting that Orthodox Old Believers believe unconditionally in the purity of the Blessed Virgin. The fact is that the change in the official opinion of the church on this matter was introduced precisely by Patriarch Nikon, after whose reforms Orthodoxy was divided into the Old Believer faith and the new one.
Old Catholicism, in contrast to the official Catholic Church, accepts the assertion of the sinless conception by the Virgin Mary, but rejects the very fact of its dogmatism. This disagreement with modern religion of this trend is caused by the fact that the dogma of papal infallibility was adopted later than the constitution of 1854.
Humility of the Mother of God
The virgin birth is something that is incomprehensible to the human mind. And here the complete humility of the Virgin Mary is revealed to us. She surrenders herself to the will of God. She is God's servant. Not in the sense in which the word “slavery” is known today: a person who does not have the right to express his opinion. Not at all, the Mother of God loves God. And he surrenders himself to His will not because of fear and lack of opportunity to object. She does this just out of love.
If appropriate, let's give an example from life. When we love someone very much, it won’t even occur to us to disobey or object. We know that if we are told to do it this way, then this is what we need to do. The one we love does not wish us harm. He knows better how to do it right.
It's the same here. The Mother of God had the firm confidence that God knows best what is good for her. And she agreed to become the Chosen One. Become the Mother of the Savior.
This wonderful color, this Child
She will give birth to the Savior.
From the cruel clutches of hell
The whole world will be freed.
These lines are from a poem by nun Maria (Mernova), dedicated to the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Protestantism and the Immaculate Conception
Protestantism does not recognize the Immaculate Conception at all. Its adherents explain this by the fact that not a single Gospel contains direct indications of the fact of the sinlessness of the Mother of God in this regard. Another reason for Protestants’ rejection of the virgin birth is one of the main dogmas of this teaching. Protestants believe that original sin lies with absolutely all people, and there simply cannot be any exceptions.
Thus, different religions of the world treat the statement of the immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary in different ways. Where did this legend come from? Let's look at this in more detail.
Ever-Virgin
Why is Mary the Ever-Virgin? After all, the birth of a child involves the deprivation of the hymen. More precisely, its final destruction. How did the Savior enter the world?
Here's another wonderful moment. It is known that Jesus Christ emerged from the side of his Most Pure Mother. How so? God is able to pass through obstacles, let's not forget this fact.
That is why the Mother of God is called the Ever-Virgin. She retained her virginity despite the birth of her Son.
Where could the claim about the virgin birth come from?
In fact, in the original text of Isaiah's prophecy there is a Hebrew word, alma, which means "girl" or "young woman." When translated into Greek, it was mistakenly interpreted to mean “virgin” (παρθενος). This word was taken as a basis by the Christian Church to justify the immaculate conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. However, disputes in the church on this issue still do not subside. Some reputable Christians believe that the Jews deliberately distorted the text of the prophecy. Others have suggested that the Gospel of Matthew is a mistranslation of the biblical Hebrew version of Isaiah.
And in fact?
This myth stems from the fact that early Christians had strong motives for attributing a maleless birth to Jesus. It's as if they decided to brainstorm to think carefully about how they could better promote the new Messiah to the masses. And then they came up with this promising marketing idea - to announce that Jesus did not have an earthly father, and to make up the whole story about a young Jewish girl who finds herself pregnant before the wedding, the deeply saddened but generous groom decides to quietly call off the engagement, but then he is an angel...
The trouble is that this is actually just a terrible idea in terms of promoting a new religion. It is very inconvenient from the point of view of relationships with both Jews and pagans.
She was perceived by enemies and mockers as a gift, and they happily clung to her, and still cling to her. For a traditional society, this is simply a huge scandal - the bride is pregnant before the wedding, and not yet by the groom. Saint Joseph showed himself to be an extremely kind and patient man, refusing to disgrace Mary and all her relatives to the whole world.
Of course, the people to whom the apostles turned often did not have his kindness and wisdom, and most importantly, faith, and they greeted the stories about the Immaculate (male) Conception of Jesus Christ * with rude ridicule. Unbelievers always know better what really happened, and Christians, telling this whole story, were terribly exposed.
Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary; Constantinople; XII century; Trebizond Gospel, 1140-1160.
The Immaculate Conception thus meets what scientists call the “inconvenience criterion.” This criterion is based on the fact that people tend to speak or write in such a way as to present their case in the most favorable light, and to avoid what will be perceived negatively or cause ridicule.
The early Christians had only one reason to adhere to such an inconvenient narrative as that of the Immaculate Conception of Jesus Christ - they knew that it really happened and that it was important.
Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov wrote:
“If you carefully consider the narration of the Evangelist Matthew about the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, it becomes immediately obvious that the Evangelist used all his care to show with clarity and accuracy the birth of the God-Man from the Virgin, without male seed. For this, the Evangelist explains that the Virgin, betrothed to her husband, without knowing her husband, turned out to be pregnant with the Holy Spirit; for this, the Evangelist cites the testimony of an Angel who appeared in a dream to Joseph and certified that the fetus in the Virgin’s womb was from the Holy Spirit; for this, the Evangelist brings the Prophet, who foretold that the Virgin will conceive and the Virgin will give birth to a Son, the Savior of the world; for this, speaking already about the very birth of the God-man, the Evangelist shows that Mary gave birth to Him, being a Virgin, just as she conceived, being a Virgin.
The circumstances that concerned the actual face of the Mother of God and did not constitute the main subject that was described by the Evangelist were left by him without a clear explanation. - The story of the Evangelist Luke about the birth of Christ has the same character. Silent about Joseph's bewilderment and the appearance of an Angel in a dream, Saint Luke tells about the coming of the Archangel Gabriel to the Mother of God with the most joyful news from God about the conception and birth of the Son of God by Her, and tells that Elizabeth, through the action of the Holy Spirit, recognized Mary as the Mother of God .
Elena Cherkasova. Annunciation
Saint Luke, just like Matthew, calls Mary the Virgin, betrothed to her husband, and the God-Man born by Her as Her Son—the Firstborn. A similar presentation of the circumstances concerning the Virgin itself was not made by Saint Luke; It is only indirectly clear from his story, as was said above, that the Virgin was painless at the birth of the God-Man <...> The Gospel mentions the brothers of the God-Man; Detractors of the Ever-Virgin point to this circumstance as confirmation of their opinion. But a reliable tradition of the Orthodox Church explains that the name of the brothers of the Lord was borne by the sons of the righteous Joseph, the betrothed to the Mother of God, from his first wife. They were called the brothers of the Lord in exactly the same respect in which Joseph was called His father. The Mother of God herself called Joseph this way.
Having found the twelve-year-old Lord in the temple in Jerusalem, She said to Him: Child, what do you do to us? Behold, Thy Father and I am in pain and seek Thee. Modern Jews, who did not know conception from the Holy Spirit and birth from the Virgin, recognized the God-man as the son of Joseph; and the Mother of God, the disciples and neighbors of the Lord hid the great mystery from the embittered Jews, who did not stop to blaspheme the obvious signs.
What blasphemous cry would they raise if the conception from the Spirit and the birth from the Virgin were revealed to them? This remained unknown to them, and, according to popular opinion, Joseph was considered and called the father, therefore, his sons were considered and called the brothers of the Lord. They were much older in years than the God-man, who, therefore, could not be the first-born in relation to them.”
Temples and Cathedrals of the Immaculate Conception
Several churches have been built in Russia dedicated to the significant event of the sinless conception of Christ.
For example, there is the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Moscow. This is the largest Catholic church in Russia. It is headed by Metropolitan Paolo Pezzi. The cathedral holds masses in Russian, Polish, English, French and other languages. There is a library and a church shop at the temple. Organ music concerts are also often held here. There is such a temple in Smolensk. It was built in the second half of the twelfth century. Currently, the number of its parishioners is more than 400 people of various nationalities.
Who benefits from this myth?
This myth - it can be called the "myth of birth from the Holy Spirit" - is found not only in popular articles, but also among serious scientists. And this is understandable: the Immaculate Conception is a miracle, a supernatural intervention of God, and if a person adheres to a worldview in which there is no place for God or any of His actions in the world, he will inevitably reject any evidence of such supernatural intervention. He will simply be forced to look for any explanation of the available evidence, except for the most direct one - a miracle.
Liberal Protestantism played a large role in the development of the myth: faced with an increasingly skeptical, materialistic cultural environment in the 19th and 20th centuries, some theologians decided that it would be a good idea to begin to adapt and somehow sweep under the rug those biblical miracles that - like and in ancient times - they caused special ridicule from non-believers.
"Immaculate Conception". Icon
There are various icons depicting the Blessed Virgin Mary, called the “Immaculate Conception”. In some of them, the Virgin Mary is represented contemplating the face of God. There is also an image of the Virgin trampling a serpent with her feet. On some icons you can also see angels. However, in canonical dogma, the plot of the “Immaculate Conception” icon must necessarily include images of the sun and moon, as well as a crown of 12 stars. Since the canons of some areas of Christianity assume the sinless conception of not only Jesus, but also the Virgin Mary herself, on icons with this name you can sometimes see a scene of the kiss of her parents Joachim and Anna at the Golden Gate. Another common version of the “Immaculate Conception” is the image of Anna holding the Virgin Mary herself in her arms as an infant.
Joseph's attitude to what happened
It is known that the husband of the Virgin Mary was many years old. He was very old, and She was very young. And the elder was entrusted with the Mother of God, so that he would preserve Her in purity and innocence.
What was Joseph’s horror when he realized that the Virgin was carrying a child? Fear of being blamed for it. Fear because he did not keep the Maiden pure.
But the elder did not make excuses and did not betray Mary. On the contrary, he told Her that he would let her go secretly, without telling anyone. Then an angel appeared to Joseph, telling him that Mary was not guilty before her husband. Her conception is the will of God, and the Child that the Virgin will give birth to is the Son of God.
The wise old man humbly accepted the will of God and began to care even more deeply for the Virgin Mary. And we know what happened next. Departure for the census and the Nativity of the Savior.
Cases of parthenogenesis in animals
So, religion tells us about the most famous case of the Immaculate Conception. Christianity of most directions considers this quite possible. However, there is no scientific confirmation of this fact. Meanwhile, in animals this occurs quite often. As an example, we can cite cases of “immaculate conception” in monitor lizards. In 2006, a female of this large lizard gave birth to offspring at the London Zoo. The participation of the male in the process of conception was excluded, since she was separated from him two years before. At first, scientists assumed that the female simply somehow retained sperm in her body. However, during research it turned out that this is completely wrong.
This is not the only case of self-fertilization in monitor lizards. A similar one was recorded a little earlier at the English Chester Zoo. The female, named Flora, also laid eight eggs without the male's participation, which unfortunately broke after being placed in the incubator.
Cases of “immaculate conception” in snakes are not that rare. But not with boas. However, information has recently emerged that one of the snakes of this species gave birth to 22 cubs on its own through “immaculate conception.” In order to prove this fact, scientists conducted a genetic analysis of their possible fathers.
Secret Doctrine
For more than two thousand years, the Great Mystery that happened to the chaste Virgin Mary, who gave birth to Jesus Christ, has been considered a real miracle...
The Holy Scripture says: “Before they were united, it turned out that she was with child from the Holy Spirit.” Mf. 1:18. However, this is not the only case described in the Bible. It also says that Christ’s disciples were conceived without male participation, during a thunderstorm. The Hindu religion says that Krishna was also born due to the immaculate conception of the sister of King Kansa from the World Spirit. The story of the conception of Alexander the Great has approximately the same roots. His mother, who was a priestess, allegedly conceived her son from the Sun. However, not only famous religious figures can boast of such an immaculate conception. On the stele of Amenhotep II, son of Thutmose III, it is inscribed: “When I was born, in the womb and created in the divine egg, the seed of God was in me.” Scientists from all over the world are still trying to unravel the mystery of the Immaculate Conception. Academician of the Russian Academy of Cosmonautics Vasily Shabetnik was especially successful in this.
His discovery will be able to explain from a scientific point of view this one of the greatest biblical mysteries. Vasily Dmitrievich came to his discovery by asking the question: will humanity be able to be reborn in the event of some kind of global cataclysm? And after a while he himself answered this question. Each person on the Universal, cosmic scale is a bioenergy-informational unit that is part of the general system of the Universe. The role of an intermediary in the energy-information exchange between the Cosmic Mind (Creator) and man was assumed by the Sun. Any thought, any information is of an electromagnetic nature and, therefore, material. Thus, all physical laws are closely related to spiritual ones. Currently, humanity has put itself on the path of degeneration, because... they ignore the requirements of the Unified Law of the Cosmos. How does conception take place from the Spirit, i.e. from the sun? Here is what Academician Shabetnik says about this: “The beginning of the Universe was an electric charge. And our human essence is electric. We are, if you like, clots of energy clothed in a physical shell. And according to God’s plan, people in paradise were supposed to reproduce without original sin, without sexual intercourse.” In principle, conception occurs not so much from the Sun itself, but from its powerful electric field. Having compared the intensity of the vertical component of the Earth's electric field, caused by the influence of our star, and the intensity of the electric field of a person between his head and heels, the academician came to the conclusion that this is quite sufficient for the formation of the process of egg division. This form of conception is truly Divine, because in this case there is no negative electromagnetic field of the obstetrician. “The Holy Spirit is precisely that mysterious energy that initiates conception without male intervention,” the academician believes.
Anouk Didier, a seventeen-year-old resident of Paris, was distinguished by unusual piety and, naturally, did not even think about any love affairs. It was a great surprise for her, and not only her, when one day she became pregnant. Nine months later, Anouk gave birth to a daughter. Medical scientists stated that the girl’s egg had never been fertilized before, and the embryo was formed as a result of spontaneous conception (they did not use the term “from God” or “from the Sun”). In another case, the mother of a five-year-old girl from a Peruvian village noticed that her daughter’s belly suddenly began to grow. Concerned about this, the woman decided to take the girl to the city clinic. When the doctors told my mother about the diagnosis, her face showed both horror and extreme amazement. Her five-year-old daughter was pregnant, and the hymen was not broken. Helen Billings, a doctor from Mill Valley, California, describes a rather surprising phenomenon: “Several of my clients knew for sure that they were pregnant, and then suddenly it turned out that the fetus had disappeared from their womb, and there was no medical explanation for this. Several such cases have been documented and witnessed by doctors. One of them deserves special attention. My client's daughter was five months old and already knew she was going to give birth to twins. The pregnancy was difficult, so she was under constant medical supervision. And then, during her next visit to the clinic, she learned that one of the embryos... had disappeared from her womb! And at the same time, as if by magic, the woman’s condition improved significantly. In due time, she gave birth to one completely normal child. But where did the second one go? The doctors had no answer to this question.”
In the supermarket of the English holding Asda, 24 employees became pregnant within a few months. All of them were completely bewildered by what had happened - some of them had not had sexual contact for some time, others regularly used protection. Experts in anomalous phenomena, interested in such an incredible phenomenon, began an investigation. It turned out that all those who became pregnant really loved to soak up the soft and comfortable chair located in the staff rest room. The most interesting thing is that each of them, while in the chair, felt a sweet languor between their legs. Then a woman who had been unable to conceive a child for a long time volunteered to sit in this chair. And a miracle happened - a month later she became pregnant, and by the due date she gave birth to a healthy child. Soon, scientists also became interested in the mysterious chair - they examined it using the latest equipment, but did not find anything “suspicious”. They even thought of playing a prank on someone, but no man could fit inside the chair. The mystery of the Immaculate Conception remains unsolved. And this is not the only place where such an immaculate conception occurs. In one of the stores in Birmingham in 1995, three women became pregnant at once, almost simultaneously. They also loved to snuggle in a soft old chair. Something similar happened in the Israeli city of Ashdod. In one of the stores in this city, they purchased a new chair, which they placed near the cash register. The store owner's niece became pregnant first, followed by the cashiers, and soon this miracle affected his wife.
Anyone who has watched or read A Nightmare on Elm Street has grasped the main plot: dream and reality are one whole, inextricably linked. And there is no escape from a nightmare even in reality. It turns out that something similar can happen to us, and in real reality. This story took place in the Middle Ages. One young woman, widowed, inherited the castle and lands of her deceased husband. However, after some time she became pregnant, and a year later gave birth to a son. The relatives of her late husband immediately accused the widow of debauchery and sued her: a woman who betrayed her husband’s memory is unworthy of being his heir. At the trial, the widow was completely calm and said that the father of her child was none other than... her late husband. Although it was impossible to believe, the court listened to all the arguments of the widow and completely acquitted her. A fine was imposed on her husband's relatives for slander. What happened, why was the woman acquitted? As it turned out, one day this woman dreamed of her husband and offered to have an intimate relationship with him. The yearning woman happily accepted his offer. The result of such an original fulfillment of marital duty was a child, like two peas in a pod like his father.
Vladimir Lotokhin, Zlatoust, Chelyabinsk region.
Parthenogenesis in fish
Two cases of parthenogenesis in sharks are also considered scientifically proven. Both females studied carried only one baby, although with the participation of a male, these fish give birth to more numerous offspring. DNA tests carried out on tissue from one of the cubs showed that it lacked the genetic material of its father.
Unfortunately, the research was already carried out with the remains of a baby shark. Since his birth was not planned, the aquarium workers did not take any measures to ensure his safety. The mother was not released, and the newborn was simply torn to pieces by other sharks. There is evidence of another such case. An almost full-term baby was found in the belly of one of the dead Atlantic blacktip sharks named Tibet.
Unusual set of chromosomes in cubs
Genetic analyzes carried out at different times on cubs born without the participation of males showed that they had an unusual set of sex chromosomes. For example, female boa constrictors B. constrictor contain one Z chromosome and one W chromosome. Males of the same species have two Z chromosomes. In cubs born as a result of parthenogenesis, the genome contains two W chromosomes. Such snakes were previously born only in laboratory conditions.
Perhaps the virgin birth of the Virgin Mary is truly the result of divine intervention. Or maybe this is nothing more than a consequence of a translator’s error. To believe or not in the complete sinlessness of the Mother of God is a personal matter for everyone.
