The Church has consistently recognised Mary as holy and free from all sin or moral imperfection. The Council of Trent expresses this conviction by stating that no one ‘can avoid, throughout their entire life, every sin, even venial sin, except by virtue of a special privilege, such as the Church holds to be the case with regard to the Blessed Virgin’ (DS 1573). The possibility of sinning does not spare even the Christian who has been transformed and renewed by grace. For grace does not preserve one from every sin throughout one’s life, unless, as the Council of Trent affirms, a special privilege ensures such immunity from sin. This is what happened in the case of Mary.
The Council of Trent did not wish to define this privilege, but it did declare that the Church affirms it with vigour: “Tenet”, that is, it holds it firmly. This is a decision which, far from relegating this truth to the realm of pious beliefs or devotional opinions, confirms its character as sound doctrine, firmly rooted in the faith of the People of God. Moreover, this conviction is founded on the grace bestowed upon Mary by the angel at the time of the Annunciation. By calling her ‘full of grace’, kecharitoméne, the angel recognises in her the woman endowed with permanent perfection and a fullness of holiness, without a shadow of sin or any moral or spiritual imperfection.
Some Church Fathers of the early centuries, not yet having come to the conviction of her perfect holiness, attributed moral imperfections or faults to Mary. Even some recent authors have adopted this position. However, the Gospel passages cited to justify these views do not in any way permit the attribution of a sin, or even merely a moral imperfection, to the Mother of the Redeemer.
Jesus’ reply to his mother, at the age of 12: ‘Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be about my Father’s business?’ (Lk 2:49), has sometimes been interpreted as a veiled rebuke. A careful reading of the episode, however, makes it clear that Jesus did not reproach his mother and Joseph for looking for him, since they were responsible for looking after him.
Upon finding Jesus after a distressing search, Mary merely asks him the ‘why’ behind his behaviour: ‘Son, why have you treated us like this?’ (Lk 2:48). And Jesus replies with another ‘why’, refraining from any reproach and referring to the mystery of his divine sonship.
Nor can the words spoken at Cana – “What have I to do with you, woman? My hour has not yet come” (Jn 2:4) – be interpreted as a rebuke. Faced with the likely distress that the lack of wine would have caused the bride and groom, Mary turns to Jesus with simplicity, entrusting the problem to him. Jesus, whilst fully aware that as the Messiah he was bound to obey only the Father’s will, grants his Mother’s implicit request. Above all, he responds to the Virgin’s faith and thus begins to perform miracles, revealing his glory.
Some have also interpreted Jesus’ statement in a negative light when, at the start of his public life, Mary and his relatives asked to see him. By recounting Jesus’ reply to those who said to him, ‘Your mother and your brothers are standing outside and wish to see you’, the evangelist Luke offers us the key to understanding the account, which must be interpreted in the light of Mary’s inner dispositions, quite different from those of his ‘brothers’ (cf. Jn 7:5). Jesus replied: “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the Word of God and put it into practice” (Lk 8:21). In the account of the Annunciation, in fact, Luke showed how Mary was the model of listening to the Word of God and of generous docility. Interpreted from this perspective, the episode offers a great tribute to Mary, who perfectly fulfilled the divine plan in her own life. Jesus’ words, whilst opposing the attempt made by his brothers, extol Mary’s fidelity to God’s will and the greatness of her motherhood, which she lived out not only physically but also spiritually.
In weaving this indirect praise, Jesus employs a particular method: he highlights the nobility of Mary’s conduct in the light of statements of a more general nature, thereby better illustrating the Virgin’s solidarity with and closeness to humanity on the arduous path to holiness.
Finally, the words: ‘Blessed rather are those who hear the Word of God and keep it!’ (Lk 11:28), spoken by Jesus in response to the woman who declared his Mother blessed, far from casting doubt on Mary’s personal perfection, emphasise her faithful fulfilment of the Word of God: this is how the Church has understood them, incorporating this expression into the liturgical celebrations in honour of Mary.
The Gospel text, in fact, suggests that with this statement Jesus wished to reveal, precisely in her intimate union with God and in her perfect adherence to the divine Word, the highest reason for his Mother’s blessedness.
The special privilege granted by God to the ‘All-Holy One’ leads us to marvel at the wonders wrought by grace in her life. It also reminds us that Mary has always belonged entirely to the Lord, and that no imperfection has ever marred the perfect harmony between her and God.
Her earthly journey, therefore, is characterised by the constant and sublime growth of faith, hope and charity. For this reason, Mary is for believers the radiant sign of divine Mercy and the sure guide towards the lofty heights of evangelical perfection and holiness.
[Pope John Paul II, General Audience, 19 June 1996]
