Dogma of the Immaculate Conception

THE DEFINITION OF THE DOGMA OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY. THE ACCIDENT AT THE CHURCH OF ST. AGNES. "IMMACULATE VIRGIN, HELP US!"

Exile at Gaeta, Pius IX had, in letters addressed to the Catholic bishops throughout the world, requested a statement of the belief immemorially held in each diocese in regard to the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Six hundred bishops, of all lands and tongues, attested that the bishops, clergy, and people had always believed that Mary was conceived without sin; that from the first moment of her existence she was by a special privilege preserved from the original sin which attached to all other descendants of Adam and Eve. The point, as one not decided, may have been debated in the schools, but in the Catholic heart and in Catholic devotion there was no doubt. Not only did these bishops give their testimony to this fact, but nine out of ten, in replying to the Holy Father, earnestly urged him to give a doctrinal definition, that would place the belief among the dogmas of the Church, previous decisions having so far paved the way that attacks on the doctrine had been absolutely forbidden. The plan adopted by Pope Pius IX was possible only in our century, when communication with all parts of the world has become easy and rapid. This too made it easy for numbers of bishops to respond to the call of the Holy Father, when he summoned, all the bishops who could do so to assist him on the solemn occasion. One hundred and ninety-two bishops repaired to Rome, representing the roost widely-separated countries on earth. The Czar Nicholas of Russia alone thwarted the wishes of the Holy Father, by forbidding the Catholic bishops In his States to visit the holy city; and his opposition was all the more strange, as the Greek Church rivals the Latin in the honors which It pays to Mary.

The bishops thus gathered together, though not in a formal council, well represented the Universal Church. Cardinals like Patrizzi, Wiseman; archbishops and bishops like Pransoni of Turin, Reisach of Munich, Sibour of Paris, Bedini of Thebes, Hughes of New York, Kenrick of Baltimore, Dixon of Armagh, Mazenod of Marseilles, Bouvier of Mans, Malou of Bruges, Dupanloup of Orleans, Ketteler of Mayence, were there to aid by their counsels the commission of cardinals and theologians appointed to prepare the Bull. Never had Rome, since the general council of 1215, beheld such a gathering of eminent bishops. Meanwhile the whole Catholic world was in prayer, according to the counsel of the sovereign Pontiff, to obtain from the Holy Ghost a decision favorable to the honor of God, the glory of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the salvation of the Church militant.

The assembled bishops virtually decided the infallible authority of the Pope in defining. When the question rose whether the bishops were to assist the Holy Father as judges in defining the dogma, or whether it was to be the act of the supreme Pontiff alone, the bishops themselves, rising from their knees at the angelus, exclaimed, "Peter, teach us, confirm thy brethren."

The eighth of December, 1854, was a glorious day for Rome. The whole city was full of pious joy; citizens and strangers from all lands hastened to the vast basilica of St. Peter, now too small to contain them all. At last the procession arrives; bishops in miter and cope, in the order of their age, were followed by the cardinals. The Holy Father with a brilliant group around him closed the Imposing line, while the angels and saints were inv6kecl in the litany to join the Church on earth in honoring the Queen of all Saints.

When he had taken his seat on his throne, Pius IX received the obedience of the cardinals and bishops, and the Pontifical mass began. As the chant of the gospel, in Greek and in Latin, died away, Cardinal Macchi, dean of the College of Cardinals, with the deans of the archbishops and of the bishops present, and an archbishop of the Greek and one of the Armenian rite, advanced to the foot of the throne and petitioned the Holy Father, in the name of the Universal Church, to raise his apostolic voice and pronounce the dogmatic decree of the Immaculate Conception, a motive of joy and gladness to heaven and earth.

The Holy Father did not reply. He bowed his head, as if to convey an affirmative answer. Then rising from his throne, he intoned the Veni Creator Spiritus in a loud, firm voice that rang through the basilica. Once more he implored the light of the Holy Ghost. Bishops, priests, and people mingled their voices with the clear tones of the Father of the Faithful, and the sacred hymn swelled in echoes through the mighty nave.

At last silence fell, and the eyes of the hushed thousands were riveted on Pius IX with a countenance transfigured by the solemnity of the act, he pronounced slowly, but in a mild, firm voice, the decisive words of the Bull Ineffabilis.

He first laid down the theological motives for the belief in the privilege of Mary; he then invoked the ancient and universal tradition, both In the East and West, the testimony of the religious orders, and the schools of theology, of the Holy Fathers and Councils, and finally the decisions of the Popes in earlier and later times. Then with deep emotion he proceeded: "After we had unceasingly, in humility and fasting, offered our own prayers and the public prayers of the Church to God the Father, through his Son, that he would deign to direct and confirm our mind, by the power of the Holy Ghost, and having implored the aid of the entire heavenly host, and Involved the Paraclete with sighs, and he thus inspiring to the honor of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, to the glory and adornment of the Virgin Mother of God, to the exaltation of the Catholic faith and the increase of the Catholic religion, by the authority of Jesus Christ, our Lord, of the Blessed Apostles, Peter and Paul –''

Here his voice trembled, and he stopped to wipe away the tears. While all full of awe hung on his words, he resumed, as if filled with enthusiasm:

"We declare, pronounce, and define that the doctrine which holds that the Blessed Virgin Mary, at the first Instant of her conception, by a singular privilege and grace of Almighty God, in virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of mankind, was preserved immaculate from all stain of original sin, has been revealed by God, and therefore should firmly and constantly be believed by all the faithful. Wherefore, if any shall dare, which God avert, to think otherwise than as it has been defined by us, let them know and understand that they are condemned by their own judgment, that they have suffered shipwreck of the faith, and have revolted from the unity of the Church."

Thousands of voices answered a glad "Amen, be it so," and at once the bells of St. Peter's and the cannon of St. Angelo proclaimed to the world, that Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin was defined as an article of faith. Then the solemn service continued after the formal acts of enrolling and attesting the Bull.

The day closed with unlimited rejoicings in Rome, and throughout the world the Bull, translated into all known languages, gave a new impulse to piety and devotion. Books explaining the new dogma were prepared by men of the greatest learning and eloquence; hymns of singular beauty sprang from the hearts of Catholic poets; sanctuaries, altars, monuments, statues, associations rose on all sides in honor of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin, and devotion to Our Lady, which had been increasing already, now took such a new impulse that the unbelieving world around could not understand or explain this nineteenth century devotion to Mary, though they felt it gave new life to the Church.

A few months later, and an event occurred in which many a pious heart beheld an almost miraculous preservation of the life of the Pope, and this they ascribed to the Blessed Virgin Immaculate.

On the 12th of April, 1855, the fifth anniversary of his return to Rome from Gaeta, Pius IX left the Quirinal at an early hour, and passing through the Via Nomentana, by the superb church of St. Agnes, reached the Porta Pia. Nearly five miles beyond that city gate the Pope's carriage stopped at a spot where new catacombs had recently been discovered on grounds belonging to the Propaganda, containing, among other venerated tombs, those of Saint Alexander I., Pope and martyr, and of the companions of his triumph. Surrounded by cardinals and other prelates, generals and high officials, the Pope was received with respect by the professors and pupils of the Propaganda assembled to honor his visit Plus IX entered the crypt and knelt in prayer before the sacred remains of his predecessor, who more than seventeen centuries before had sealed his faith with his blood. After threading the long corridors, he seated himself on the ancient throne of the chapel, which doubtless several of his predecessors had occupied; and from It addressed the scholars of the Propaganda, in a touching allocution on the noble career before them as heralds of the faith. Then, after a few words to the distinguished retinue, he drove back to the church of St. Agnes.

This sanctuary, rich in artistic beauties, is one of the most ancient churches in Rome, having been erected by the Emperor Constantine at the request of his daughter, on the spot where the body of the saint was found. After visiting the Blessed Sacrament and venerating the relics of the lamb-like virgin martyr, he entered the adjacent convent of canons regular of Lateran, where a frugal repast had been prepared for their august visitor. The Holy Father then repaired to the parlor, and the brilliant gathering of eminent personages enjoyed a cordial and animated conversation. Among those present were Archbishop Cullen of Dublin, and Bishop de Goesbrand of Burlington, while almost every Catholic country was represented.

Just as the Pope was preparing to depart, the superiors of the Propaganda begged him to grant an audience to the scholars of that great seminary. Pius IX consented with that charming affability peculiar to him, and resumed his seat on the arm-chair beneath a draped canopy. All eyes turned to the entrance, as more than a hundred young clerics came rapidly in. In an instant the floor gave way, and with a fearful crush all in the room disappeared amid a confused mass of furniture, stones, and plaster, from which rose a blinding cloud of dust. The beams had yielded, and the whole sank down nearly twenty feet.

The few inmates of the convent not in the room alone beheld the accident, but they stood rooted for some minutes to the spot, unable to think or to act. Suddenly the voice of the Pope was heard, the first to utter a word. It announced that he was safe and uninjured. Assistance came; the Holy Father was first extricated, safe, but full of care and anxiety as to the fate of all the eminent and illustrious men around him, and of the young levites on whom so many missions depended. While all kissed his hand or foot, or made anxious inquiries to be certain that he had escaped unharmed, he thought only of others, and urged the rapid extrication of all. He waited in the garden for the result. One after another was rescued, some bruised by the stones and beams, till the last of all was raised. Amid that crash, where it seemed impossible for so large a gathering all to escape with life, not one was even dangerously injured; all were safe. "It is a miracle," said the Pope. "Let us go and thank God." Escorted by his fellow-sufferers and by those who had come up to rescue them, they entered the church, where the Holy Father, deeply affected, intoned the Te Deum, and gave the Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.

"Virgin Immaculate, help us," burst instinctively from the lips of Pius IX as he felt the treacherous floor give way, and Mary granted him a miraculous assistance. She proved once more her powerful intercession, by preserving her devoted servant and all his companions with him. The Pope, protected by the canopy, had not received the slightest bruise, and his confidence in the Blessed Virgin was unbounded. While they were rescuing the fallen, Archbishop Folding, of Sydney, approached the Holy Father and begged him with tears to give his apostolic blessing to the wounded, perhaps dying, students in the ruins. "I have confidence in the Virgin Immaculate," replied the Pope; "not one life will be lost." His pious confidence was not misplaced; all were soon completely cured of the slight bruises sustained.

As the sentries at the door had prevented all entrance from without, nothing was known of the accident. The Pope drove toward the Quirinal blessing the kneeling groups on the way, his face lighted up with gratitude. But the carriages that followed showed pale and anxious faces; cardinals and persons of rank were seen in their carriages giving their usual places to young ecclesiastics evidently injured,

The report of a great accident and a wonderful deliverance spread like wildfire through Rome. The churches were crowded, the devotion of the Forty Hours was at once begun in Ara Coeli, and public prayers were offered for three days in all the churches of the city, while at St. Agnes a special service commemorated the miraculous event.

The interior of the church has since been richly restored by Pius IX, and in a square court before the church is a fresco representing the deliverance of the Holy Father.

The 12th of April has become a holiday for Rome, kept every year with deep and pious gratitude.

The Sardinian king, aspiring to dominate over the peninsula, eagerly took part with France and England in the war against Russia, and as one of the powers interested was admitted to the Congress of Paris, at the close of that struggle. The only question before the envoys of the different powers was the position of Turkey; but Count Cavour, with that deadly enmity of the Church which characterized all his policy, introduced the government of the Papal States as a subject demanding the action of the great European powers. Lord Palmerston, who delighted in creating discord where he could, and Walewski, the representative of the old Carbonari now Napoleon III, supported the views of the Sardinian statesman. The plot was formed for depriving the Pope of a large part of his territory known as the Legations, and placing them under a viceroy, intending, of course, to make that personage a mere tool of Sardinia. Prussia alone remonstrated at that time against this attempt to excite a rebellion against Pius IX. To carry out their plan, however, documents and pamphlets against the temporal power of the Pope began to appear. The most conclusive answer to all these was a report made to Napoleon III by the Count de Rayneval, long French envoy at Rome. It covered the whole ground so completely that, though it was a serious work, the result of long experience and study, the French Government suppressed it. A few extracts will show how it refuted the charges made against the government of Pius IX.

"Every independent State is expected to suffice for itself and to be able to maintain its internal security by its own forces. The Court of Rome is reproached with falling short of this reasonable expectation; the cause of its weakness is inquired into, and it is generally believed to be the discontent awakened among its subjects by a defective administration. The real cause of the weakness of the Pontifical Government is a much more complicated one, and is, in fact, connected with quite a different class of ideas; but it is a much more convenient and rapid mode of arriving at a conclusion to complain of the administration, rather than laboriously to interrogate the history and the tendencies of the Italian race . . . . During the last two centuries the general prosperity of the Pontifical system, and the abundant resources which flowed to Rome from all parts of the world silenced complaint.

"It is a general opinion that the Pontifical administration is placed entirely in the hands of the priests. It is asserted that the priest, whose lot it is to defend the interests of heaven, understands nothing of the interests of earth. People are unwilling to believe that the ecclesiastics employed in the civil service by the Court of Home have most frequently no sacerdotal character, and that, far from monopolizing the whole of the administration, they have but a small share in it, are in fact a minority. I have often asked ardent opponents of the Roman rule what was their estimate of the number of priests employed in the administration. In answer to my question the number was generally stated to be about three thousand. No credit was given to me when I showed, with the proofs in my hands, that taking them altogether, the number did not exceed one hundred, and that half these so-called priests were not in orders. And yet it is upon surmises thus groundless that grave charges are based, which the public accepts as undeniable."

This memoir took up the whole administration of Pius IX; the lightness of taxation; the small amount of public revenue taken for the support of the sovereign; the honorable course of the Pope in paying off the paper money issued, during his exile, by the revolutionary government; the introduction of revised codes of laws, gas, railroads, and telegraphs. It was, in fact, a triumphant, because calm and authentic defense of the government of Pius IX.

But in reality proof was not needed. The revolution had decreed that the Pope should be deprived of his States, and the different powers of Europe bowed obedience. Napoleon III maintained, however, an outward respect; he begged Pius IX to become the godfather of his son, to whom he hoped to leave his throne; a new bishopric was created, and a new metropolitan see established, and finally the chapter of St. Denis was revived at his request. All this lulled the faithful Catholics into a feeling of security.

But Pius IX was not absorbed with the affairs of his States. As Pope he had for some years been negotiating with Austria, and on the 18th of August, 1855, signed a concordat with that empire, in which the freedom of the Church was fully recognized. "The Roman Pontiff having by divine right throughout the whole extent of the Church the primacy of honor and jurisdiction, mutual communication in what concerns spiritual things, and the ecclesiastical affairs of the bishops, clergy, and people with the Holy See, shall not be subjected to the necessity of obtaining a royal placet, but shall be entirely free."

The Pope, in an allocution in November, testified his joy at the happy result, which freed the Church from the shackles that Joseph II in the last century imposed on the Church in Austria. In March, Pius IX addressed a brief to the bishops of the empire to exhort them to profit by their independence, and to make every effort to stay the progress of indifferentism and rationalism in their dioceses.

But while Austria thus consoled him, the pious Pontiff beheld with regret that the anti-Catholic party in Spain still persisted in its hostile course, continuing to sell Church property, prohibiting the religious orders from receiving novices, and banishing several bishops from their dioceses. The course of the Spanish Government became so violent that the Pope was compelled to recall his nuncio.

Beyond the Atlantic the same spirit of infidelity, which has in this century been the bane of Spain, and reduced it to so low a grade among European nations, is steadily sapping the strength of the Spanish-American republics. Mexico especially showed the fruit of infidel books and masonic associations. There the Congress forbade monastic vows, exiled the Archbishop of Mexico, and imprisoned the Bishop of Michoacan. These acts of violence and violations of every true principle of human government were condemned by the Pope in 1855 and the following year. Three new sees in the United States were established by Plus IX in 1857 to meet the increasing wants of the Church. Alton in Illinois, Fort Wayne in Indiana, and Marquette in Michigan, a city deriving its name from the zealous missionary who first explored the Mississippi River, became centers of new life for the Church.

In the year 1857 Pius IX resolved to make a tour of his States. No better answer could be given to the charge that his government was unpopular. His reception at all points betokened the greatest enthusiasm, and though full liberty of expression was allowed, no real grievance was laid before him for redress.

He left Rome on the 4th of May, 1857, amid fervent prayers and solemn benedictions. The whole city seemed gathered in the streets and squares to wish him a safe and speedy return. On the second day he entered Spoleto, where he was so long known and loved. Rather as a pilgrim than as supreme Pontiff, he arrested his course at Assisi to pray at the tombs of St. Francis Seraph and St. Clare, while at Loretto his whole soul seemed to pour forth in prayer, as he entered the Santa Casa which he had visited years before as a despondent levite in the House of God, debarred apparently from the lowliest place, yet destined by Providence to the highest.

The Holy Father offered the sacrifice of the Mass in the home of Nazareth, that dwelling so miraculously preserved and removed. Pilgrims hastened to the altar, and many received communion from the hands of the Father of the Faithful, whom they soon beheld absorbed in prayer before the statue of Our Lady.

Passing by Ancona he reached Sinigaglia, which exulted to receive a Pope whom it could claim as one of its sons. He had already shown his affection for his birthplace by erecting and endowing three new parishes, a hospital for the sick and incurable, and a college which he committed to the Fathers of the Society of Jesus, whose course of studies made it rival the great universities.

Other cities of the Pontifical States then welcomed the Pope-King, Pesaro, Rimini, Cesena, Imola, till he at last reached Bologna, next to Rome the most Important city in his dominions. Here his reception was a splendid one. Missions had been preached in most of the churches, strangers flocked in, so that the population of seventy thousand was nearly doubled. The Holy Father lavished gifts on the city and left money to complete the noble church of St. Peter. The city, to show its veneration for the great Pope, bestowed upon him a palace, in which he resided during his three months' stay, and which has since been seized by Victor Emanuel, whose base mind could stoop to deprive an aged Pontiff of a residence which, was the gift of a grateful people. Bologna also presented to Pius IX a magnificent state coach, long employed by him on solemn occasions.

Pius IX had thus traversed the Legations which the false Cavour had represented as writhing under the Papal yoke, and he did not traverse them as sovereigns generally do their States, on the wings of steam. His tour lasted four months. It was a continued triumph, as the press of Europe, the hireling of the revolution, was forced to admit. The Pope moved around among his people, often on foot; all could approach and address him freely. He stopped to visit churches, charitable institutions, factories, and workshops, to examine public improvements in the ports and on the roads. Petitions were presented to him, but it was not for the abolition of priestly rule; on the contrary they asked the restoration of the old order of things when cardinals and prelates were prefects.

Pius IX was welcomed not only as a beloved sovereign, but as a saint. People already began to talk of extraordinary graces obtained through his prayers, of cures wrought by touching articles that he had worn. One day a mother, long disabled by sickness, made her way with her children through the crowd, and cried out, "I am a poor mother, and I am dying; my two children here lose all when they lose me; save me, restore me to life!" Pius IX stopped deeply moved. "My dear child," said he, "unfortunately I am not what you imagine; I have no power to control disease; but I have a father's heart to console you, and I can give your soul one word of hope. My child, God is good, infinitely good. You do not perhaps pray enough. For nine days now address yourself to Him who is the Providence of the orphan and the mother. I will unite myself to you during that time, and I hope that Heaven will hear you. Let us begin at once." He stood absorbed in silent prayer, the woman kneeling before him, and all present in the same attitude.

The Pope was not a mere tourist. At Bologna, he held a consistory on the 3rd of August, at which several bishops were preconized. During his stay in that city many personages of royal rank hastened to render homage to the Pope.

The Archduke Maximilian, later known as the unfortunate Emperor of Mexico, then Austrian governor of Lombardy; Robert, Duke of Parma, and his mother, and the Duchess of Modena hastened to Bologna to offer their felicitations in person. The Court of Turin sent a delegate, who began to declare the attachment of his government to religion and the Church; but the Pope interrupted him, telling him sternly to drop the subject, or he would be forced to contradict him openly.

Yielding to the invitation of the Grand Duke of Tuscany and Duke of Modena, Pius IX visited Ferrara, Modena, Florence, and Leghorn, his carriage in Tuscany being escorted by the Grand Duke and his sons. At Sienna, Pius IX visited the home of St. Catharine, and touched with respect her books, writings, and instruments of penance, and prayed before her shrine in the Church of the Dominican Sisters.

His return to Rome was welcomed with the wildest enthusiasm. The authorities, escorted by a select body of troops, and followed by thousands, came out of the city to receive the Holy Father at the Ponte Molle, where Constantine gained his famous victory under the ensign of the Cross. The public rejoicings ended on the 8th of September, by the inauguration of the monument erected in the Piazza di Spagna, to commemorate the promulgation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. The noble column is crowned by a bronze statue of Our Lady, fourteen feet high, and was inaugurated by the Pope, surrounded by the cardinals and the Diplomatic Corps.

Soon after his return to Rome, Pius IX issued a manifesto, expressing his satisfaction at the condition of his States, and the loyalty everywhere manifested toward him.

THE ANCIENT MONUMENTS OF ROME

Soon after this an affair occurred which was greedily seized upon by the anti-Catholic agitators throughout the world, to inaugurate a series of attacks on the Pope. This was the Mortara affair. A law long established, forbade Jewish families to have Catholic servants and ordained that when a Jewish child was, by the consent of the parents, or by means of Catholic servants illegally kept, baptized, and thus initiated into the body of the Catholic faithful, it should be brought up as a Catholic. The Mortara family at Bologna violated the law, and a Catholic nurse baptized a child, which was apparently at the point of death. Pius IX allowed the law to take its course; the child was brought up as a Catholic, and in time became a priest.