Grow more deeply in your relationship with God by knowing Mary more intimately. Let's explore the meaning behind the four Marian dogmas: Mother of God, Perpetual Virginity, Immaculate Conception, and her Assumption into Heaven. About the Series Faith Basics are concise explanations of various dimensions of the Catholic Faith aimed at a popular audience. They both inform and inspire readers to understand and live the Faith. Their convenient size makes them readily portable. They are economically priced and thus are ideal for distribution in evangelization efforts, RCIA classes, study groups, and various outreach programs.

In the Virgin Mary, God revealed His power in a way we cannot rationalise but in faith believe. God took flesh in the way that spoke of His patience down through the ages and in 'The Immaculate Conception' revealed His choice, reminding us that through her Son we too are called and chosen. God not only presents the holy Virgin as a model of discipleship, but reveals ever more of Himself through her. This book traces some of the steps taken by the Mother of God and how, in a world all busy and rushed, she reminds us that we too are called to listen to God, to consider His ways and take time to receive His grace. Mary had a will as if bended to God, waiting in an attitude of loving obedience; God's will shines forth in her, showing that indeed He is our Father to Whom all things are possible.

In The Dogma of the Immaculate Conception: History and Significance (University of Notre Dame Press, 1958; reissued 2016), thirteen European and American theologians treat the historical development and theological significance of a major Roman Catholic doctrine. Edward Dennis O'Connor, C.S.C., a specialist in mediaeval theology, notes in his preface that the subject of the Virgin Mary's Immaculate Conception was first discussed about the year 1100. The doctrine was defined by Pope Pius IX in 1854 after about seventy-five years of "what was perhaps the most prolonged and passionate debate that has ever been carried on in Catholic theology." The importance of any doctrine, however, "does not lie chiefly in its history, but in its intrinsic significance as truth, and in its rank in the hierarchy of truth, which do not depend on historical contingencies." From this point of view, the Immaculate Conception is of immense importance not only for Mariology but also for the theology of the Redemption and of the Church. The essays in The Dogma of the Immaculate Conception are broad-ranging studies both of the history of doctrinal development and the major aspects of the doctrine. It includes chapters ranging from "Scripture and the Immaculate Conception" to "The Immaculate Conception in Art," over fifty illustrations, and an exhaustive bibliography of the European literature on the doctrine published from 1830 to 1957. Contributors include: Monsignor Charles Journet, Monsignor Georges Jouassard, Francis Dvornik, Cornelius A. Bouman, Carlo Bal�c, O.F.M., Wenceslaus Sebastian, O.F.M., Ren� Laurentin, Marie-Joseph Nicolas, O.P., Urban Mullaney, O.P., Charles DeKoninck, George Anawati, O.P., Maurice Vloberg, and Edward O'Connor, C.S.C. Edward Dennis O'Connor, C.S.C., is associate professor emeritus of theology at the University of Notre Dame. He was involved in the charismatic movement and has authored several works about it, including The Pentecostal Movement in the Catholic Church and Marian Apparitions Today: Why So Many'.