Mary's Immaculate Conception and her perpetual virginity as the Mother of Jesus are two mysteries of God's gracious love and are so interrelated that quite often even educated Catholics can confuse them. Needless to say non-Catholics writers in various media (newspaper, magazines novels, TV shows) almost inevitably mix them up. However, our purpose here is prayer and spirituality and a deeper and more accurate knowledge of the great mysteries of our faith as they guide us in the pathways of truth and holiness.

All that God has done has been done with infinite loving freedom: nothing is ever by mere chance. Thus the good news of our redemption is already proclaimed in Genesis 3:15 when God speaks of the enmity between a woman and the devil. When she was conceived as any normal child God preserved Mary from all taint of sin - a promise to us that in the resurrection we shall be set free from all sin for ever, for we have been chosen before the foundation of the world to be holy and spotless for ever.