constantly by all the faithful."9 Of course, there is much of interest in Ineffabilis Deus aside from this formal definition, and a great deal of the debate that followed in its wake takes up various aspects of the Apostolic Constitution, especially as it adopts and shapes earlier papal and conciliar teaching on the special privileges of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Following Scheeben, however, we will focus primarily on the dogmatic definition. Borrowing (but modifying) a list from Juniper Carol, I would highlight six points of the dogma.10 It is de fide:

1. that Our Lady was immune from all stain of original sin;

2. that God granted the Virgin this immunity at the very first instant of her conception;

3. that the Virgin's immunity was due to God's singular grace and privilege;

4. that her immunity was granted in view of the merits of Jesus Christ;

5. that her immunity was granted by way of preservation; and

6. that Our Lady was therefore saved by Christ.11

The Church, however, has not defined the following points:

9 Pius IX, Bulla "Ineffabilis Deus," 8 Dec. 1854: "Declaramus, pronuntiamus et definimus doctrinam quae tenet beatissimam Virginem Mariam in primo instanti suae conceptionis fuisse singulari Omnipotentis Dei gratia et privilegio, intuitu meritorum Christi Jesu Salvatoris humani generis, ab omni originalis culpae labe praeservatam immunem, esse a Deo revelatam, atque idcirco ab omnibus fidelibus firmiter constanterque credendam" (DS 2803).10 Juniper Carol, O.F.M., "Reflections on the Problem of Mary's Preservative Redemption," Marian Studies 30 (1979): 19-88, at 21-22.11 Carol feels that it is de fide that Mary was redeemed by Christ, although strictly speaking the text mentions Christ not as Redeemer but as Savior. Many, if not most, theologians consider the two concepts to be identical, and a case can be made that the best way to interpret the text is as if it said Christi Jesu Redemptoris, since these are the words of the text of Alexander VII, Breve "Sollicitudo omnium ecclesiarum," 8 Dec. 1661 (DS 2015). The Mariologist Juan Alfaro feels that Mary's redemption is at least proxima fidei. Cf. J. Alfaro, "La fórmula definitoria de la Inmaculada Concepción," in Virgo Immaculata, vol. 2 (1956), 201-75, at 270-71. Still, a case can be made that the Apostolic Constitution changed the title Redemptoris to Salvatoris precisely to include the position of several theologians who argued that Christ preserved Mary from contracting the stain of original sin by His glorification rather than by His Passion as such. Indeed, the Church has never felt a need to reduce Christ's mediation to redemption alone, however much individual theologians have been tempted to do so.

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Matthias Joseph Scheeben and the Controversy over the Debitum Peccati

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