Article Tools
- Text Size
- Add a comment (
- Print this article
- Email this article
On this feast of the Immaculate Conception, we read the story of our first parents’ fall and God’s promise of salvation through an offspring of Eve (Genesis 3).
As he read this passage, St. Jerome (342-420) understood that a new Eve would be the one to crush the head of the serpent. Like the first Eve, she too would be called the “mother of all the living,” because she would give birth to the Living One who would deliver us from death and create anew all who believed in him.
Mary’s immaculate conception marked the beginning of this new creation in Christ. Just as God created everything at the beginning, so now with Mary he began his wondrous act of re-creating everything, renewing the entire heaven and earth through the redemption that her son would accomplish. Throughout the ages, Mary has been recognized as the new Eve whose “yes” undid the “no” of the first Eve, just as Jesus is the new Adam who ushered in a new…
The full article is available to subscribers only
Access all articles, daily meditations and readings, as well as special resources, by becoming a subscriber. View subscription options.
Special Offer: 2 week free web-only trial subscription. Sign up now.
Existing Print & Web-Only Subscribers: Login for full access.