Friday, May 17, 2024

Alexander III, Letter Ex litteris tuis to the Resident Sultan in Iconium, 1169: Mary Gave Birth Without Experiencing Birth Pain

 [Mary] indeed, conceived without shame, gave birth without pain, and went hence without corruption, according to the word of the angel, or rather (the word) of God through the angel, so that she should be proved to be full, not merely hall filled, with grace and <so that> God her Son should faithfully fulfill the ancient commandment that he had formerly given, namely, to treat one’s father and mother with honor, and that thus the virginal flesh of Christ, which had been taken from the flesh of his virgin Mother, should not be totally different from her own.

 

Heinrich Denzinger, Compendium of Creeds, Definitions, and Declarations on Matters of Faith and Morals, ed. Peter Hünermann, Robert Fastiggi, and Anne Englund Nash (43rd ed; San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2012), 245