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In Romans 3:23, St. Paul famously declared, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” 1 John 1:8 says, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us,” and Romans 3:10 adds, “None is righteous, no not one.” In light of these Scripture verses, our Protestant friends will say, Mary couldn’t have been sinless as Catholics believe she was. She must have been a sinner like every other human being, and needed redemptio …

Early Christians are a wonderful example of the unity for which Christ prayed at the Last Supper: And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. . . . And all who believed were together and had all things in common (Acts 2:42-44). Their unity grew from reading the Old Testament and receiving the teachings of those in authority. It was expressed in their fellowship—“those who believed were of one heart and soul&rd …

The Immaculate Conception refers to Mary’s preservation from original sin from the very moment of her conception. The formal definition of this dogma was given to the Church by Pope St. Pius IX in 1854:We declare, pronounce, and define that the doctrine which holds that the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instance of her conception, by a singular privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race, was preserved free from all …

Sanctus and Hagios The word saint comes from the Latin word sanctus, which means “holy one.” The Greek equivalent hagios (which means “sanctified,” “set apart,” or “holy”) is used in a variety of ways in the Bible—both the Greek version of the Old Testament (known as the Septuagint) and the New Testament. For example, Christians on earth are “saints” (2 Cor. 1:1, Eph. 1:1, Col. 1:2, Phil.1:1, Rev. 5:8). The Israelites are “holy” (Lev. 20:26) and, therefore, are called “saints” …

Who Are the Saints? A saint is one who is holy. In most languages, the two terms are synonymous (sanctusin Latin,santoin Spanish, etc.). The New Testament refers to all living Christians as saints. That is so because the Spirit sanctifies every Christian at baptism in Christ’s blood, becoming sanctified after yielding his body to righteousness, by abstaining from unchastity and sin, fulfilling God’s call to be holy and blameless. So every Christian is a saint, due to his relationship wi …