211III. DECRETUM PII IX. DE IMMACULATA CONCEPTIONE BEATÆ VIRGINIS MARIÆ.
The Decree of Pope Pius IX. on the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
[The Latin text from the Bull 'Ineffabilis Deus,' in which Pope Pius IX. promulgated to the Roman Catholic world the definition of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, as read before an assembly of Cardinals and Bishops in St. Peter's, Dec. 8, 1864. See Vol. I. §§ 28 and 29, pp. 109 sqq.]
| Postquam nunquam intermisimus, in humilitate et jejunio privatas nostras et publicas Ecclesiæ preces Deo Patri per Filium Ejus offerre, ut Spiritus Sancti virtute mentem nostram dirigere et confirmare dignaretur, implorato universæ cœlestis curiæ præsidio, et advocato cum genitibus Paraclito Spiritu, eoque sic adspirante, ad honorem Sanctæ et Individuæ Trinitatis, ad decus et ornamentum Virginis Deiparæ, ad exaltationem Fidei Catholicæ et Christianæ Religionis augmentum, auctoritate Domini Nostri Jesu Christi, beatorum apostolorum Petri et Pauli ac nostra declaramus, pronunciamus et definimus | Since we have never ceased in humility and fasting to offer up our prayers and those of the Church to God the Father through his Son, that he might deign to direct and confirm our mind by the power of the Holy Ghost, after imploring the protection of the whole celestial court, and after invoking on our knees the Holy Ghost the Paraclete, under his inspiration WE PRONOUNCE, DECLARE, AND DEFINE, unto the glory of the Holy and Indivisible Trinity, the honor and ornament of the holy Virgin the Mother of God, for the exaltation of the Catholic faith and the increase of the Christian religion, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ and the blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and in our own authority, that The Doctrine which holds the Blessed Virgin Mary to have been, from the first instant of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of Almighty God, in view of the merits of Christ Jesus the Saviour of mankind, |
| Doctrinam, quæ tenet, beatissimam Virginem Mariam in primo instanti suæ Conceptionis fuisse singulari omnipotentis Dei gratiæ privilegio, intuitu meritorum Christi Jesu Salvatoris humani generis, ab omni originalis |
212 | culpæ labe præservatam immunem, esse a Deo revelatam, adque idcirco ab omnibus fidelibus firmiter constanterque credendam. | preserved free from all stain of original sin, was revealed by God, and is, therefore, to be firmly and constantly believed by all the faithful. Therefore, if some should presume to think in their hearts otherwise than we have defined (which God forbid), they shall know and thoroughly understand that they are by their own judgment condemned, have made shipwreck concerning the faith, and fallen away from the unity of the Church; and, moreover, that they, by this very act, subject themselves to the penalties ordained by law, if, by word or writing, or any other external means, they dare to signify what they think in their hearts. |
| Quapropter si qui secus ac a nobis definitum est, quod Deus avertat, præsumpserint corde sentire, ii noverint, ac porro sciant, se proprio judicio condemnatos, nanfragium circa filem passos esse, et ab unitate Ecclesiæ defecisse, ac præterea facto ipso suo semet pœnis a jure statutis subjicere si quod corde sentiunt, verbo aut scripto vel alio quovis externo modo signiftcare ausi fuerint. |