When Christians recite the Creed, we are not simply pronouncing an ancient formula or repeating words learned in childhood. We are proclaiming the very heart of our faith: who God is, who Jesus Christ is, and what our hope of salvation is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Among all the articles of the Creed, the third occupies an absolutely central place, because it introduces us to the greatest mystery in history: God became man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We say:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWas conceived by the power and grace of the Holy Spirit; was born of the Virgin Mary.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n These words contain immense depth. Here the mystery of the Incarnation is revealed to us: the eternal Son of God assumed our human nature without ceasing to be God, truly entering history, time, and our human condition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is not a poetic image nor a spiritual metaphor. It is a real, historical, supernatural, and dogmatic truth: Jesus Christ is true God and true man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Understanding this article of the Creed not only strengthens our faith, but transforms our entire spiritual life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The first question of the catechism teaches us:<\/p>\n\n\n\n What does the third article of the Creed teach us?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It teaches us that the Son of God took a body and a soul, like we have, in the most pure womb of the Virgin Mary, by the work of the Holy Spirit, and that He was born of this Virgin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here an essential truth appears: Christ did not merely \u201cseem\u201d to be man, nor did He take on a human appearance, nor did He descend as a spirit disguised as a man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n No.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jesus Christ assumed a true human nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He had a real body. He wept at the tomb of Lazarus. All of this was real.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And precisely because it was real, our redemption is also real.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As the Fathers of the Church taught:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat was not assumed was not redeemed.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Christ assumed all our humanity in order to save all our humanity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many people think that only the Holy Spirit intervened in the Incarnation, but the catechism clarifies something very important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To the question:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Did the Father and the Son also take part in forming the body and creating the soul of Jesus Christ?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The answer is:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes; all three divine Persons took part.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Every external work of God belongs to the whole Trinity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Father willed the Incarnation. Then why do we say especially:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWas conceived by the power and grace of the Holy Spirit\u201d?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Because the Incarnation of the Son of God was a supreme work of goodness and love, and works of goodness and love are traditionally attributed to the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not because the Father and the Son do not act, but because the Holy Spirit is subsistent Love, the eternal bond of love between the Father and the Son.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Incarnation is, above all, the irruption of divine Love into human history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here appears one of the most common errors: thinking that when Christ became man, He ceased to be God or became some kind of \u201cdemigod.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nothing could be further from the Catholic faith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The catechetical answer is clear:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Son of God became man without ceasing to be God.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Jesus is not half God and half man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He is fully God and fully man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Perfect God. He is not a mixture. He is the perfect union of two natures in one single Person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This mystery is called:<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is one of the most sublime dogmas of the entire Christian faith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Jesus Christ there are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n But there is:<\/p>\n\n\n\n And that Person is divine: the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, the eternal Word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There is no separate \u201chuman person\u201d in Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are not \u201ctwo Christs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n There is one Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One Lord.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One Redeemer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n True God and true man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That is why we can say with complete truth:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mary is the Mother of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And also:<\/p>\n\n\n\n God died for us on the Cross.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not because divinity can suffer, but because the one who suffered was the divine Person of the Word in His human nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is profound theology, but it is also the foundation of our salvation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The catechism teaches:<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Jesus Christ there are two wills: the divine and the human.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n This was solemnly defined by the Church against ancient heresies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Christ possesses a divine will because He is God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Christ possesses a human will because He is truly man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And both are in perfect harmony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is clearly seen in Gethsemane when He says:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFather, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not My will but Yours be done.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n There is no sinful opposition, but rather the true expression of His humanity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Christ chose to obey freely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His obedience was not automatic. Another fundamental question:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Did Jesus Christ have free will?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Christ was truly free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But here the catechism adds something profoundly important:<\/p>\n\n\n\n He could not do evil, because the power to do evil is not perfection, but a defect of freedom.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n This corrects a very modern and very mistaken idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Today people often think that freedom means being able to choose anything, even evil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But true freedom does not consist in the ability to sin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n God cannot sin. The saints in Heaven cannot sin. The possibility of sin is not greatness, but limitation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Christ was perfectly free precisely because He was perfectly united to the Good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Perhaps one of the most beautiful truths of this article is this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many are scandalized when they hear this expression because they do not understand it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They think:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHow can a creature be the Mother of God?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The answer lies in understanding who Jesus is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mary is not the mother of the eternal divinity of the Word. But she is truly the Mother of the Person of Jesus Christ, and that Person is truly God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Therefore the title is correct, necessary, and dogmatic:<\/p>\n\n\n\n To deny this would be to divide Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Church defended this truth with enormous strength, especially at the Council of Ephesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Calling Mary the Mother of God does not exaggerate Mary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It protects the true identity of Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n All true Marian devotion always ends by defending Christology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mary never eclipses Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She always reveals Him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Church teaches as a truth of faith that Mary was:<\/p>\n\n\n\n That is why she is called:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Virgin par excellence<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n She was not virgin only before conceiving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She was always Virgin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is not sentimental devotion, but a deeply theological truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Perpetual virginity manifests:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Christ is born from a virginal womb because He inaugurates a new humanity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Where God enters, everything is sanctified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The catechism also adds a dogmatic truth solemnly defined in 1950:<\/p>\n\n\n\n This privilege is called:<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is not merely a pious tradition, but a dogma of faith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Blessed Virgin, at the end of her earthly life, was completely glorified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Why?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because she who carried the Savior in her womb could not know the corruption of the tomb as a consequence of sin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Assumption does not distance Mary from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the contrary: She already lives what the Church hopes for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mary is fulfilled promise. Many believe these dogmas are ancient discussions with no relevance to modern life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But exactly the opposite is true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Today we live through a profound crisis of identity:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Who is man? All these questions find their answer in the Incarnation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If God assumed a human body, then the body matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If God was born of a woman, then motherhood has immense dignity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If Christ obeyed freely, then freedom does not consist in doing whatever I want, but in loving the good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If Mary was raised to Heaven in body and soul, then our destiny is not nothingness, but glory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Creed does not belong to the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is urgent medicine for the present.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When we say:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWas conceived by the power and grace of the Holy Spirit; was born of the Virgin Mary\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n we are affirming much more than a doctrinal fact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We are proclaiming that God has entered our history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That Heaven has touched earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That salvation has a face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That mercy has a name:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And that a humble and silent woman said \u201cyes\u201d so that redemption might come into the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Every time we pray the Angelus, every time we contemplate the Nativity scene, every time we pronounce the Creed, we should stop with reverence before this mystery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because here everything begins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here our hope begins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here our salvation is born.<\/p>\n\n\n\n God became man\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n so that man might return to God.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When Christians recite the Creed, we are not simply pronouncing an ancient formula or repeating words learned in childhood. We are proclaiming the very heart of our faith: who God is, who Jesus Christ is, and what our hope of salvation is. Among all the articles of the Creed, the third occupies an absolutely central …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6058,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[43,37],"tags":[83],"class_list":["post-6057","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-catechism-of-the-catholic-church","category-doctrine-and-faith","tag-creed"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/catholicus.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6057","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/catholicus.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/catholicus.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catholicus.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catholicus.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6057"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/catholicus.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6057\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6059,"href":"https:\/\/catholicus.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6057\/revisions\/6059"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catholicus.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6058"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/catholicus.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catholicus.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catholicus.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\n\n\nThe Great Mystery: God Became Man<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
He had a rational soul.
He had human intelligence.
He had a human will.
He felt hunger, fatigue, pain, and tears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He felt anguish in Gethsemane.
He suffered physically in the Passion.
He truly died on the Cross.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nThe Incarnation: The Work of the Entire Trinity<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
The Son assumed human nature.
The Holy Spirit miraculously accomplished this virginal conception.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nChrist Did Not Cease to Be God<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
Perfect man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He is not a confusion.
He is not a transformation of God into man.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe Hypostatic Union<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
\n\n\n\nIn Christ There Are Two Wills<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
It was real.
It was meritorious.
It was redemptive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nChrist Had Free Will<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
And God is infinitely free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And there they attain perfect freedom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nMary: True Mother of God<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
Mary is the Mother of God<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
Mary does not \u201coriginate\u201d God.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHoly Mary, Mother of God<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nThe Perpetual Virginity of Mary<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
\n\n\n\nThe Assumption of Mary<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
Mary Was Taken to Heaven in Body and Soul<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
The Assumption of Mary<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
it shows us our final destiny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are walking toward that same glory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nA Profoundly Relevant Truth Today<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
What is the value of the body?
What does it mean to be a person?
What is freedom?
What is love?
What does motherhood mean?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nConclusion: Believing in Order to Live<\/h1>\n\n\n\n