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Immaculate Conception of Saint John the Baptist
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The Immaculate Conception of Saint John the Baptist is a pious Roman Catholic belief concerning Saint John the Baptist being immaculately conceived in the womb of Saint Elizabeth. While it is not exactly similar to the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the belief claims that Saint John the Baptist was cleansed and purified from Original Sin when the Holy Spirit began to enter Saint Elizabeth womb upon her "Salutation" to the Virgin Mary. It does not claim that Saint Elizabeth gave virgin birth or of divine motherhood. The supernatural event which followed claim that Elizabeth's unborn child started to "leaped for joy" in recognition of Jesus Christ as the messiah. The belief received support from Saint Catherine of Siena and Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich of Germany. Regardless of these approbations, it is not an officially proclaimed dogma of the Roman Catholic Church. History The Greek Oriental church in communion with the Roman Catholic Church have a celebrated Feast of the Conception of St. John the Baptist every 23 September, dating back to the 5th century. This feast was carried over to the Latin-rite churches as September 24. Later on, the Latin-rite celebrated the Immaculate Conception of Mary on December 8, while Saint John the Baptist' conception feast was observed on December 9. This feast is older than the Conception of Mary from the Middle Ages. The Greeks however, did not make a theological distinction between Mary's Immaculate Conception and that of Saint John the Baptist. Instead, both Feasts of Conception were synonymously considered as plain "Holy" or "Beautiful" in deference to their lives of sanctity. Some Catholic and Protestant Christians presently reject this belief due to the implication that others aside from Jesus Christ was conceived or born without Original Sin. The belief is non-binding and does not contribute at all to the belief of Salvation, rather, an expiatory act meant to lead a life of holiness. Roman Catholics are free to either believe or reject it, causing no harm to their faith and without breaking their spiritual and religious communion with the Pope. To this date, the belief has not been proclaimed a required dogma of the Roman Catholic church. Gospel narrative The biblical event is often quoted by pious believers in the Gospel of Luke: The belief also maintains that the soul of John the Baptist was not without sin before it entered its own body----rather, John's soul became purified upon the descent of the Holy Spirit when Saint Elizabeth and the Virgin Mary met in person The belief is not a defined official dogma of the Roman Catholic Church and is non-binding (Greek: Theologoumenon), leaving its members to freely decide for themselves without any hindrance to their belief of salvation. However, the Catholic Church also does not penalize or prohibit any member to believe it by declaring it as heresy or anathema. Saint Catherine of Siena's altercation with the Devil Saint Catherine of Siena, a Doctor of the Church, supported the belief that Saint John the Baptist have never sinned in his earthly life. In 1370, Catherine completed her dictated visions called A Treatise of Prayer, which included a brief altercation with the Devil regarding her fight due to Satan attempting to lure her with vanity and flattery. Speaking in the first person, Saint Catherine of Siena responds to the Devil with the following words: Blessed Emmerich's alleged vision Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich also supported this belief, mentioning in her mystical visions that Saint John the Baptist was pure, innocent and spotless from the womb of Saint Elizabeth and has never uttered a single lie in his earthy life.. According to Emmerich's private visions, Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist and also preached to the twelve Apostles about his life of sanctity. According to Emmerich's alleged visions received from Jesus Christ, Saint John the Baptist was the following: Emmerich also mentioned that John the Baptist was pure as an Angel which leads to a theological argument that angels are sinless beings.
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