The Baltimore Catechism states, “God did not abandon man after Adam fell into sin, but promised to send into the world a Saviour to free man from his sins and to reopen to him the gates of heaven.”

Salvation history

An author gave two reasons why God waited so many centuries before sending the Messiah:

1. Man having sinned through pride, it was necessary for him to be humbled by a long experience of his miseries, to recognize the need of a liberator, and to desire and implore salvation from God.

2. As the first Adam was preceded on earth by marvellous creations, it was fitting that the second Adam should be preceded by an imposing series of marvellous facts destined to prove His divine mission.

These marvellous facts are to be found in the history of the Old Testament, which may be divided into four periods: 1st, from Adam to Moses; 2nd, from Moses to David; 3rd, from David to the captivity of Babylon; 4th, from the captivity of Babylon to the birth of Christ.

The first period is the period of patriarchal or primitive religion, which was practised before the time of Moses. The priests of the patriarchal religion were the heads of the families, or the first-born.

The highlight of the second period is the Mosaic Law, which has two parts. The first part is permanent and universal, and contains the Ten Commandments; the second part is temporary and peculiar to the Israelites, and contains the ceremonial laws (e.g. circumcision, the interdiction of certain kinds of food).

The third period is the period of kings. King David associated religion with government, and gave first place to the worship of God. His son, King Solomon, built the temple. After the death of Solomon, the kingdom was divided into the kingdom of Israel and the kingdom of Judah.

During the fourth period the chosen people were under foreign domination. The communication of Jewish people with other nations served to recall for all people the primitive articles of belief, and it prepared the way for the Messiah.

Chosen mother

The Son of God is the only one Who could determine which person would be His own mother. God prepared Mary to be the Mother of Christ with a special grace and a privilege called the Immaculate Conception.

In 1854, Pope Blessed Pius IX defined the Immaculate Conception as a dogma of faith: “We declare, pronounce, and define: the doctrine that maintains that the most blessed Virgin Mary in the first instant of her conception, by a unique grace and privilege of the omnipotent God and in consideration of the merits of Christ Jesus the Savior of the human race, was preserved from all stain of original sin, is a doctrine revealed by God.”

It was fitting that the Mother of God should be free from the stain of original sin.

First, she, as the Mother of God, should be perfectly pure. Otherwise she would have been inferior at the first moment of her creation to both the angels and to Adam and Eve, for these were created in the state of justice.

Second, here on earth Mary had authority over Jesus. It is fitting that she who would give commands to the Son of God should not be under the empire of the devil by sin.

Third, as Mother of Christ, Mary was the source of the precious blood that redeemed the world. It is fitting that the source of this blood should not be sullied by sin.

“Oh Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!”

博秩模天主教要理聲明：亞當犯罪墮落後，天主並沒有擯棄人類，相反，祂許諾派遣一位救世主，把人類從罪惡中救贖，重啟天堂之門。

救恩史

要理作者列舉兩項理由，天主在人類墮落後多個世紀以後，才派遣默西亞（救世主）來臨：

人類因驕傲而犯罪；天主要他們經歷長久的苦痛，以培育內心真正的謙遜，深深感受到被救贖的需要，更殷切期待和懇求天主的救贖。

天主創造亞當之先，事前曾作奇妙偉大的創造；同樣，為了亞當第二 —— 默西亞 —— 的降生，天主亦事先以連串的史事，向人類確証祂來臨的神聖使命。這些連串的史事，可自聖經中的舊約翻查，總括略分為四個時期：

第一時期視為聖祖時期，從亞當受造後到梅瑟，概述梅瑟前的初期宗教崇敬方式和習俗，司祭職由家庭之長或首生子擔任。

第二時期是從梅瑟到達味，主要是詳列梅瑟的法律，包括適用於普世法律如天主十誡，及適用於當時的以色列民族，如割損禮、禁食、禮儀等宗教律例。

第三時期是從達味到流亡巴比倫，陳述了有關以色列民族的君王，而達味王以政教一家方式治國，且以欽崇天主為先，繼位的撒羅滿則為天主而建成了宏偉的聖殿；可惜撒羅滿王駕崩後，以色列分裂成兩國，北稱以色列國，南稱猶大國，各自表述。

第四時期是從流亡巴比倫到基督的降誕，此時期是以色列民族淪為亡國之徒，受外邦管治，與外族雜居，卻又得令眾生認識真實的信仰，善備默西亞的來臨。

特選的母親

只有默西亞 —— 天主聖子，有權揀選祂自己的母親。天主以特別的聖寵和始胎無玷（無染原罪）的特恩，賜給瑪利亞，好讓她能堪作基督聖潔之母。

一八五四年，教宗真福庇約九世確認聖母「始胎無玷（無染原罪）」為當信道理：「我們此刻宣告、頒佈及確認，為了耶穌基督作為人類救世主之故，天主以祂的全能，以無可比擬的特恩，賜予至聖童貞瑪利亞，使她自孕育之始，已免受原罪之玷。此為天主啟示的當信道理。」

無染原罪的特恩，為天主之母的身份，是很適宜的。

首先，堪當為天主之母，應該是完美無瑕，否則，她的受造，竟不及天使和原祖當初無瑕的受造?!

其次，在塵世間，瑪利亞負有監管耶穌的權責。作為給聖子出命的母親，她不適宜因罪而陷於惡魔權下。

最後，救贖普世的天主聖子的聖血，是來自聖母。因此，天主讓她的血不受罪的污染是很適宜的。

「吁！瑪利亞，無原罪始胎者，我們向妳求助，請為我們轉求！」