Janet Smith responds to Alice von Hildebrand’s critique of Christopher West
Lima, Peru, Oct 22, 2010 / 01:04 am (CNA).-
Smith also discussed the debate surrounding whether or
not dwelling on the details of Christ’s birth displays an inordinate curiosity.
“Von Hildebrand’s response to West’s likening the birth
of his son to the birth of Jesus is curious. She believes it is incorrect to
think that Mary may have expelled a bloody placenta. Pregnant wombs have
placentas,” Smith wrote. “Did not Mary’s? Would it be wrong to think it might
have been bloody? Christ’s body was covered with blood when he died, was it
not? Scripture itself makes reference to Mary’s womb and breasts; is the
placenta really so objectionable that it could not be mentioned?
Our Lady did not expel a placenta; the Virgin Birth
(hence, no blood) was miraculous and did not take place in the normal manner.
Such has been related by numerous saintly writers and theologians.
Replying to Louis Tofari
Dear
Mr.Tofari,
The
"virginitas in partu" (virginity in giving birth) is not just a
"pious tradition"...it is a Catholic Dogma "de fide divina et
catholica" - which must be believed by "Divine and Catholic
faith," infallibly proposed by the ordinary and universal Magisterium;
whose denial on the part of Janet Smith is therefore - formally heretical and
presumably malicious: she cannot be excused on account of ignorance. The
specific contents of this Catholic dogma are as follows: non-rupture of the
physical virginal integrity (I omit the biological term "ex reverentiam");
the absence of labor pains; AND...the "sine sordibus" - the absence
of the biological accidents of natural birth: placenta, umbilical cord, etc.
Janet Smith's blasphemous expression, "...pregnant women (sic-!) have
placentas," just indicates her degree of hatred for Our Lord Jesus Christ
and his Most Holy and Immaculate Mother...[cf., Pius XII, in Mystici Corporis:
"...it was a miraculous birth." Vatican II: "..whose birth not
only did not diminish his Mother's virginal integrity, but augmented it;"
repeated by John Paul II in his catechetical and Marian discourses...]
