To elaborate a little on Embryology.

I am taking a short break from my harrowing studies. So as requested, I will elaborate on my pseudotheology on the my earlier post on embryology. 

So, a brief recap of the fertilisation process.

After ejaculation, ~5,000,000 sperm swim up the uterus into the fallopian tubes. Only about 200 sperm actually make it, and they take about 3-4hrs to actually be able to fertilise. They surround the egg, which is covered by layers of glycoproteins and other stuff, and uses enzymes to burrow to reach the egg's actual membrane, where it fuses with it, joining the two together, and emptying the sperm's genetic cargo into the egg's cytoplasm. The sperm also releases enzymes which begin a cortical reaction in the egg, that prevents other sperm from entering. Therefore it is just one sperm and one egg alone. The chromosomes combine, and the process of division begins.

At this point, the cell is now called a Zygote, from the greek ζυγωτός (zygotos), meaning yoked. Now, here's where the pseudotheology comes in. To yoke something, for the vocabulary challenged, that is me, means to join together, or to bind. A yoke is actually a wooden beam that you put on oxen so you could pair two of them together.

So you have that passage in the bible, (Mk 10:9), 'What therefore God has joined together, let no man put asunder.' The original greek word used for 'joined' is 'συνέζευξεν (synezeuxen)', which is a very strong word for yoke or couple. Hence, I think it is rather fitting that consequence of the consummation of Holy Matrimony, is a biological process rather similar to sacrament. Here the man and woman are forever 'yoked' together in this new life, and there is nothing in the world that can ever separate the two parts. And like in Holy Matrimony, where God is is the third person of the marriage, so is he the third person involved in conception (or rather he has allowed the husband and wife this special privilege to co-create with him), for at the point of conception, he ensouls this new life. A cosmic act of creation that changes the universe! If you think about it, in the entire galaxy, at this very second, there is a set and finite number of everything, atoms, people, etc, but when conception occurs, that number is changed, and new soul is created (I got this last bit off Fr Barron, I think). I suppose it is all fitting, after all, marriage is the beginning of a new life.


That's it for the pseudotheology, now for some other interesting allegories. Within 24 hours, the single cell zygote, all the while hard at work, divides into a two cell conceptus. The word is latin for 'conception', obviously, from which the english word is derived. It is interesting too that this is the particular nomenclature for the two cell zygote as agreed by Embryologists. I suppose, one cannot be a professor of the study of how life begins and develops and not agree that life begins at conception. This rather difficult to ignore fact is plastered all over embryology textbooks. (Though of course, if you're pro-choice, life begins at 14 days, or in the third trimester...or well, maybe at the age of seven, according to some bioethicists who promote infantcide...sorry 'post-birth abortion').


By day 6 or 7, the embryo, has divided many more times, turned into a blastocyst, travelled a long journey to the uterus and began the process of implantation. It literally burrows its way into the its mother's uterus, by using enzymes that digest the outermost layer of the uterus, allowing it to burrow into the endometrial tissue. And, like any good mum who embraces her child when he comes running to her, the endometrium will actually grows over the embryo!

The entire process is completed by the 14th day, and by the 16th day the placenta begins to form. It is a special tissue that is a combination of both fœtal cells and the mother's cells. It provides the embryo with oxygen, nutrients, and removes waste from the embryo. It actually a very interesting link, as the mother's immune cells do not attack the growing child within her, though they have direct access, and also, that the embryonic cells can actually travel across the placenta into the mother's blood stream! At this stage, they are still stem cells and the mother will carry them for life. That's right, for every child that is conceived in her womb, that child does not only take her flesh and blood, but literally becomes apart of her's! Mothers are awesome!


I got the last bit of this article, which you should all read. In it, the author goes on to contemplate how the Blessed Virgin Mary literally carried her the body of Christ within her all her life, and how she was always in communion with God. It is amazing thought! Can you imagine, God took her flesh, and then dwelt in her from then on. How the protestants can ever say that she isn't special is beyond me. No one has been blessed like she has, or done what she has, or received what she received, and no one ever will. Also, My CTS Missal has reflections for the rosary with regards to the Eucharist, and for the second joyful mystery, on the visitation, it reflects about how Our Lady acted as the viaticum, the little metal box made to hold the Sacratissimum which was to be brought to the sick, carrying our Lord to her cousin, heavily pregnant (and of course, later she presents her precious child to the whole world, to us, during the presentation). Our Lady always brings her son to us, and the only way we can get to know Him proper, is to get to know her.

Most Holy Theotokos, save us!