“How can this be, since I no relations with man?”

“From the first formulations of her faith, the Church has confessed that Jesus was conceived solely by the power of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary, affirming also the corporeal aspect of this event: Jesus was conceived ‘by the Holy Spirit without human seed’”. [1] She remained a virgin before, during, and after the conception and birth of Christ. Mary’s virginity is one of fulfilled promise and of faith in God.
 
Why does Mary virginity even matter? “The Fathers see in the virginal conception the sign that it truly was the Son of God who came in a humanity like our own. [2] In today’s first reading, we read of the prophet Isaiah prophesying: “Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son.” (Isaiah 7:14)
 
Was Mary a virgin before conceiving Jesus? Yes. How do we know? In today’s Gospel, Mary says, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” (Luke 1:34) She is saying to the angel I am not engaging in any sexual intercourse, so how can I conceive a child? It also points to her perpetual virginity. She is saying not only has she never, but will never have “relations” with a man.
 
Is it important that Jesus is born of a Virgin? Yes. Besides the fact that it is a fulfillment of the prophecies, the virgin birth has theological significance in helping us understand the person of Jesus and His two natures, human and divine. “He is naturally Son of the Father as to his divinity and naturally son of his mother as to his humanity...” [3] God makes a new Adam (Jesus) and a new Eve (Mary). When God had created Adam, there was an environment fit for him. Thus, Mary had to be created to fit for Jesus and his environment. [4] You can take the most pure water (Jesus) and place it in a dirty cup and the pure water will become tainted or dirty. Three of Mary’s titles in the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary are, “spiritual vessel, vessel of honor, singular vessel of devotion”. Mary is the pure vessel, the pure cup, into which the pure and sinless Word is made Flesh.
 
How could Mary remain a virgin even though she was pregnant with Jesus? The Church teaches us through the Gospel accounts of this divine work, of the conception of Jesus, that it “surpasses all human understanding and possibility” [5] It is by God’s power that this came to be, and to show “nothing is impossible to God”. (Luke 1:37)
 
Did Mary have any other children? No, Jesus is Mary’s only son. What about when it says Jesus’ brothers and sisters? Many people see this in the Bible and are confused. “The Church, as always, understood these passages as not referring to other children of the Virgin Mary. In fact, James and Joseph, ‘brothers of Jesus’ are the sons of another Mary, a disciple of Christ, whom St. Matthew significantly calls ‘the other Mary’. They are close relations of Jesus, probably cousins, according to an Old Testament expression. [6]
 
Why did Mary stay a virgin? Mary had taken a vow of virginity. This vow is not broken by the fact that she is married to St. Joseph neither does it have to be broken based on the task asked of her at the Annunciation. Mary’s role as the Mother of God is linked with her vow of virginity. One of Mary’s titles is the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark was a vessel that contained within it the most sacred items of the Old Testament. Saint Joseph was aware that Mary, his wife, was the new Ark of the Covenant and contained the sacred life of God within her. Mary was not his to touch. She is not for one, as wife is to husband and husband to wife, but rather Mary is for all as the New Eve, the Mother of God and the Mother of the Church. In being ever-virgin but at the same time married, Mary is an example of both the religious life and the married life.
 
What does “ever-virgin” mean? “The deepening of faith in the virginal motherhood led the Church to confess Mary’s real and perpetual virginity even in the act of giving birth to the Son of God made man. In fact, Christ’s birth ‘did not diminish his mother’s virginal integrity but sanctified it.’ And so in the liturgy of the Church celebrates Mary as Aeiparthenos, the ‘Ever-virgin’”. [7]
 
The virginity of Mary is also a symbol of the Church. The Church, “by receiving the word of God in faith becomes herself a mother. By preaching and Baptism she brings forth sons, who are conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of God, to a new and immortal life. She herself is a virgin, who keeps in its entirety and purity the faith she pledged to her spouse.” [8]

[1] CCC 496
[2] CCC 496
[3] CCC 503
[4] Cf. Fr. Luis Granada, Life of Jesus Christ, I
[5] CCC 497
[6] CCC 500
[7] CCC 499
[8] CCC 507