“Through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her.”
The Incarnation is a doctrine of the Christian faith. The Incarnation is the mystery and the dogma that the Word became Flesh. This dogma implies three things: Jesus is truly Divine, Jesus is truly human, and both of these realities are truly united in the Person of Jesus Christ. This means that Mary bore in her womb he who is true God and true man, Jesus. Thus, one of the names we give to her is Theotokos (Gk. God-bearer) and yet there is a great mystery surrounding Mary as Mother, Ever-Virgin. [1]
What does the Church teach about Mary’s virginity? Mary’s perpetual virginity is a Dogma of the Catholic Church. The Catechism states, “...Christ’s birth ‘did not diminish his mother’s virginal integrity but sanctified it.’ And so the liturgy of the Church celebrates Mary as the ‘Ever-virgin.’” [2] The Catechism goes on to say, “Mary ‘remained a virgin in conceiving her Son, a virgin in giving birth to him, a virgin in carrying him, a virgin in nursing him at her breast, always a virgin’ [3] with her whole being she is ‘the handmaid of the Lord’ [4]"[5] “Mary conceived the Lord in a virginal way which means without human intervention…The One, who, in the beginning, established the laws of human conception and birth, alters them now for his own conception and birth, combining in Mary the two most splendid glories of womanhood, virginity and motherhood.” [6]
How could her virginity be preserved before, during, and after birth? The Catechism of the Council of Trent states, “This was the work of the Holy Ghost, who, at the conception and birth of the Son, so favored the Virgin Mother as to impart to her fecundity [fertility, fruitfulness], and yet preserve inviolate her perpetual virginity.” [7]
The Protestant reformers believed in the perpetual virginity. Martin Luther wrote, “It is an article of faith that Mary is Mother of the Lord and still a virgin. ... Christ, we believe, came forth from a womb left perfectly intact.” [8] And as the Swiss reformer Zwingli, wrote, “I firmly believe that Mary, according to the words of the gospel as a pure Virgin brought forth for us the Son of God and in childbirth and after childbirth forever remained a pure, intact Virgin.” [9]
Why does it even matter if she was a virgin forever? As Fr. Vincent Serpa so eloquently puts it, “Besides the fact that the Church has taught that Mary was always a virgin from its earliest days before the New Testament was even written, it continues to do so today because of what this fact says about Jesus. From the cross Jesus shared his Mother with us all. But her womb was a tabernacle for him alone. We wouldn’t think of using the tabernacles in our churches to house anything but the Eucharist because it is the sacred body of Christ; so too with Mary’s womb. It’s all about who Jesus is. Mary is special because of how much more he is special. She is all about him!” [10] Mary was consecrated, set aside. Just as a chalice at Mass is set aside, consecrated to hold only the precious Blood of Jesus, so to Mary was set aside to hold Jesus and her womb would never hold anything else before or after. It would be sacrilegious to put Kool-Aid or any other drink in a chalice that is set aside and consecrated. “The Virgin’s womb swells, but the door of chastity remains shut.” [11] Jesus is the gift, wrapped in the chaste and pure Mary.
Mary remains a virgin because she achieved the unity for which we were all made. “When Mary surrendered to the creative action of God, she must have experienced the fullness of satisfaction and the most perfect ecstasy possible to a human being on earth. No further physical pleasure, nor any other happiness from any human source would ever have added to that fullness.” [12]
Doesn’t scripture say (Matthew 13:55) Jesus had brothers and sisters? When looking at the Greek word for brother, ‘adelphoi,’ it has a very wide range of meanings. It may be used to mean one’s brother, but it could also mean one’s blood relations or kinsmen. We also know the names mentioned in this scripture verse were sons of another Mary, who was also a disciple of Christ. [13] In Matthew 23:8, Jesus tells all of us to call each other “brothers”. So, we see that there is not a singular way to translate what the Greek is intending. It is the Church’s position on this passage that the “brothers” did not come from the womb of Mary.
Was Mary a consecrated virgin? If she was a consecrated virgin, why would Joseph marry her?There is a document that was written soon after Mary’s assumption (around 120 AD) called the Protoevangelium of James. This writing proves “the perpetual and inviolate virginity of Mary before, in, and after the birth of Christ.” [14] Mary’s parents, Anne and Joachim, presented Mary at a young age to the temple. Mary consecrated herself to God and prayed and worked in the temple. “A life of continual, devoted service to the Lord at the Temple meant that Mary would not be able to live the ordinary life of a child-rearing mother. Rather, she was vowed to a life of perpetual virginity. However, due to considerations of ceremonial cleanliness, it was eventually necessary for Mary, a consecrated "virgin of the Lord," to have a guardian or protector who would respect her vow of virginity. Thus, according to the Protoevangelium, Joseph, an elderly widower who already had children, was chosen to be her spouse. According to the Protoevangelium, Joseph was required to regard Mary’s vow of virginity with the utmost respect. The gravity of his responsibility as the guardian of a virgin was indicated by the fact that, when she was discovered to be with child, he had to answer to the Temple authorities, who thought him guilty of defiling a virgin of the Lord. Mary was also accused of having forsaken the Lord by breaking her vow. Keeping this in mind, it is an incredible insult to the Blessed Virgin to say that she broke her vow by bearing children other than her Lord and God, who was conceived through the power of the Holy Spirit.” [15] Joseph’s role was also to protect Mary and Jesus as “this was the only way for the Mother and Child to be able to live in peace, and not be stoned to death according to the law of Moses. [16]
How could Mary and Joseph be married, but not consummate their marriage? Wouldn’t that make their marriage invalid? Mary and Joseph, due to their unique role in Salvation History, also had a unique marriage. They were given the great responsibility to care for and raise “the greatest of His [God’s] works: the Incarnation of the Word.” [17] Mary and Joseph lived in a culture where it was necessary for consecrated virgins to have a guardian who would provide for and protect them. The validity of the marriage of Mary and Joseph is determined by the Judaic law of their time, not the Code of Cannon Law which determines the validity of Catholic Marriages today. It is true that “a valid marriage between the baptized is called ratum tantum [only valid] if it has not been consummated; it is called ratum et consummatum [valid and consummated] if the spouses have performed between themselves in a human fashion a conjugal act which is suitable in itself for the procreation of offspring, to which marriage is ordered by its nature and by which the spouses become one flesh.” [18]
In the Divine Praises we say, “Blessed be Saint Joseph, her most chaste spouse.” This title and description of Saint Joseph is beautiful because it shows how Mary and Joseph were devoted to God’s plan and united in love. They cannot be separated. Even in this prayer Joseph is connected to Mary “her most chaste spouse” and connected and sharing in the virtue of her chastity.
Search: Holy Mary, Ever Virgin Part II
[1] http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07706b.htm
[2] CCC 499
[3] St. Augustine, Serm. 186, 1: PL 38, 999
[4] Lk 1:38
[5] CCC - 510
[6] Archbishop Joseph Raya, Theotokos Bearer of God p. 17
[7] pg.. 40-41
[8] Weimer's The Works of Luther, English translation by Pelikan, Concordia, St. Louis, v. 11, pp. 319-320; v. 6. p. 510.
[9] Zwingli Opera, Corpus Reformatorum, Berlin, 1905, v. 1, p. 424.
[10] http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/quickquestions/keyword/virginity
[11] Saint Ambrose
[12] Archbishop Joseph Raya, Theotokos Bearer of God p. 14
[13] Bechtel, F. (1907). The Brethren of the Lord. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved November 25, 2010 from New Advent: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02767a.htm
[14] Patrology, 1:120-1
[15] Mary: Ever Virgin; http://www.catholic.com/tracts/mary-ever-virgin
[16] Archbishop Joseph Raya, Theotokos Bearer of God p. 24
[17] Divine Intimacy pg. 84
[18] Code of Cannon Law - 1061 §1.