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The perpetual virginity of Mary, a doctrine of Roman CatholicCatechism of the Catholic Church §499 Church, which is also held to by many of the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Oriental Orthodox Church, affirms Mary\'s "real and perpetual virginity even in the act of giving birth to the Son of God made Man." Thus, according to this Church dogma, Mary was ever-virgin (Greek ἀειπάρθενος) for the remainder of her life, making Jesus her only biological son, whose conception and birth are held to be miraculous.
The Roman Catholic tradition has a well established philosophy regarding the perpetual virginity and the veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary via the field of Mariology with Pontifical schools such as the Marianum specifically devoted to the study of this topicMariology Society of America http://mariologicalsocietyofamerica.usCenters of Marian Study http://www.servidimaria.org/en/attualita/promotori2/promotori2.htmPublisher’s Notice in the Second Italian Edition (1986), reprinted in English Edition, Gabriel Roschini, O.S.M. (1989). The Virgin Mary in the Writings of Maria Valtorta (English Edition). Kolbe\'s Publication Inc. ISBN 2-920285-08-4.
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The early second century work originally known as the Nativity of Mary,L. Gambero, Mary and the Fathers of the Church trans. T. Buffer (San Francisco: Ignatius, 1991), p. 35. but later known as the Protoevangelium of James, pays special attention to Mary’s virginity. In the opinion of Johannes Quasten, “The principal aim of the whole writing is to prove the perpetual and inviolate virginity of Mary before, during, and after to birth of Christ.Quasten, Patrology 1:120-1. In the text, a test confirms Mary’s virginity before birth, and the absence of labour pains, and a midwife’s examination, demonstrates Mary’s virginity during birth.L. Gambero, Mary and the Fathers of the Church trans. T. Buffer (San Francisco: Ignatius, 1991), p. 40. The work also claims that Jesus’ ‘brothers’ and \'sisters\'Matthew 13:56 and Mark 6:3 are Joseph’s children from a marriage previous to his union with Mary.Protoevangelium chapters 7-8. It asserts that Mary\'s mother, Anne, gave Mary as a "virgin of the Lord" in service in the Temple, and that Joseph, a widower, was to serve as her guardian (legal protections for women depended on their having a male protector: father, brother, or, failing that, a husband).Protoevangelium of James 4, 7, 8-9, 15 This may correlate to the Bible’s presentation that women devoted to perpetual service at the temple was contemporary to Mary\'s lifetime, and had been practiced for centuries.e.g. 1Samuel 1:11, 1Samuel 1:22, Luke 2:36-37 This text does not, however, explicitly assert Mary\'s perpetual virginity. But, referring to the text "The History of Joseph the Carpenter" one can find the proof of this perpetual virginity, when at the death of Joseph, Jesus calls Mary as "my mother, virgin undefiled" meaning that Joseph had no sexual relations with her til the time of his death.
Origen, in his Commentary on Matthew (c. 248), expressly states belief in Mary’s perpetual virginity. In the words of Luigi Gambero, “Origen not only has no doubts but seems directly to imply that this is a truth already recognised as an integral part of the deposit of faith.”L. Gambero, Mary and the Fathers of the Church trans. T. Buffer (San Francisco: Ignatius, 1991), p. 75. In this context, Origen interpreted the comments of Ignatius of Antioch (d. c 108) as significant:
By the fourth century, the doctrine is well attested.L. Gambero, Mary and the Fathers of the Church trans. T. Buffer (San Francisco: Ignatius, 1991) pp. 97-98; and also for an overview of each source. For example, references can be found in the writings of Athanasius,Athanasius, Orations against the Arians 2.70 Epiphanius,Epiphanius of Salamis, The Man Well-Anchored 120, c.f. Medicine Chest Against All Heresies 78:6 Hilary,Hilary of Poitiers, Commentary on Matthew §1:4 Didymus,Didymus the Blind, The Trinity 3:4 Ambrose,Ambrose of Milan, Letters 63:111 Jerome,Jerome, Against Helvetius, 21 Siricius, Denziger §91 and others. However, it cannot be said that unanimity existed in antiquity concerning the doctrine, as it was denied by Tertullian,see Jurgens §359, though Tertullian accepted the virgin birth, see Jurgens §277 and Jovinian\'s teaching that childbirth ended Mary\'s physical virginity had to be condemned by a synod of Milan in 390.
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Although the notable Protestant Reformers questioned many traditional doctrines, the doctrine of Mary’s perpetual virginity was, at least at first, not generally one of them. Martin Luther,In his 1523 treatise, That Jesus Christ was born a Jew, Luther said that "Scripture does not quibble or speak about the virginity of Mary after the birth of Christ, a matter about which the hypocrites are greatly concerned, as if it were something of the utmost importance on which our whole salvation depended. Actually, we should be satisfied simply to hold that she remained a virgin after the birth of Christ because Scripture does not state or indicate that she later lost her virginity... But the Scripture stops with this, that she was a virgin before and at the birth of Christ; for up to this point God had need of her virginity in order to give us the promised blessed seed without sin." Luther’s Works, American Edition, Walther I. Brandt, ed., Philadelphia, Augsburg Fortress; St. Louis, Concordia Publishing House, 1962, ISBN 0-8006-0345-1 pp. 205-206; cf. James Swam, Luther\'s Theology of Mary. Huldrych Zwingli,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." In Zwingli’s Swiss German dialect:
"das ich sy vestlenklich gloub nach den worten, des heiligen euangelii ein reine magt uns geboren haben den sun gottes und in der gburt und ouch darnach in die ewigkeit ein reine, unverserte magd bliben."
A sermon on the eternal virginity of Mary, September 17, 1522 (Eine predigt von der ewig reinen magd Maria), Huldreich Zwingli, Sämtliche Werke (Complete Works), herausgegeben von (edited by), Dr. Emil Elgi, and Dr. Georg Finsler, Berlin, Verlag von (Published by) C. A. Schwetschke und Sohn, 1905, Vol. (Band) 1, (vol. LXXXVIII in the Corpus Reformatorum), p. 424 (see pp.385-428 for complete text and notes in German). Cf. [1] John Calvin,J.A. Ross MacKenzie, in Stacpoole, Alberic, ed., Mary\'s Place in Christian Dialogue, Wilton, Conn.: Morehouse-Barlow, 1982, pp.35-6; c.f. Harmony of Matthew, Mark & Luke, sec. 39 (Geneva, 1562), vol. I, From Calvin\'s Commentaries, tr. William Pringle, Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1949 p. 107 and John WesleyWesley wrote: "I believe that He was made man, joining the human nature with the divine in one person; being conceived by the singular operation of the Holy Ghost, and born of the blessed Virgin Mary, who, as well after as before she brought Him forth, continued a pure and unspotted virgin."
Letter to a Roman Catholic, July 18, 1749 [2] all arguably accepted its veracity. Diarmaid MacCulloch, a historian of the Reformation, wrote that the reason why the magisterial reformers upheld Mary’s perpetual virginity, and why they had a ‘genuinely deep reverence and affection’ toward Mary, was that she was ‘the guarantee of the Incarnation of Christ’, a teaching which was being denied by the same radicals that were denying Mary’s perpetual virginity.D. MacCulloch, The Reformation: a History (Penguin Books, 2003) pp. 613-614; cf. Robert Schihl, The Perpetual Virginity of Mary for an extended list and quotations. However, the absence of clear Biblical statements expressing the doctrine, in combination with the principle of sola scriptura, kept references to the doctrine out of the Reformation creeds and, together with the tendency to associate veneration of Mary with idolatryD. MacCulloch, The Reformation: a History (Penguin Books, 2003) pp. 558-63 and the rejection of clerical celibacysee John Calvin\'s Institutes of the Christian Religion IV,12,27-28 lead to the eventual denial of this doctrine amongst most Protestant churches.
The Annunciation, by Caravaggio. "How can this be, for I know not man."
There is no explicit mention of Mary\'s perpetual virginity, for or against, in the New Testament (though her virginity before and in regards to Jesus\' conception is well attested).e.g. Matthew 1:23, Luke 1:27
At the Annunciation (Luke 1:34) Mary, told by an angel that she will conceive, responds: "How will this be, since I am a virgin?" Gregory of Nyssa understood this in support of the view that Mary had taken a lifelong vow of virginity, even in marriage:
Most Roman Catholic scholars follow this viewHoward Marshall, I., The Gospel of Luke (1978), p68. Paternoster Press:Exeter. however Howard Marshall says that "It is impossible to see how the text can yield this meaning" ibid and quotes Easton that "no writer with a knowledge of Jewish psychology could have thought of a vow of virginity on the part of a betrothed Palestinian maiden". To Benoit\'s reply that "Mary constitutes a special case"Benoit, Exegese, III, 205; quoted by Howard Marshall, ibid Howard Marshall says that this "will convince only those who have other reasons for adopting this interpretation of the text".ibid
In typological argumentation, Ezekiel 44:2 has been used in support of the doctrine. The passage reads: ‘The Lord said to me, “This gate is to remain shut. It must not be opened; no one may enter through it. It is to remain shut because the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered through it.”’ Jerome interpreted this passage as referring, typologically, to Mary:
This argumentation was repeated, not only by later Catholic theologians, but by the magisterial Protestant Reformers as well,D. MacCulloch, Reformation: a History (Penguin Books, 2003) p. 614. in support of the doctrine.
The New Testament references Jesus\' adelphoi,Matthew 12:46, Matthew 13:55, Mark 3:31-34, Mark 6:3, Luke 8:19-20, John 2:12, John 7:3, John 7:5, John 7:10, Acts 1:14, and 1Corinthians 9:5 which can mean either "brothers" or "kinsfolk".For example, see the entry here The Protoevangelium of James, as shown above, presented these adelphoi as Joseph’s children from a previous marriage, stating that Joseph married Mary after he had become a widower; that would make these adelphoi Jesus’ half-brothers. Victorinus argued that the adelphoi were merely kinsfolk, a view repeated by Jerome.Jerome, Against Helvidius: The Perpetual Virginity of Mary 19. Tertullian interpreted these passages as referring to Jesus’ siblings from both Joseph and Mary, and rejected the doctrine of Mary’s perpetual virginity.Tertullian, Adversus Marcionem 4, 19, 11.
Matthew 1:25, states that Jesus was Mary\'s "firstborn son" (although Tasker says that there is strong evidence for omitting the word firstborn)Tasker, R.V., The Gospel According to Saint Matthew, p36 (1961) Inter Varsity Press:Leicester and that Joseph "had no marital relations with her until (εως) she had borne a son." Taskeribid and HillHill D., The Gospel of Matthew, p80 (1972) Marshall, Morgan and Scott:London argue that this passage implies that Mary and Joseph had customary marital relations after the birth of Jesus, with Tasker quoting McNeile that the Greek construction "always implies in the New Testament that the negatived action did, or will, take place after the point of time indicated by the [participle]."ibid Hill comments that "if the notion of Mary\'s perpetual virginity had been familiar to the evangelist or to the milieu in which he wrote, he would surely have been more explicit".ibid
Many Catholic and Orthodox hymns and prayers mention Mary\'s perpetual virginity.
In some modern spiritual writings, Mary\'s virginity is cited as a counter-example to current sexual mores. In spiritual writings more generally, her virginity is cited as an expression of holiness, devotion and loving self-denial. In some of St. Augustine\'s writings, he gives her virginity as an example of the mystery of God. Other spiritual writings have mentioned Mary\'s great humility, which is connected with the sparse mention of her in Scripture and with her willingness to be virginal in order to carry out a part of God\'s plan. Some writers give Mary as an example of spiritual integrity, of which her virginal integrity is a sign. Over the centuries, it has been a tradition for some of the faithful to consecrate themselves to God, partly by remaining virgins, which is called the "charism of virginity" (or "gift of virginity").
In many icons, Mary\'s perpetual virginity is signified by three stars that appear on her left, her right, and above her or on her head, which represent her virginity before, during and after giving birth.
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