The Prophet Isaiah has prophesied about the Mother of Christ, calling her the virgin: Look, the virgin is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel (Isa 7:14).

The Apostolic Fathers believed in Mary’s perpetual virginity. Saint Justin the Martyr says:…[Jesus] having become man, as we said, by a virgin…(First Apology, 127).

Saint Ephraim writes: …of the Virgin, the daughter of David, who gave birth to the life of the World (Songs of Praise, 710a).

Saint Athanasius speaks about the Ever–Virgin Mary: …that He [Jesus] took true human flesh from the Ever-Virgin Mary (Discourses Against The Arians, 767a).

Mary is entitled: the Blessed Virgin, or simply the Virgin. Such titles wouldn’t be proper if Mary didn’t remain virgin during her entire life.

Faith in the perpetual virginity of Mary is deeply rooted among Christians. It has been expressed in many official prayers of the Church. In the Roman Missal for example, there is a prayer: We honour Mary, the ever-virgin mother of Jesus Christ, our Lord and God. [1]

In the Divine Office we read: Grant that the Word who took flesh in the womb of the ever-virgin Mary and became man like us, may share with us his godhead.[2]

Scott Hahn speaks about Mary’s life-long virginity. His arguments are based on the passage of the Gospel written by Luke: How can this be, since I am a virgin (Lk 1; 27-34): “ Now this would be an odd question if Mary had planned to have normal martial relations with her husband. The angel had told her only that she would conceive a son, which is a commonplace even in marriage… It would happen in the normal course of nature. But that, apparently, was beyond the realm of possibility for her. The unspoken assumption behind her question is that, even though she was betrothed, she should not have an opportunity to conceive a child. How can that be? Some commentators speculate that Mary must have vowed virginity from an early age, and that Joseph knew of her vow, accepted it, and eventually took it on himself”[3]

There is not a single passage in the Bible speaking about Mary giving birth to another child. Christ is the only one born of her. He is called: The Son of Mary (Mk 6:3). When the Bible speaks about brothers and sisters of Christ (Mt 13:55-56), it refers to His cousins. In Jewish culture there was not a separate word for “cousin”. The word “brother” or “sister” (ahim) refers to anybody from the same tribe. For example …standing near the cross of Jesus were His mother [Mary], and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas… (Jn 19:25). It is very unlikely that two daughters of the same family would have identical names. They were simply cousins.

Some words used in the Bible have a different meaning when compared with contemporary use. For example: today the words “till, until, before” have a different meaning than in Jesus’ time 2000 years ago. In ancient times when the words “till, until, before “ were used, they didn’t mean something changed afterwards. For example, a person asked Jesus: Come down before my child dies (Jn 4:49). Although Christ came, the child didn’t die. He remained alive.

Paul advised Timothy: Until I arrive give attention to the pubic reading of scripture, to exhorting, to teaching (1Tim 4:13). Timothy didn’t stop reading, teaching or exhorting even when Paul arrived. He didn’t change his work. He continued it. It is exactly the same when the Bible speaks about Mary:…Before they lived together, she was found with child (Mt 1:18). …He [Joseph] had no relation with her, until she bore a son (Mt 1:25). It doesn’t mean that Mary and Joseph changed their ways afterwards. Mary continued her way of life. She remained a virgin throughout her entire life.

Original Article by Fr Zdzislaw Karczewski