Cottice. You said concerning (after nisuin):
QUOTE:
That was when the marriage ceremony was complete.
You are right on this point. I am not going to argue with that. Because it is correct.
But I think you may be missing my point. Betrothal or “kiddushin” is WHEN the marriage actually takes place. Even BEFORE the “ceremony” is complete.
A couple is still man and wife after kiddushin (betrothal).
QUOTE:
My position is that Mary was betrothed but not married.
Again, first of all, “betrothed” IS MARRIED. That is precisely WHY the angel from Heaven refers to the Blessed Virgin Mary as St. Joseph’s . . . . . “WIFE” and not “fiancé”. OK?
If you (or any other readers of this thread) are married, you (they) were really and actually married EVEN BEFORE you and your spouse consummated the marriage.
They are still “man and wife” after they leave the Church, but before they get home. Even if you had another “ceremony” after you were married.
But even pretending St. Joseph and the Blessed Virgin Mary were merely less than married, doesn’t it strike you at least a little odd when the Archangel Gabriel said to the Blessed Virgin, that you (Mary) are going to have a “son”, Mary responds . . . .”
HOW can this come about?”
This response would be non-sense even for an “engaged woman” too, much less a woman that Heaven refers to as the “WIFE” (“gynaika”) of St. Joseph (Mt. 1:20).
Also. As I stated earlier . . . .
. . . . . Even the Rabbis say (
here for example). . . .
QUOTE:
My position is that
Mary was betrothed . . . .
Kiddushin is “betrothal” and results in a “man and wife” situation.