Did the Blessed Virgin Mary give birth to Jesus Christ painlessly?

[steve93]

I’m not saying that giving birth can destroy virginity, only normal sex can. I would assume that God would provide some sort of miracle (anatomically speaking, not just killing pain) since to not do so would likely cause His Mother emotional distress, seeing how obsessed the jews were with the whole physical purity/cleanliness/ritual thing thing.

 

[ChurchSoldier]

To back up Crusaderbear’s statement: Mary was a virgin BEFORE, DURING and AFTER Our Lord’s birth.
It’s dogma, so we’re bound to believe it.
Also dogma: Mary didn’t suffer the pain of childbirth.
The birth was miraculous…the Infant may have passed through His mother’s flesh, or like rays of light….whatever. Anyway: miraculous.

For want of better words: her virginal integrity wasn’t violated at any time of her life on this earth.

A little too Gnostic on this one

 

[OaTmEaL]

1. Virginity During the Birth of Jesus

Mary bore her Son without any violation of her virginal integrity. (De fide on the ground of the general promulgation of doctrine).

The dogma merely asserts the fact of the continuance of Mary’s physical virginity without determining more closely how this is to be physiologically explained. In general the fathers and the Schoolmen conceived it as non-injury to the hymen, and accordingly taught that Mary gave birth in miraculous fashion without opening of the womb and injury to the hymen, and consequently also without pains (cf. S. th. III 28, 2.)

-Ludwig Ott, Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, pg. 205.

 

[ToeInTheWater]

1. Virginity During the Birth of Jesus

Mary bore her Son without any violation of her virginal integrity. (De fide on the ground of the general promulgation of doctrine).

The dogma merely asserts the fact of the continuance of Mary’s physical virginity without determining more closely how this is to be physiologically explained. In general the fathers and the Schoolmen conceived it as non-injury to the hymen, and accordingly taught that Mary gave birth in miraculous fashion without opening of the womb and injury to the hymen, and consequently also without pains (cf. S. th. III 28, 2.)

-Ludwig Ott, Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, pg. 205.

The idea that Mary did not suffer labor pains itself is certainly not Church Dogma itself.

And the idea that she did not even go through ordinary labor at all, but had the Christ Child miraculously translocate from her womb to her arms, I think falls more in the realm of “pious belief” that anything else.

Interestingly the Church also does not “dogmatize” whether Mary died before her Assumption, though the Assumption is dogma, and most of the scholarly writings indicate she DID die. But whenever this topic comes up on CAF there are many posters who state vehemently that she did NOT die and AFAIK that option has never been officially taken off the table.

 

[tuffsmurf]

I’m not saying that giving birth can destroy virginity, only normal sex can. I would assume that God would provide some sort of miracle (anatomically speaking, not just killing pain) since to not do so would likely cause His Mother emotional distress, seeing how obsessed the jews were with the whole physical purity/cleanliness/ritual thing thing.

It’s ok to believe that, I however find it unlikely. She did go through the purity ritual following childbirth after all, and I’m sure she did go through the purity rites after the monthly periods as well, as any devote jewish woman would. Why would that cause her any emotional distress?

 

[EmeraldOak]

My own personal belief is that God put her into a deep sleep and when she woke up Jesus was there next to her. In my imagination, Mary could hear Jesus crying to be nursed as she was waking up. Like how God put Adam into a deep sleep and he wasn’t awake or felt pain when God took out his rib and created Eve.

Genesis 2:20-22 “But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.”

That’s how I picture it when I pray the 3rd joyful mystery of my rosary.

 

[Catholic1954]

Hey, everyone. I have been told that it is a doctrine of the Church that the Blessed Virgin Mary gave birth to Jesus Christ in a painless manner. Is this true? If so, how could it be true? From what I understand, she is said to have given birth painlessly because she had no stain of sin from the moment of conception. Well, Jesus Christ did not have any stain of sin from the moment of his conception either but He still suffered the pain of crucifixion. Can someone please help me to understand this?

There is no Church doctrine that states Mary had a painless birth, however, there is private revelation that suggests it. Check out, “The Mystical City of God” by Mary of Agreda or the writings of Anne Catherine Emmerich.

 

[Fiasco]

Yes, the doctor was wrong to say that…

Alright. i’ll take your word for it.

A little too Gnostic on this one

It’s not my favourite idea, but it’s been mentioned a lot of times. In the context in which it was used, to label it gnostic could be pushing it a bit far. But i know what you mean, and the belief could lead to the wrong conclusion about Who and what Our Lord is.
EmeraldOak’s belief, or similar, is my own one.

As far as the pain goes, because of the virgin birth (DOGMA), the Church takes for granted that the birth was also painless, so no need to declare it a dogma. One (belief) flows from the other (dogma).

If there were wholesale rejection of belief in the painlessness, the Church might then declare it a dogma.

 

[Lea101]

I’m not saying that giving birth can destroy virginity, only normal sex can. I would assume that God would provide some sort of miracle (anatomically speaking, not just killing pain) since to not do so would likely cause His Mother emotional distress, seeing how obsessed the jews were with the whole physical purity/cleanliness/ritual thing thing.

Your first sentence is right.

Previously, people were not knowledgeable about virginity (people actually think bloody sheets were proof that a bride was a virgin). If they thought virginity was something physical, it would make sense why this was a view held by many.

Now we know that Mary is still a virgin even after giving birth, because a broken hymen doesn’t prove anything, so revisiting the issue might be useful. But apparently it’s a dogma that her hymen remained intact?

If Mary didn’t have pain, I would assume it was probably God helping her Out because she was the mother of God. Giving birth in a smelly cramped room isn’t fun…whether it was because she had no original sin or not…i don’t know. If it was, can someone explain why a woman who was just baptized would feel labour pains? This example is the reason why I don’t think she had no pains

 

[Fiasco]

…can someone explain why a woman who was just baptized would feel labour pains? This example is the reason why I don’t think she had no pains

You inferred it yourself earlier on.
Mary wasn’t conceived with original sin, so she didn’t suffer the effects.
Any other mother IS conceived with original sin. By baptism, the original sin is removed, but the EFFECTS are not removed.

Our lord was born in a cave-stable, if the Holy Places are correct. There’s the appropriately named church there: the Church of the Nativity.

 

[Holly3278]

I am so confused. I know that the Blessed Virgin Mary had a miraculous birth and that she was a virgin her entire life but what I do not know is whether or not she had pain when giving birth. If the Church officially teaches that she did not have pain during birth then I will believe that. Likewise, if the Church teaches that she did have pain during birth then I will believe that and if the Church doesn’t have a teaching on the issue then it is open to conjecture. I am just confused as to whether or not the Church has an official teaching on the matter of whether or not the Blessed Virgin Mary’s labor and birth was painless. If there is no such official teaching then there is no issue for me to resolve in my mind about her giving birth painlessly but if there is an official teaching of her giving birth painlessly then I still have the question in my original post to figure out.

 

[tuffsmurf]

I am so confused. I know that the Blessed Virgin Mary had a miraculous birth and that she was a virgin her entire life but what I do not know is whether or not she had pain when giving birth. If the Church officially teaches that she did not have pain during birth then I will believe that. Likewise, if the Church teaches that she did have pain during birth then I will believe that and if the Church doesn’t have a teaching on the issue then it is open to conjecture. I am just confused as to whether or not the Church has an official teaching on the matter of whether or not the Blessed Virgin Mary’s labor and birth was painless. If there is no such official teaching then there is no issue for me to resolve in my mind about her giving birth painlessly but if there is an official teaching of her giving birth painlessly then I still have the question in my original post to figure out.

The church teaches that our Lord’s conception was a miracoulos event, not the birth. We are allowed to believe that the birth was miracoulos, but we certainly don’t have to.

 

[mikekle]

Ive seen similar threads in the past, and IMO, the birth was probably NOTHING like a regular person being born, this was the son of God, who created everything after all!!

However, things like this, we just cannot know or even if we did, I doubt we could comprehend the ‘logistics’ of how it actually happened, it would be like asking Jesus to describe how he transformed a few fish and loaves into enough food to feed 1000s, the answer would be something a normal human could not understand.

 

[Fiasco]

I am just confused as to whether or not the Church has an official teaching on the matter of whether or not the Blessed Virgin Mary’s labor and birth was painless. If there is no such official teaching then there is no issue for me to resolve in my mind about her giving birth painlessly but if there is an official teaching of her giving birth painlessly then I still have the question in my original post to figure out.

The Virgin Birth is dogma as you already know, and the Church’s teaching that it was painless flows from that, without being declared a dogma.

The following quote is from an article linked to under the quote: [Provided earlier, but who cares!]

The Church teaches that the virgin birth was also a painless birth, without defining it dogmatically. However, as its inclusion in the Catechism of the Council of Trent affirms, it is a logical conclusion from the Church’s definitive teaching regarding Mary’s Immaculate Conception and Virgin Birth. [emphasis added]

catholicexchange.com/did-mary-experience-labor-pains

[This link works from here: please let’s know if it fails for you.]

Catholics United for the Faith is orthodox.

If there is ever wholesale rejection of the painlessness of the Birth, the Church would probably declare it a dogma. Now might be the right time.

The church teaches that our Lord’s conception was a miracoulos event, not the birth. We are allowed to believe that the birth was miracoulos, but we certainly don’t have to.

The Birth was still miraculous, Our Lady’s “virginal integrity” being preserved (anatomically).

 

[tuffsmurf]

The Virgin Birth is dogma as you already know, and the Church’s teaching that it was painless flows from that, without being declared a dogma.

The following quote is from an article linked to under the quote: [Provided earlier, but who cares!]

catholicexchange.com/did-mary-experience-labor-pains

[This link works from here: please let’s know if it fails for you.]

Catholics United for the Faith is orthodox.

If there is ever wholesale rejection of the painlessness of the Birth, the Church would probably declare it a dogma. Now might be the right time.

The Birth was still miraculous, Our Lady’s “virginal integrity” being preserved (anatomically).

There is no anatomically virginity. The cervix looks different depending on whether the woman has given birth though. But all of this has already been discussed and the answer is still that there is no dogma about if Mary experienced labour pains. Until there are, we are allowed to believe different things about that.

 

[Fiasco]

There is no anatomically virginity. The cervix looks different depending on whether the woman has given birth though. But all of this has already been discussed and the answer is still that there is no dogma about if Mary experienced labour pains. Until there are, we are allowed to believe different things about that.

In about AD380, the heretic Helvidius suggested that Mary and Joseph had children. Thanks to that, the Church eventually had to declare her perpetual virginity a dogma. The teaching (not dogma) of a painless Birth flows from that, as already stated at least twice.
Before Helvidius’s “novel, wicked, and daring affront to the faith of the world.”, [St Jerome’s words] the Church took for granted that everyone believed in Mary’s perpetual virginity.
So, dogmas aren’t necessarily declared unless they’re denied.

Due to a general fall in belief in the miraculous unless we’re forced to believe some particular thing, the painless Birth teaching may well have to be raised to the level of dogma!
In a way, it’s just a sign of the times.

 

[tuffsmurf]

In about AD380, the heretic Helvidius suggested that Mary and Joseph had children. Thanks to that, the Church eventually had to declare her perpetual virginity a dogma. The teaching (not dogma) of a painless Birth flows from that, as already stated at least twice.
Before Helvidius’s “novel, wicked, and daring affront to the faith of the world.”, [St Jerome’s words] the Church took for granted that everyone believed in Mary’s perpetual virginity.
So, dogmas aren’t necessarily declared unless they’re denied.

Due to a general fall in belief in the miraculous unless we’re forced to believe some particular thing, the painless Birth teaching may well have to be raised to the level of dogma!
In a way, it’s just a sign of the times.

But there is not even any mention about labour pains or the lack of them in the catechesis. Besides, don’t you think it is a little weird that the gospels wouldn’t mention the miracle of his birth at all if this was the case? The circumstances of his conception are explained in detail (which means Mary told some people about it, since she was the only one there).
I don’t think it will be declared dogma (it if would be though, I am sure good reasons will be provided and I will believe it). I guess we will just have to wait and see.

I’m not sure everyone believe in the perpetual virginity. There was probably such trafitions very early on, but since the gospel also mentions Jesus’ siblings there was quite a discussion about how to reconcile those two. In the end the Church declared the dogma about perpetual virginity and that “siblings” should be interpreted as other relatives. So it is very strange to claim that Helvidius was the one that came up with the idea since it can very easily be assumed by reading the gospels (I do agree that siblings should be interpreted as siblings and that Mary was a perpetual virgin, but it was not unreasonable for people to believe that Mary and Joseph had more children).

 

[tuffsmurf]

It should say “I’m not sure everyone believed”. Nowadays it is catholic dogma of course.

 

[Vico]

Hey, everyone. I have been told that it is a doctrine of the Church that the Blessed Virgin Mary gave birth to Jesus Christ in a painless manner. Is this true? If so, how could it be true? From what I understand, she is said to have given birth painlessly because she had no stain of sin from the moment of conception. Well, Jesus Christ did not have any stain of sin from the moment of his conception either but He still suffered the pain of crucifixion. Can someone please help me to understand this?

Impassibility is a preternatural gift that Adam and Eve were given, but lost, and the descendants are both without that gift. It is a dogma of faith that Christ’s human nature was passible. (This counters Docetism.) It is also commonly believed Catholic teaching that The Blessed Virgin Mary experienced death of the body.

 

[Cathoholic]

Holly3278. You asked:

Did the Blessed Virgin Mary give birth to Jesus Christ painlessly?

Yes. The Blessed Virgin Mary delivered Jesus painlessly.

God bless.

Cathoholic

PS I’ll try to get back here and provide some evidence later.