How old was Mary when Jesus was born?

[Tis_Bearself]

I think Mary was underage when she was pregnant.

As far as I can tell, you don’t have a source for this. We don’t know how old Mary was, and as everybody in this thread has pointed out, girls got married at a younger age then and also died at a younger age, so I don’t even know how you’d determine “underage”. In another thread you seemed to be claiming that an 18-year-old legal adult today was “underage” to get married.

Also, from your postings in other threads, “underage” marriages seem to be a pet issue of yours. Not sure what’s driving your concern unless you’ve had some personal experience of a bad situation, but kindly don’t impose your issues on the Mother of God when you don’t even have a source for her exact age.

 

[phil19034]

We don’t know how old Mary was

Actually, we do know how old Mary was…

She was old enough for God… so that should be good enough for all of us

 

[Brendan_64]

I could be wrong, but I think that when Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared to Juan Diego, he described her as being about 16.

 

[Darryl_B]

Every two seconds, a little girl gets married. And she is starting to get sick of it.

 

[SeraficLeo]

That’s an interesting interpretation. It does make sense that God might make His blessed Mother a peculiar sharer in the sufferings of women and mothers, that she thereby might be able to empathize with them and be their mothers, too - it makes sense, though, that like Jesus, she would be innocent of any suspicions against her morality or conduct.

 

[0Scarlett_nidiyilii]

My own Italian great grandmother (from my dad’s grandmother) was married at 14 and widowed and remarried by the time she was 18.

This.
My gram-gram (WW2) generation. Was married at 15.

 

[TheLittleLady]

I think Mary was underage when she was pregnant.

She would have been of the proper age to marry in that specific culture and period of time.

especially since pregnancy is so dangerous for them.

In the Western world, “underage” means under 18 or under 21. Why do you think that pregnancy is defacto dangerous for women who are in their teens?

while God would’ve preferred Mary to be older when she got pregnant he permitted, just as he permitted his son to be crucified, for her to be pregnant while underage

The Incarnation took place at exactly the time, place, down to the millisecond that God had planned from before the foundations of the earth.

What is your source for this?

This was so that Mary would be in solidarity with those who unjustly suffer the shame, & danger of underage pregnancies including unplanned pregnancies.

You believe that the Incarnation and Virgin Birth were meant to shame Mary?

 

[SeraficLeo]

Mary was married to Joseph. The marriage was not consumated yet, thus they were referred to as betrothed.

Yes, but likely owing to both Mary’s age and her religious state (at least according to Tradition), there would have been no grounds for lawful consummation; and even if her requirement to maintain virginity were waived, then at the actual time she became pregnant, I think it would have been understood that the consummation of her marriage to Saint Joseph was not yet to have happened. Saint Joseph took the most merciful course open to him and according to the law and his reason in regard to his spouse, the Virgin Mary. We get no indication that her pregnancy could have been interpreted by others as being a result of a union of him with her.

 

[tafan2]

Yes, but likely owing to both Mary’s age and her religious state (at least according to Tradition), there would have been no grounds for lawful consummation; and even if her requirement to maintain virginity were waived, then at the actual time she became pregnant, I think it would have been understood that the consummation of her marriage to Saint Joseph was not yet to have happened. Saint Joseph took the most merciful course open to him and according to the law and his reason in regard to his spouse, the Virgin Mary. We get no indication that her pregnancy could have been interpreted by others as being a result of a union of him with her.

Perhaps, I know of this tradition of her to be a consecrated virgin prior to the incarnation, but I do not quite buy into it. I have read that when Mary was found pregnant, everyone would have assumed the father was Joseph and there would have been no scandal. Joseph, before the dream, not wanting to expose her to scandal wanted to “divorce her quietly”. Actually, this would have caused the shame to fall on Joseph, for abandoning his wife and child, but no shame to fall on Mary. This explanation has always made more sense to me and seems to match the story in Luke better.

 

[tafan2]

Also, I think we underrate what being around a sinless person would be like. Everyone who knew Mary would have recognized an extraordinary goodness in her. Joseph would not have understood her pregnancy, but he would have known something really different had occurred, as he would not have been able to fathom her committing adultery. Which is why he was more than willing to accept the shame, and why he was able to easily believe his dream.

 

[0Scarlett_nidiyilii]

Also, I think we underrate what being around a sinless person would be like.

I think it’s really impossible for us, because nobody here, alive today, has ever had that experience.

 

[Bruce_Killian]

Mary was twenty years old when Jesus was born and she was thirteen years old when she was betrothed to Joseph. Twenty was the age when God held one to be responsible for their actions for example Numbers 32:11 Surely none of the men who came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, because they have not wholly followed me. The reason for the seven year gap between betrothal and birth was because Mary was immaculately conceived she never had a period so she like Eve could live in a Temple. Some topological witnesses, Rebecca was barren for 20 years and Rachael was barren for 7 years. She had to be living away from her father’s house before she could make a promise to God without her father’s approval. Joseph could not have had other sons or they would have had first claim to be king of Israel over Jesus. Grace and peace, Bruce

 

[Dlee]

I am reading an abridged version of City of God and also have the 4 volumes. If I recall correctly what I read, it agrees with much of what you have stated. It’s an interesting read.

 

[Wife.of.Gabriel]

I am reading an abridged version of City of God and also have the 4 volumes. If I recall correctly what I read, it agrees with much of what you have stated. It’s an interesting read.

That’s fascinating! I spent years in the Orthodox Church, so that’s amazing that this Catholic Mystic Saint experienced the same tradition they passed down to us. I keep trying to begin reading, but I’ve got lots of kids distracting me - lol - soon!!! Can’t wait!

 

[D.Erasmus.R]

Some on this thread have guessed that she was around 15yrs, some say younger. It’s possible that she was older but it’s reasonable to too assume she was around 15yrs.

Pregnancy is dangerous for adolescents, especially for those under 16yrs. Pregnancy/childbirth complications are the leading cause of death among girls aged between 15-19yrs. (from World Health Organisation) These dangers would’ve been worse back then.

Why then would a good God wish to endanger Mary’s life by having her get pregnant so young? The best answer is that he just permitted it. When people ask why there’s suffering it’s of some comfort to know that Jesus shared our sufferings. Shouldn’t be of comfort then to know that Mary understands our suffering, particularly the suffering of mothers.

Unwed teenage mothers often get shamed, & we know where that leads. When Mary got pregnant with a child who wasn’t Joseph’s (before she lived with Joseph) there would’ve been nasty rumours about her. Joseph was going to divorce her privately to spare her reputation. So Mary’s story should tell us why we shouldn’t shame unwed mothers. Shouldn’t Mary be someone for whom shamed alone unwed mothers can identify with?

Some will say teenage pregnancies/marriages were normal back then, but slavery was normal back then. Rapists could legally marry their victims back then. So the relativistic idea that being pregnant at 15 was okay then but not okay may be wrong.

 

[Nicky777]

Mary was 14 when she was betrothed th St. Joseph. She was 15 when she gave birth to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. “The City of God by Mother Mary of Agreda.”

 

[thistle]

Mary was 14 when she was betrothed th St. Joseph. She was 15 when she gave birth to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. “The City of God by Mother Mary of Agreda.”

Not a fact. Only in a private revelation. What is a fact is that approved private revelations of three different people, Mary of Agreda being one of them, give different ages for Mary

 

[Vico]

I know this is a “let me Google this for you” kind of question, but I’m confused because I’ve heard anecdotally that Mary was very young (not even a teenager?) at the time of Jesus’ birth. If this is true, why was it okay for Mary to be so young? Modern tweens still seem like children themselves.

Jewish law minimum age for marriage was 12 for women and 13 for men.

 

[BartholomewB]

to maintain her virginity which she’d consecrated to God years earlier.

“Consecrated virginity” in Judaism? In the Herodian period? I never heard of that till now. Do you have a source for that?

 

[Shasta-Rose]

Yes, today, kids are treated like pampered little pets. Imagine a 13-year-old today, shouldering the responsibilities of an adult. Actually, we seem to be going the othger way, with “kids” getting out of school and then sitting around the house for years living off the parents. (That wouldn’t have gone over well with my mother!)