I’ve been away for a few days, and you guys have been busy, posting many EXCELLENT POSTS which back up my original post as to the “brethren” who are really Jesus’s cousins on Joseph’s side of the family, not by blood but by marriage, and a few other of my posts. Saint Jerome makes this clear, that they are NOT the children of a first marriage by a widowed Joseph (stepbrothers), but cousins of Jesus, per the following relationships:
The first cousins:
Joseph’s brother, Saint Cleophas, is also known as Clopas, and aka Alphaeus. His wife is Saint Mary of Cleophas. Part of the confusion is that this Mary is referred to at times as the sister of Mary (Jesus’s Mother), when she is actually her sister-in-law. Part of that messy language thing they’ve got going. Both were the wives of brothers, Joseph and Cleophas, hence sisters-in-law.
Their children and Jesus’s first cousins were: Saint Simon (aka Symeon), Saint James the Less, and Saint Jude (not Judas, the traitor), of whom were also among the 12 Apostles. Another brother is Saint Joseph Barsabas (aka Joseph or Joses), but not among the 12 Apostles. James and Joses are often referenced together.
These four brothers have a sister, Saint Mary Salome, also married to Zebedee. Some confusion arises at times when this Mary is also referred to as a sister of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, when actually she is Mary’s niece. Her son, John, is Mary’s great nephew.
Mary, the Mother of Jesus, is an only Child (thank you to Randy Carson, for the entire document, and one other earlier poster, twb1621, for giving just the link, “Protoevangelisum of James”, where this is discussed). She is the daughter of Saint Anne and Saint Joachim, who, because they waited so long for her arrival (20 years, other sources), dedicated her to service in the temple at the age of 3. So, no “sisters” named Mary also, they are relatives in that same loose sense as “brethren”.
The second cousins:
Saint Mary Salome, and her husband, Zebedee, have two sons (also among the 12 Apostles), and second cousins to Our Lord: Saint James the Greater and Saint John the Evangelist, the Beloved Disciple.
These relationships are also made clear in first the link posted, and then the entire article, “Mary, Ever Virgin”, on the Catholic Answers website.
Hope that clears up the confusion of the multiple names for Saint Cleophas, Joseph’s brother, and the two Jameses, and the use of “sister” and the many Marys. Also, this ties back the references given to us by BrianH quoting Eusebius regarding Symeon and Luke and the fact that they were descendants of the House of David, after James, son of Clopas/Cleophas/Alphaeus.
The writings of Saint Jerome further clarify the relationships in the link posting by Monkey1976, and which I think Randy Carson quoted from directly, as well, entitled “The Perpetual Virginity of Blessed Mary”. Saint Jerome goes into a lengthy discourse on how confusing are the relationships, not only of the Jameses, but the incorrect use of the word sister relating to the other two Marys. This same document also verifies that Saint Joseph is a virgin as well, but please see my next post, and the next paragraph …
He also goes into the confusion of the use of “bethroved vs. married”, and how even the writers of the gospel used it sloppily, venting his frustration! One can draw from his writings that Joseph and Mary were bethroved, that is, engaged, not yet married. In fact, my earlier posts gave the dates of both events, engagement September 8, also Our Lady’s Birthday, and Solemn Espousals (or Marriage) on January 23, after Jesus’s birth. They were unmarried as they traveled to Bethlehem. But it was such a long journey, it was obvious she would give birth while he was away, so what to do about it? Saint Jerome explains in great detail the “rules for engagement”, if you will, and what happens, and the rules for adultery. Mary’s vow, and Joseph’s, were to remain chaste, or virgins; there was nothing saying they couldn’t ever become engaged or married. (THAT vow would have been celibacy, NOT the one they chose.) They both chose it, together. Which is why they were perfect for the roles of Ever-Virgin Mother and Foster Father in The Holy Family including Jesus. It was their primary and only focus, no other role was needed or wanted. A most holy and unique role, with a much larger scope (for all of humankind) than any of our ordinary marriages, as I explained before.
Further details in the article link posted by FCEGM, “Our Blessed Mother and the Saints, What the Bible Says about Mary’s Virginity”, by Mark Bonocore. This document verifies that Saint Joseph is a virgin as well.
PaulC, as to my source for the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, if you’d like to further research their writings, their website is:
www.catholicism.org.
Hope this helps! And thank you, all, for your backup materials quoting Scripture.
having normal marital relations with her husband. Then again, I don’t think, at ALL, that sex is sinful or corrupting or less than holy. If God had no problem ensuring Mary’s virginal pregnancy with the Son of God, I don’t think it would have been a real difficulty ensuring that any offspring of Jesus were completely human. He had cousins and others who were related to him through Mary, so I don’t think it’s so terribly impious to consider that he had siblings or children.
Let’s let God’s authoritative word settle the issue.