What's the Significance of Mary's Perpetual Virginity

[shawn38]

Whether you chose to believe Mary remained a Virgin or not, why is it so significant to Catholics that Mary had remained a Virgin after the birth of Christ? It would not have been sinful for her to have relations with her husband and beget other children.

Salvation is through Chris alone! Mary is not a saviour and she recognized who is the saviour (Luke 1:47 greek - “theO tO sOtEri mou,” “God THE SAViour OF-ME.”

So why is it so significant to Catholics that Mary had remained a Virgin after the birth of Christ? Would it cause the means to salvation to change? No!

 

[SingleMomMonica]

Whether you chose to believe Mary remained a Virgin or not, why is it so significant to Catholics that Mary had remained a Virgin after the birth of Christ? It would not have been sinful for her to have relations with her husband and beget other children.

Salvation is through Chris alone! Mary is not a saviour and she recognized who is the saviour (Luke 1:47 greek - “theO tO sOtEri mou,” “God THE SAViour OF-ME.”

So why is it so significant to Catholics that Mary had remained a Virgin after the birth of Christ? Would it cause the means to salvation to change? No!

It is significant to Orthodox Christians that the Panagia remained a Virgin after the birth of the God because it is the Truth!

It is because of her that God became Incarnate…because of her we have Christ to save us.

It is true that ultimately Salvation comes from Christ alone because of His Mother.

It is also true that since the beginning of the Church, Pentacost, Faithful Christians have asked the Theotokos to Save us. Christians have always done this because She Can save us.

Just look at the recorded Divine Liturgies and Liturgies of Hours used by Orthodox Christians since the time of the Apostles.

Iperagia Theotoke Soson Imas! Most Holy Mother of God Save us!

 

[Teneas]

Whether you chose to believe Mary remained a Virgin or not, why is it so significant to Catholics that Mary had remained a Virgin after the birth of Christ? It would not have been sinful for her to have relations with her husband and beget other children.

Salvation is through Chris alone! Mary is not a saviour and she recognized who is the saviour (Luke 1:47 greek - “theO tO sOtEri mou,” “God THE SAViour OF-ME.”

So why is it so significant to Catholics that Mary had remained a Virgin after the birth of Christ? Would it cause the means to salvation to change? No!

Salvation has nothing to do with Mary remaining a virgin. You are correct.

 

[Tomster]

Whether you chose to believe Mary remained a Virgin or not, why is it so significant to Catholics that Mary had remained a Virgin after the birth of Christ? It would not have been sinful for her to have relations with her husband and beget other children.

Salvation is through Chris alone! Mary is not a saviour and she recognized who is the saviour (Luke 1:47 greek - “theO tO sOtEri mou,” “God THE SAViour OF-ME.”

So why is it so significant to Catholics that Mary had remained a Virgin after the birth of Christ? Would it cause the means to salvation to change? No!

St. Proclus, a Patriarch of Constantinople and disciple of St. John Chrysostom, writes: “Unless his Mother had remained a virgin her offspring would have been only a man, and the mystery of the birth would have disappeared. But if after her childbearing Mary remained a virgin, how shall he not be God and the mystery be unutterable?” (This discourse was placed as a preamble to the Acts of the Council of Ephesus) In the same spirit St. Thomas Aquinas says: “In order that the body of Christ might be shown to be a real body, he was born of a woman; but in order that his Godhead might be made clear he was born of a virgin.”

See Ezechiel 44:1-3

 

[Muzhik]

IN addition, one of the titles of Mary is “The Ark of the New Covenant.” If you’ll recall, the Ark of the Covenant was pure and spotless within and without. The Ark not only carried the Tablets of the Law (aka “The Ten Commandments”), but also a container holding the manna that fed the Israelites during their time in the desert, as well as Aaron’s rod. (In Numbers 17, each tribe of the Isaelites was to provide a staff or rod. G_D would cause one of them to sprout overnight, and that would be a sign that this was the tribe to serve as priests of the Lord. Aaron provided his staff for the tribe of Levi, and that staff “put forth buds, produced blossoms, and bore ripe almonds” [Numbers 17:8].) The Tablets represented the Law of G_D, the manna represented the Bread of Life, and the rod represented new life that brings good fruit. Touching the Ark for any reason without G_D’s permission brought instant death.

In Christ Jesus, we have a New Covenant, with the fulfillment of G_D’s Law, the Bread of everlasting life, and a new life that bears good fruit. Mary carried Jesus, which makes her the Ark of the New Covenant. It’s important to note that when Mary goes to visit her cousin Elizabeth, she is retracing the route the original Ark took on its way to Jerusalem, even staying with Elizabeth for 3 months. (Zechariah and Elizabeth’s house is in the same neighborhood as the house of Obed-edom the Gittite. The Jews of the time would have known this, and the connection between Mary and the Ark would have been clear to them.)

Since Mary is the Ark of the New Covenant, and the Ark of the Covenant was to remain pure and untouched, it is reasonable to say that Mary remained “untouched” throughout her life.

 

[Robbinson]

Whether you chose to believe Mary remained a Virgin or not, why is it so significant to Catholics that Mary had remained a Virgin after the birth of Christ? It would not have been sinful for her to have relations with her husband and beget other children.

Salvation is through Chris alone! Mary is not a saviour and she recognized who is the saviour (Luke 1:47 greek - “theO tO sOtEri mou,” “God THE SAViour OF-ME.”

So why is it so significant to Catholics that Mary had remained a Virgin after the birth of Christ? Would it cause the means to salvation to change? No!

You are correct - it would not have been sinful for Mary to have relations with her husband at any time and God’s plan could have been different. However, it was “fitting” that Mary, consecrated to God to bear Chirst, would remain “consecrated to God” thereafter. With that perspective, her perpetual virginity is easily understandable, both from her own perspective, and from that of Joseph.

Just as the Ark of the Covenant, in the Hebrew scritpures (which contained the 10 commandments (word of God), the symbol of the priesthood (staff of Aaron) and the bread of life (manna from Heaven) was conscretated to God, was forever pure, and could not be touched other than by the high priest upon penalty of death - so Mary, who is the new and fuller Ark by holding in her womb, the Word of God (Christ the loving Word), the Symbol of the of the Priesthood (Christ - the ultimate priest in the order of Melchezedek) and the bread of life (Christ - who is literally the "bread of life), would fittingly remain consecrated and pure and exclusively for God.

Blessings,

Brian

 

[Janet1983]

Whether you chose to believe Mary remained a Virgin or not, why is it so significant to Catholics that Mary had remained a Virgin after the birth of Christ? It would not have been sinful for her to have relations with her husband and beget other children.

Salvation is through Chris alone! Mary is not a saviour and she recognized who is the saviour (Luke 1:47 greek - “theO tO sOtEri mou,” “God THE SAViour OF-ME.”

So why is it so significant to Catholics that Mary had remained a Virgin after the birth of Christ? Would it cause the means to salvation to change? No!

That is definitely a good question especially considering the fact that this seems to be a topic that causes endless debates.
I personally do not believe that she stayed a virgin after Jesus Christ was born. She did however conceive Him while a virgin and that is the way it was proclaimed by the prophets. The salvation is not about what Mary did after giving birth to the Saviour, but about what Jesus Christ did for us in His life, His death and His resurrection.
He alone is the ground of our salvation, our Saviour, our Lord, our Master and our King.

Grace, mercy and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.

In Him,
Janet

 

[Tantum_ergo]

The significance is that it is a truthful teaching, just like the other teachings of the Catholic (and Orthodox, as others have noted) faith.

One might as well ask what is the significance of God’s being a Trinity rather than a Duo. Or what is the significance of Christ choosing 12 disciples and not 14. Or what is the significance of Him multiplying loaves and fishes.

None of those has an ‘impact’ on our salvation, right? But all of them are true teachings. God is a Trinity. Christ did choose 12 disciples. He did multiply loaves and fishes.

Yet we’ll find people happily ignoring the Trinity because "it doesn’t matter’. We’ll have people assuming that even if Christ chose 12 disciples they weren’t the ONLY ones, or Mary Magdalene was greater, because, "it doesn’t matter.’ And we’ll have people denying the miracle of the loaves in favor of the so politically correct "miracle of everybody sharing their food’ twaddle because ‘it doesn’t matter.’

Yes, the teaching matters, because it is TRUTH. It might not seem to be as ‘important’ as one’s salvation, but truth is truth and all truth is important and is to be sought and to be held over falsehood.

 

[shawn38]

St. Proclus, a Patriarch of Constantinople and disciple of St. John Chrysostom, writes: "Unless his Mother had remained a virgin her offspring would have been only a man, and the mystery of the birth would have disappeared.

Absolutely not true. The offspring of Mary and Joseph would only be man for neither of them are God. Jesus still would be God. The mystery of the virgin birth would still be intact. Non-Catholic Christians don’t argue the virgin birth and the fact that Jesus is God. They argue whether Mary remained a virgin afterwards based on scripture. But either way, salvation is through Christ alone.

But if after her childbearing Mary remained a virgin, how shall he not be God and the mystery be unutterable?"

The fact that Jesus is God would be no less true if Mary had no other or one hundred children after the virgin birth of Christ. Christ still would would have been the only one conceived by the Holy Spirit. It leads one to wonder why Mary being an ever-virgin is not specifically mentioned in scripture.

(This discourse was placed as a preamble to the Acts of the Council of Ephesus) In the same spirit St. Thomas Aquinas says: “In order that the body of Christ might be shown to be a real body, he was born of a woman; but in order that his Godhead might be made clear he was born of a virgin.”

Agree on this point.

Do Catholics feel that something is taken away from the miraculous birth of Christ if Mary didn’t remain a virgin afterwards? Would the virgin birth of Christ be less of a miracle if she had not remained a virgin? No!

 

[Tantum_ergo]

But the point is not about whether this teaching ‘relates’ to your personal and in fact modern opinions about the Virgin.

The point is, is the teaching true or not?

If it is true, then like any truth it is important to uphold.

If it is false, it is equally important to ‘reject’ it.

So it is important, and significant, that Catholics believe this, because it is true.

 

[Muzhik]

It’s also worthy of note that the Early Church Fathers (especially those who were either taught by one of the apostles [who knew Mary personally], or who were taught by those who were taught by the apostles) all state as a matter of fact that Mary was a virgin until the day she died. Thus, this isn’t some relatively modern belief, but something that was handed down in the treasury of faith from the very beginning.

It’s also worth considering that if indeed Mary and Joseph DID have children together, that would have cast doubt on Jesus’ claim to have come from the Father.

 

[Tomster]

Absolutely not true. The offspring of Mary and Joseph would only be man for neither of them are God. Jesus still would be God. The mystery of the virgin birth would still be intact. Non-Catholic Christians don’t argue the virgin birth and the fact that Jesus is God. They argue whether Mary remained a virgin afterwards based on scripture. But either way, salvation is through Christ alone.

The fact that Jesus is God would be no less true if Mary had no other or one hundred children after the virgin birth of Christ. Christ still would would have been the only one conceived by the Holy Spirit. It leads one to wonder why Mary being an ever-virgin is not specifically mentioned in scripture.

Agree on this point.

Do Catholics feel that something is taken away from the miraculous birth of Christ if Mary didn’t remain a virgin afterwards? Would the virgin birth of Christ be less of a miracle if she had not remained a virgin? No!

What you fail to see is that all men are born with Original sin. The only exceptions were Adam, Eve, Jesus and Mary.

Had Mary been plagued with Original sin, Christ would have been at his birth. We know this is not true.

I could expand on Mary’s sinlessness and her perpetual virginity if you like.

 

[BrianH]

What you fail to see is that all men are born with Original sin. The only exceptions were Adam, Eve, Jesus and Mary.

Had Mary been plagued with Original sin, Christ would have been at his birth. We know this is not true.

I could expand on Mary’s sinlessness and her perpetual virginity if you like.

But Mary’s parents were plagued with original sin and she was not. Your argument is not the one I believe the Catholic Church uses. They believe it was “fitting”. Not that it HAD to be that way.

 

[FCEGM]

Whether you chose to believe Mary remained a Virgin or not, why is it so significant to Catholics that Mary had remained a Virgin after the birth of Christ? It would not have been sinful for her to have relations with her husband and beget other children.

Salvation is through Chris alone! Mary is not a saviour and she recognized who is the saviour (Luke 1:47 greek - “theO tO sOtEri mou,” “God THE SAViour OF-ME.”

So why is it so significant to Catholics that Mary had remained a Virgin after the birth of Christ? Would it cause the means to salvation to change? No!

Of course the Blessed Virgin is not a savior and herself needed the Savior; thus she rightly proclaims in her Magnificat that God is indeed her Savior. Her salvation, though, was given at the moment of her conception when the foreseen merits of her Divine Son’s Sacrifice and Resurrection were bestowed on her to prepare her to become the Mother of her Savior. Thus she is the Immaculate Conception.

The significance of her Perpetual Virginity is because each doctrine of the Church is connected to the others. Thus contemplating the mystery of the Perpetual Virginity of Mary reveals not so much her prerogatives and her glorious role in Salvation History, but more reveals Who it is Who was born to such a mother. God does nothing for no reason, thus the Perpetual Virginity of Mary has a great significance, pointing to the unique identity of her Son.

We cannot isolate The Incarnation of Christ from other factors (i.e., His being born a Jew; His being born of a particular woman; that particular woman being a virgin before His birth and remaining a virgin after; that particular woman remaining virginal in the midst of a marriage). Marital intimacy is not a desecration of any woman, nor is birth a desecration of any woman’s womb, but it would be a desecration to impregnate in the ordinary way for ordinary purposes a womb consecrated to God. Especially in Mary’s case God Himself consecrates her womb (as opposed to a human man consecrating a virgin to God). So the desecration violating what is holy would be unjust to God’s honor, to say the least.

bringyou.to/apologetics/a82.htm

Consider how would you would react if someone made unfounded claims about your mother? THAT’S how Catholics respond when the graces and prerogatives that God has bestowed on her because of her unique relationship with the Three Persons of the Most Holy Trinity, and as Mother of God Incarnate come under attack.

“Mary Most Holy is thus the “ever virgin.” Her prerogative is the consequence of her divine motherhood which totally consecrated her to Christ’s mission of redemption.”

(From a catechesis of Pope John Paul II on the Blessed Virgin Mary given August 28, 1996.)

The import of the Incarnation is often reduced to a “Jesus and me” salvation that leaves no room for all that He does for us through His Church (Baptism, Eucharist, preservation of authentic apostolic teaching authority, e.g.) that joins us not just to Him but through Him to all Who are in Him (the Communion of Saints) - including His Mother who, because she is His, is also ours. The lack of understanding of Mary’s role in salvation history and her prerogatives as Mother of God is an implicit diminution of the reality of Who Jesus is and what His Church is. This article further explains my point:

bringyou.to/apologetics/a129.htm

 

[Publisher]

But Mary’s parents were plagued with original sin and she was not. Your argument is not the one I believe the Catholic Church uses. They believe it was “fitting”. Not that it HAD to be that way.

I have “no dog in this fight” but as a thought…if God could have preserved Mary from original sin by being born to “sinful parents”…He could have done the same for His Son…so the arguement that Mary had to be sinless so Jesus wouldn’t have been sinful doesn’t hold up.

I do not believe in the IC or her PV…these are pious beliefs…but not compelling enough for me to embrace them.

 

[Tomster]

But Mary’s parents were plagued with original sin and she was not. Your argument is not the one I believe the Catholic Church uses. They believe it was “fitting”. Not that it HAD to be that way.

The Catholic Church teaches that Mary was preserved from Original sin.

And yes it had to be that way.

 

[Randy_Carson]

Whether you chose to believe Mary remained a Virgin or not, why is it so significant to Catholics that Mary had remained a Virgin after the birth of Christ? It would not have been sinful for her to have relations with her husband and beget other children.

Salvation is through Chris alone! Mary is not a saviour and she recognized who is the saviour (Luke 1:47 greek - “theO tO sOtEri mou,” “God THE SAViour OF-ME.”

So why is it so significant to Catholics that Mary had remained a Virgin after the birth of Christ? Would it cause the means to salvation to change? No!

Why is it so important for Protestants to deny the Perpetual Virginity of Mary?

After all, if you don’t really care whether she remained ever-virgin or not, then why do so many “Bible Christians” go to such great effort to prove that she had other children?

Oh…wait…it’s because attempting to undermine Marian dogma is a great way to attack the Catholic Church, isn’t it? :sad_yes:

I’m curious…how often do the non-Catholics you know call Mary blessed as scripture says every generation will do? Or was she just an “incubator” for the human part of Jesus as some claim?/

 

[Tomster]

Of course the Blessed Virgin is not a savior and herself needed the Savior; thus she rightly proclaims in her Magnificat that God is indeed her Savior. Her salvation, though, was given at the moment of her conception when the foreseen merits of her Divine Son’s Sacrifice and Resurrection were bestowed on her to prepare her to become the Mother of her Savior. Thus she is the Immaculate Conception.

The significance of her Perpetual Virginity is because each doctrine of the Church is connected to the others. Thus contemplating the mystery of the Perpetual Virginity of Mary reveals not so much her prerogatives and her glorious role in Salvation History, but more reveals Who it is Who was born to such a mother. God does nothing for no reason, thus the Perpetual Virginity of Mary has a great significance, pointing to the unique identity of her Son.

bringyou.to/apologetics/a82.htm

Consider how would you would react if someone made unfounded claims about your mother? THAT’S how Catholics respond when the graces and prerogatives that God has bestowed on her because of her unique relationship with the Three Persons of the Most Holy Trinity, and as Mother of God Incarnate come under attack.

(From a catechesis of Pope John Paul II on the Blessed Virgin Mary given August 28, 1996.)

The import of the Incarnation is often reduced to a “Jesus and me” salvation that leaves no room for all that He does for us through His Church (Baptism, Eucharist, preservation of authentic apostolic teaching authority, e.g.) that joins us not just to Him but through Him to all Who are in Him (the Communion of Saints) - including His Mother who, because she is His, is also ours. The lack of understanding of Mary’s role in salvation history and her prerogatives as Mother of God is an implicit diminution of the reality of Who Jesus is and what His Church is. This article further explains my point:

bringyou.to/apologetics/a129.htm

Well said Frances. Thank you,

 

[Randy_Carson]

I have “no dog in this fight” but as a thought…if God could have preserved Mary from original sin by being born to “sinful parents”…He could have done the same for His Son…so the arguement that Mary had to be sinless so Jesus wouldn’t have been sinful doesn’t hold up.

This is technically correct. God could have preserved Jesus from inheriting original sin from Mary if He had wanted to do it that way. However, it was more fitting for the Son of God to dwell within the womb of a woman preserved from the stain of original sin.

Look, you put out the good towels when guests come to visit your home, right? Use the "good china’ on special occasions? Well, it was right for Jesus to be born of a woman who did not know sin…but not because it HAD to be that way to protect Jesus.

 

[BrianH]

The Catholic Church teaches that Mary was preserved from Original sin.

And yes it had to be that way.

I see fitting. Show me where it says what you say.

SUPREME REASON FOR THE PRIVILEGE: THE DIVINE MATERNITY

And indeed it was wholly fitting that so wonderful a mother should be ever resplendent with the glory of most sublime holiness and so completely free from all taint of original sin that she would triumph utterly over the ancient serpent. To her did the Father will to give his only-begotten Son – the Son whom, equal to the Father and begotten by him, the Father loves from his heart – and to give this Son in such a way that he would be the one and the same common Son of God the Father and of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It was she whom the Son himself chose to make his Mother and it was from her that the Holy Spirit willed and brought it about that he should be conceived and born from whom he himself proceeds.[1]

newadvent.org/library/docs_pi09id.htm