Why do we "care" that Mary was always a virgin?

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why would Mary choose to stay a virgin? I guess I’m just struggling to understand why its necessary.
From Mary, the Ark:

It is said that the Old Testament prefigures the New Testament and that the New Testament fulfills the Old Testament. This is applicable in many ways; for example, the Aaronic high priesthood is replaced by Jesus the High Priest, the Passover is replaced by the Lord’s Supper, baptism replaces circumcision, the sacrificial system is replaced by Christ’s ongoing once-and-for-all propitiation. All of these things point to the fact that the New Covenant is an improvement on the Old Covenant…

In exactly the same way, the Ark of the Old Covenant is replaced by the Ark of the New Covenant. Catholics believe that Mary represents this Ark of the New Covenant, which has special significance to the Catholic belief in Mary’s Perpetual Virginity. To this effect, the symmetry between the Old and New Testaments is striking.

The rest of the article highlights all the applicable Scripture verses, and should answer your questions.
 
I’ve wondered this too! Who cares ?! Will it really effect someones faith? Why do Catholics seem obsessed with it? I believe (as a matter of faith) that Mary was a virgin when she gave birth to Christ. After that, who cares?
Catholics are obsessed with the truth. One might as well ask why is it so important to Protestants to prove that she was not?
 
From Mary, the Ark:

It is said that the Old Testament prefigures the New Testament and that the New Testament fulfills the Old Testament. This is applicable in many ways; for example, the Aaronic high priesthood is replaced by Jesus the High Priest, the Passover is replaced by the Lord’s Supper, baptism replaces circumcision, the sacrificial system is replaced by Christ’s ongoing once-and-for-all propitiation. All of these things point to the fact that the New Covenant is an improvement on the Old Covenant…

In exactly the same way, the Ark of the Old Covenant is replaced by the Ark of the New Covenant. Catholics believe that Mary represents this Ark of the New Covenant, which has special significance to the Catholic belief in Mary’s Perpetual Virginity. To this effect, the symmetry between the Old and New Testaments is striking.

The rest of the article highlights all the applicable Scripture verses, and should answer your questions.
I understand that Mary was described in Scripture and complete’s God’s plan and what the prophets said, I understand why they say Mary was a virgin - she consecrated her womb for God and was effectively a nun (I think?) but was still in wedlock (I’ve heard of “marriages of protection” before) but why is it that essential that as Catholics we profess this belief? What is this meant to teach me now?
 
We care because it is a divinely revealed truth. We believe that anything God has revealed to be very important.
 
I hear it a lot “Ever Virgin” - why did Mary never have children after Jesus? Why wouldn’t she?

If she didn’t and never had intercourse with Joseph after Jesus’ birth, why is it important that she was always a virgin? Is virginity that special, that its better to be a virgin?

I ask this because a friend asked me “Why do Christians go on about Mary being a virgin so much? Doesn’t imply that women having sex is bad, and virginity is better?”
Well here is one thing I can say about it. Mary gave up her life for God and was faithful to God.

Now if Mary did not intend to stay a virgin why would she question the Angel when the Angel told her she would have a Child and name him Jesus. Don’t you think Mary knew about sex by then? But she knew as she stated she was to have no relations with a Man ever. She dedicated herself to God and God only.
 
I understand that Mary was described in Scripture and complete’s God’s plan and what the prophets said, I understand why they say Mary was a virgin - she consecrated her womb for God and was effectively a nun (I think?) but was still in wedlock (I’ve heard of “marriages of protection” before) but why is it that essential that as Catholics we profess this belief? What is this meant to teach me now?
As with everything about Mary, it points to Christ. Her Virginity, as I mentioned before, is part of a broader picture showing that She is the New and spotless Ark, She’s the Temple Gate no one but God Himself passes through, and She’s the sinless virgin Woman foretold in Genesis 3:15.

But She’s the Ark because everything in the Ark (the Rod of Aaron, the Ten Commandments, and the Manna) prefigures Christ (the Eternal High Priest, the Law Incarnate, and the Eucharist); She’s the Temple Gate because He’s the God who went through the Temple out into the world, as Ezekiel foretold; She’s the new Eve because from Her Flesh and Blood comes the Last Adam, whose Flesh and Blood redeems the world.

As we come to understand who Jesus is, it’s increasingly clear why His Mother was set apart from the beginning to be a living Tabernacle to Him and only Him.
 
I understand that Mary was described in Scripture and complete’s God’s plan and what the prophets said, I understand why they say Mary was a virgin - she consecrated her womb for God and was effectively a nun (I think?) but was still in wedlock (I’ve heard of “marriages of protection” before) but why is it that essential that as Catholics we profess this belief?
Please review the excellent post #10
What is this meant to teach me now?
That Jesus is the Word of God and so He needed an Ark just as the Torah did. And He is the Living Word, and so He needs a Living Ark instead of a graven one.
 
I understand that Mary was described in Scripture and complete’s God’s plan and what the prophets said, I understand why they say Mary was a virgin - she consecrated her womb for God and was effectively a nun (I think?) but was still in wedlock (I’ve heard of “marriages of protection” before) but why is it that essential that as Catholics we profess this belief? What is this meant to teach me now?
That she was the chosen one from God and was to remain as Christ was the Pure Lamb of God she was the Pure Mother of God. She was to stay pure as Christ was pure.

She was hand picked from God to serve Only God and she did so.
 
Catholics are obsessed with the truth. One might as well ask why is it so important to Protestants to prove that she was not?
You know that is one thing I could never understand. Why do not all, but many protestants want to rip apart the Mother of Christ and lie about her and say she was not the Virgin Mother of Christ? I never understood the reasoning for it?

The only motive I could ever come up with was so much hate for the CC that if they could find a possible way to tear it apart they would even try to use the Mother of the Lord??:confused: I don’t know, I pray I am wrong.🤷
 
You know that is one thing I could never understand. Why do not all, but many protestants want to rip apart the Mother of Christ and lie about her and say she was not the Virgin Mother of Christ? I never understood the reasoning for it?

The only motive I could ever come up with was so much hate for the CC that if they could find a possible way to tear it apart they would even try to use the Mother of the Lord??:confused: I don’t know, I pray I am wrong.🤷
I believe the rationale goes that if the Catholic Church is wrong about Mary’s virginity and their credibility concerning the true presence, confession, etc. is destroyed. It is interesting but if the Church’s credibility is destroyed then the Canon of Scripture protestants use is also suspect.
 
That she was the chosen one from God and was to remain as Christ was the Pure Lamb of God she was the Pure Mother of God. She was to stay pure as Christ was pure.

She was hand picked from God to serve Only God and she did so.
I can’t even begin to imagine the inferiority complex any (hypothetical) blood siblings of Jesus would surely have had growing up, due to their inability to live up to the example set by their older brother.

Why can’t you be like your brother Jesus?
He never gives us a moments trouble.
He always makes his bed.
He always picks up his toys.
He is never a minute late for curfew.
He always brings Dad’s camel home clean.
He never talks back.
He even cleans the ring out of the bathtub and hangs up his clothes.
 
I hear it a lot “Ever Virgin” - why did Mary never have children after Jesus? Why wouldn’t she?

If she didn’t and never had intercourse with Joseph after Jesus’ birth, why is it important that she was always a virgin? Is virginity that special, that its better to be a virgin?

I ask this because a friend asked me “Why do Christians go on about Mary being a virgin so much? Doesn’t imply that women having sex is bad, and virginity is better?”
 
I found this thread incredibly informative. A Catholic all my life, there are aspects of my faith I believe without really understanding or questioning because I have been taught that it is so. Reading the logic/reasoning about Mary’s perpetual virginity makes complete sense to me. I have gained a new and beautiful understanding about Our Lady and I thank everyone for the wonderful insight. 🙂

I also found the comment about Jesus bringing Joseph’s camel home clean rather comical.
 
Here is a recent post I put together on the subject of Mary’s discipleship in this regard: Mary Ever Virgin.

“Her virginity also itself was on this account more pleasing and accepted, in that it was not that Christ being conceived in her, rescued it beforehand from a husband who would violate it, Himself to preserve it; but, before He was conceived, chose it, already dedicated to God, as that from which to be born. This is shown by the words which Mary spoke in answer to the Angel announcing to her her conception; ‘How,’ says she, ‘shall this be, seeing I know not a man?’ (Luke 1:34) Which assuredly she would not say, unless she had before vowed herself unto God as a virgin” (St. Augustine, Of Holy Virginity).

The virgin life is superior to married life because it provides an environment for “undivided devotion to the Lord” (1 Corinthians 7:35), a devotion that is “anxious about the things of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 7:32, 34): “how to please the Lord… how to be holy in body and spirit”. This devotion is a sign of sacrifice for the “sake of the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 19:12) that not all are enabled by the grace of God to make (cf. Matthew 19:11-12, 1 Corinthians 7:7) and which conforms us to the Virgin Christ.

Catholics believe in works of supererogation. Because of this, we wouldn’t be implying that one course of life is sinful when we say that another course of life is better than it. The married do well and commit no sin, but the virgins do better (cf. 1 Corinthians 7:36, 38). You can take a look at Dave Armstrong’s article on the Evangelical Counsels if you’d like.

We Catholics see Mary’s virginity as a sign of her discipleship and therefore as a reason for her blessedness:

“Didn’t the Virgin Mary do the will of the Father? I mean, she believed by faith, she conceived by faith, she was chosen to be the one from whom salvation in the very midst of the human race would be born for us, she was created by Christ before Christ was created in her. Yes, of course, holy Mary did the will of the Father. And therefore it means more for Mary to have been a disciple of Christ than to have been the mother of Christ. It means more for her, an altogether greater blessing, to have been Christ’s disciple than to have been Christ’s mother… So that is why Mary, too, is blessed, because she heard the word of God and kept it. She kept truth safe in her mind even better than she kept flesh safe in her womb” (St. Augustine, Sermon 72/A, 7).

Her virginity also links her with the image of the Church, whom Paul “betrothed… to one husband, to present… as a pure virgin to Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:2). Her motherhood of the disciples does this as well (cf. John 19:26-27 and Revelation 12:17). Seeing Mary as the prototype of the Church and as the Mother of the Church is beneficial to understanding the manner of her salvation and discipleship. Her perpetual virginity, being a bodily sign of her “sincere and pure devotion to Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:3), is a sign to us that what Paul was striving to bring about in the hearts of those to whom he wrote was already accomplished in Mary from the beginning of her life and preserved forever. She is in a special way the virgin “who follow the Lamb wherever He goes” (Revelation 14:4).

I hope you have a blessed night! And welcome to the Catholic Church of Jesus Christ! 🙂

Your brother in Christ,
Pete
 
We care because it is a divinely revealed truth. We believe that anything God has revealed to be very important.
I believe this is a very important part of the answer to this question. In many respects, the Catholic Church is simply maintaining the truth about Mary rather than trying to explain why something had to be a certain way. Once this realization is made, the beauty (and yes, even logic) of God’s plan of salvation is gradually revealed in ever increasing layers of understanding. You could ask similar questions about any number of events that occurred in salvation history.

Mary’s perpetual virginity is a statement about her, and that she had totally committed her life to God…perhaps even before she agreed to be the mother of His Son. It is in no way a commentary about others (now or then) that faithfully and chastely live out their marriage vows through the conjugal act.

There are a few tracts on this subject by Catholic Answers. As the following one states, “Today most Protestants are unaware of these early beliefs regarding Mary’s virginity and the proper interpretation of “the brethren of the Lord.” And yet, the Protestant Reformers themselves—Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Ulrich Zwingli—honored the perpetual virginity of Mary and recognized it as the teaching of the Bible, as have other, more modern Protestants.” catholic.com/library/Mary_Ever_Virgin.asp

rocket.rob
 
I hear it a lot “Ever Virgin” - why did Mary never have children after Jesus? Why wouldn’t she?

If she didn’t and never had intercourse with Joseph after Jesus’ birth, why is it important that she was always a virgin? Is virginity that special, that its better to be a virgin?

I ask this because a friend asked me “Why do Christians go on about Mary being a virgin so much? Doesn’t imply that women having sex is bad, and virginity is better?”
the reason it’s important is because it would have dishonoured Christ if His Mother had other children besides Him (since they would have been merely human and sinful)
 
I can’t even begin to imagine the inferiority complex any (hypothetical) blood siblings of Jesus would surely have had growing up, due to their inability to live up to the example set by their older brother.

Why can’t you be like your brother Jesus?
He never gives us a moments trouble.
He always makes his bed.
He always picks up his toys.
He is never a minute late for curfew.
He always brings Dad’s camel home clean.
He never talks back.
He even cleans the ring out of the bathtub and hangs up his clothes.
I’ve always been particularly fond of this way of looking at things. I grew up with four older sisters, who were very good but not perfect.

I can tell ya, it was difficult enough constantly being compared with them. If my oldest sister had been LITERALLY perfect in every way - wow. The havoc that would’ve wreaked on my self-esteem doesn’t bear thinking about :nope:
 
Sum Fidelis, actually, the Bible, properly interpreted, doesn’t say that.

See the article here: catholic.com/library/Brethren_of_the_Lord.asp

With regard to reading the Bible, you should read it as a Catholic, not a Protestant. We have a specific methodology that we should use in order not to stray from the truth.

The Word of God is not a book. It is a Person, Jesus Christ. The Word was transmitted to man in two modes: Orally (first and foremost), and written (a subset of the oral teaching).

Jesus came to earth and wrote no books. He taught orally. He taught the Apostles for three years. SOME of what He taught them was written down. We call that the New Testament. Not all He taught was written, though. (See John 21:25) Yet, He commanded the Apostles (and, by extension, their successors, the bishops) to teach ALL that He had taught them. (See Matt. 28:20).

When we read Scripture, we are to use the following three principles:
  1. Always read Scripture in light of Sacred Tradition, the Oral teachings of Christ passed on to the Apostles and their successors, the bishops.
  2. Always read Scripture as a totality, not in snippets. ALL Scripture is Divinely inspired and contains the whole truth of Christ.
  3. Always read Scripture through the analogy of the faith as explained to us by the Magisterium of the Church.
For a much better explanation of this, listen to Fr. John Corapi’s audio series, which can be obtained by downloading the following audio files (MP3’s):

alabamacatholicresources.com/Downloads/Fr.%20Corapi—Word%20of%20God—Pt.%201%20Divine%20Revelation%20Itself.mp3

alabamacatholicresources.com/Downloads/Fr.%20Corapi—Word%20of%20God—Pt.%202%20Transmission%20of%20Divine%20Revelation.mp3

alabamacatholicresources.com/Downloads/Fr.%20Corapi—Word%20of%20God—Pt.%203%20Scripture%20Inspiration%20&%20Interpretation.mp3

alabamacatholicresources.com/Downloads/Fr.%20Corapi—Word%20of%20God—Pt.%204%20The%20Old%20Testament.mp3

alabamacatholicresources.com/Downloads/Fr.%20Corapi—Word%20of%20God—Pt.%205%20The%20New%20Testament.mp3

alabamacatholicresources.com/Downloads/Fr.%20Corapi—Word%20of%20God—Pt.%206%20The%20Life%20of%20the%20Church.mp3

God bless! 🙂
Dear friend. My answer was short for a reason. Long answers,in my experience,leads to misunderstanding very often. And I think I am a bit more Catholic then You,but that does not matter. I see from Your answer that You know much,and have read to really learn,and that I see as a effort worth a big “well done”. However,it is not always a question about how much You know but all about how You use the information You have. People in need of help and answers does not care about what You know but what You can do. As a advice I once got,which I pass over to You,“don’t ask why,ask how”. Keep on reading and learning. God bless You.
 
I can’t even begin to imagine the inferiority complex any (hypothetical) blood siblings of Jesus would surely have had growing up, due to their inability to live up to the example set by their older brother.

Why can’t you be like your brother Jesus?
He never gives us a moments trouble.
He always makes his bed.
He always picks up his toys.
He is never a minute late for curfew.
He always brings Dad’s camel home clean.
He never talks back.
He even cleans the ring out of the bathtub and hangs up his clothes.
Or how about poor Joseph! Dad what happend to you, Mom’s perfect, Jesus is perfect:eek:😃
 
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