Why would Mary remain a virgin...after marriage?

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thetazlord said:
Sorry, still haven’t been home long enough to refer to my copy of Eusebius. But there are at least a dozen references about Joseph, Mary, James, & Jude from earlier ECFs that make it clear that Jesus had half-brothers. And as far as the NT canon goes, as earlier as the SECOND Century, a 27 NEW Testament canon was recognized by the Church. In fact, as far back as the mid-FIRST Century, when the apostles such as Paul & Peter were still alive, the NT books that were written up to that point, such as ALL of Paul’s epistles & the Gospel of Luke, were recognized as Inspired Scripture. But that’s a separate issue. The fact is that ECF’s as early as the second Century - recorded by Eusebius - wrote & believed that Jesus had half-brothers - & even named them.
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As a Catholic I no problem believing that Jesus had half-brothers through Joseph (no common bloodline). Tradition has it that Joseph was much older and his wife had passed away. He married Mary to take take care of her and she had committed herself to being a consecrated virgin.

This is distinctly different - wildly different -from a belief that Jesus and Mary consummated their marriage and had children together after Jesus.
 
thetazlord said:
Sorry, still haven’t been home long enough to refer to my copy of Eusebius. But there are at least a dozen references about Joseph, Mary, James, & Jude from earlier ECFs that make it clear that Jesus had half-brothers. And as far as the NT canon goes, as earlier as the SECOND Century, a 27 NEW Testament canon was recognized by the Church. In fact, as far back as the mid-FIRST Century, when the apostles such as Paul & Peter were still alive, the NT books that were written up to that point, such as ALL of Paul’s epistles & the Gospel of Luke, were recognized as Inspired Scripture. But that’s a separate issue. The fact is that ECF’s as early as the second Century - recorded by Eusebius - wrote & believed that Jesus had half-brothers - & even named them.
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I believe you are speaking to the muratorian canon. It is not the same canon of NT scripture that we have today. Good catholic.com tract here.
 
Well, having gone through the posts on this thread…and blessed be those who defend the perpetual virginity of the Blessed Mother…testifying to the faith and tradition going back to the earliest times of the Church…that Mary was indeed perpetual virgin.

Martin Luther had great devotion to Mary and prayed the rosary up until his death. What happened to Protestantism to get so far away from that which is holy, pure, sacred…more of heaven than of the flesh???

It took the Church 1850 plus years…this time span contradicting a protestant’s warning to avoid discussing this dogma with ‘conservative’ catholics.

A number of posts have discussed the Jewish custom of women remaining virgins, those dedicated to the temple, the relationship of kin in Jewish and Mediterranean families…

I think it most interesting Gabriel 12’s post in the Psalm…how the Lord shut up Mary’s womb…

And going back to my own faith practice as Catholic…Mary was called and especially formed to become the Mother of God.

She was sinless.

Mary was able to experience on this earth…what we cannot experience until we are in heaven…the Perfect Knowledge and Communion with the Man God during her early life.

Who is like unto God? Who can replace Him…

Mary adoringly cared and raised Jesus…she was the first to experience God … in her womb…she had no other need.

Before God…all needs, appetites, tears, sorrows… disappear because God is all.

Mary had Jesus…She had everything. Why want to take her time away to indulge her own flesh?..How could she knowing her womb was the human tabernacle?..

It is Mary who gave Jesus His flesh and blood…the same flesh and blood we receive in Holy Communion, where in our brief and imperfect communion with Him…we have total indwelling of Him…no need of anything but Him.

Mary had this communion with the Lord all the time on earth…she sought only the Lord’s will and she pondered all things in her heart.

Cardinal Manning said that when a culture becomes obsessed with sex it has lost its faith in God. We live in a culture that is tearing away at the family through broken relationships, violence, sex…promiscuity and adultery…the denial of creating new life…with low birth rates…a societyi not reproducing itself…a death culture.

Perhaps it is not so much we decide who Mary was and what her personal life was.

May be it is more that we ask Mary to reveal to us, to magnify to us Who God is…and what He should mean to us today.
 
My Random Thoughts During Mass:

Luke 2:36-38
36 There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37 and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. 38 Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.

What is the significance of this passage? What does it add to the story that Luke is telling?

Luke tells us that Anna was married for seven years before her husband died. Assume that Anna was probably married no later than age 20. This means that she had been living in the Temple for 57 years at the time that she encountered Joseph, Mary, and Jesus.

Scripture also records that she was a prophetess, yet no prophecy was given by Anna in Luke’s Gospel; that was done by Simeon. So, why is Anna’s name mentioned here at all?

:hmmm:

Could it be that Mary, too, had lived in the Temple for many years from the time she was a young girl and that as a result, she and Anna knew each other personally? Could these few verses simply be a personal anecdote, a fond remembrance of an old friend, recorded by Luke as Mary told him the stories of Jesus’ early days?
 
Randy_Carson said:
My Random Thoughts During Mass:

Luke 2:36-38
36 There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37 and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. 38 Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.

What is the significance of this passage? What does it add to the story that Luke is telling?

Luke tells us that Anna was married for seven years before her husband died. Assume that Anna was probably married no later than age 20. This means that she had been living in the Temple for 57 years at the time that she encountered Joseph, Mary, and Jesus.

Scripture also records that she was a prophetess, yet no prophecy was given by Anna in Luke’s Gospel; that was done by Simeon. So, why is Anna’s name mentioned here at all?

:hmmm:

Could it be that Mary, too, had lived in the Temple for many years from the time she was a young girl and that as a result, she and Anna knew each other personally? Could these few verses simply be a personal anecdote, a fond remembrance of an old friend, recorded by Luke as Mary told him the stories of Jesus’ early days?
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What a wonderful insight. Thank you Randy.

Paul
 
Yes…very good insight…

It is hard for people to understand what we Catholics have in adoration…in the chapel at church, or going into the main one to pray when it is empty…except the tabernacle…There are moments we are so filled…

And to think of how much Mary was filled in God…in context to her sinlessness…which is hard for us to imagine…she had no other needs…and the bond she must have had with other women in the temple…so profound…and Anna remembering her…
 
If the sign of a virgin is an intact hymen, how does Mary give birth to Jesus without rupturing her hymen?
 
magnet said:
In other words, Jesus was delivered by C-section.
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No, His birth was as miraculous as His conception. The carnal vs the spiritual. Nothing is impossible for God.

Do you believe otherwise?

Paul
 
magnet said:
If the sign of a virgin is an intact hymen, how does Mary give birth to Jesus without rupturing her hymen?
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That has never been proof of virginity. The hymen can be ruptured by any number of things such a horse-riding.
 
PaulDupre1 said:
No, His birth was as miraculous as His conception. The carnal vs the spiritual. Nothing is impossible for God.

Do you believe otherwise?

Paul
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Why did God need to create a human through non-natural means? Why couldn’t baby Jesus be born the same as other babies? Why did Mary need to serve as a surrogate mother for God? Couldn’t God have just created Jesus the same way as He created Adam?
 
magnet said:
Why did God need to create a human through non-natural means? Why couldn’t baby Jesus be born the same as other babies? Why did Mary need to serve as a surrogate mother for God? Couldn’t God have just created Jesus the same way as He created Adam?
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These questions are probably a thread unto themselves. Perhaps open a new thread and we can all discuss it within that context.
 
magnet said:
If the sign of a virgin is an intact hymen, how does Mary give birth to Jesus without rupturing her hymen?
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Well, that, too, has been addressed by some. 😊

But that can happen in other ways, correct?

My question would be: isn’t virginity actually measured by whether or not a woman has had intercourse with a man?
 
magnet said:
If the sign of a virgin is an intact hymen, how does Mary give birth to Jesus without rupturing her hymen?
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There is no “sign” of a virgin.

What makes a person a virgin is if he/she has never engaged in sexual intercourse.
 
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