Jan wrote: |
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Hi, guys —
- I was wondering if you know of any resources
that defend Mary's virginity?
I'm trying to explain this to a non-Catholic
but I can't seem to articulate it well.
Thank you!!
Jan
|
| { Do
you know of any resources that will help me explain (and defend) Mary's
Virginity to my friend? } |
Terry
replied:
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Good afternoon Janet —
You have asked a most interesting
and indeed profound question since
this subject touches upon the very
heart of Catholicism. The reason
I suggest it is so important, is,
consider the liturgy —
- in the Mass we begin with the Confiteor
when we confess to Almighty God and
ask Blessed Mary, Ever Virgin, and
all the Saints to pray for us ...
- we do this similarly in the Prayers
of Intercession, again in the Preface
and in the Eucharistic Prayer itself.
So what you have asked is at the
very heart of our faith.
This long preamble is to explain
why I am writing at length. I hope
you will be able to pick out the
bits of my reply that will help you
explain this issue to your friend:
The dogma of the Virgin birth was
defined at the Second Council of Constantinople in the year 553 A.D. and was confirmed
at the Council of the Lateran (649). It
is a dogma which has been held by
the Fathers of the Church from the
very beginning and has its basis in
Scripture.
The birth of the Saviour from a Virgin
was foretold by Isaiah:
"behold a virgin will conceive
and bear a son and he shall be
called Emmanuel"
(Isaiah 7:14).
There is no ambiguity about the word
used, almah. This can be seen
as unequivocally virgin in Genesis 24:43; Exodus 2:4; Canticles 1:2; Canticles 6:7; Proverbs 30:19 and
in many of the Psalms.
The New Testament teaches the Virgin
birth in Luke 1:26-27 and Matthew 1:20.
The Early Fathers had no doubt and
constantly taught the same doctrine,
cf.
The only early theologian to have
doubts about the perpetual virginity
of Mary was Tertullian.
All these Fathers held that the brethren
of Jesus (Matthew 7:46-50; Mark 3:31-35, Luke 8 and John 7:3-10)
were cousins of Jesus and all later
research has confirmed that this
is an authentic interpretation of
the original language. A strong defender
of the doctrine was St. Athanasius.
A few (especially St. Gregory of Nyssa and St. Cyril of Alexandria) believed
these referred to children of St.
Joseph by an earlier marriage. However none , at
all, considered these to be children
of Mary begotten in the natural way. Zeno of Verona (death c. 372 A.D.) wrote:
"O great a mystery, Mary, an incorrupt
virgin conceived. After conception
she brought forth as a virgin.
After childbirth she remained
a virgin".
The early Fathers all argue:
- Her virginity was implied by
her answer to the Angel Gabriel:
"how can this be since I know
not a man." (Luke 1:34).
- If Mary had other children why
is Jesus emphatically called son
of Mary (Mark 6:3) noting especially
that there is no mention of Joseph?
In the same manner, Mary is never referred
to as Mother of the mother of
the brethren of Jesus.
The Gospel texts imply the brethren were all older than Jesus since
they tried to give Him advice.
They were jealous of His popularity
and they tried to hold Him suggesting
he was mad.
- If Mary had other children then
Jesus, when he was dying on
the Cross, why would he have
entrusted Mary to the care of
St. John?
It seems that James, Joseph, Simon
and Jude (the brethren of the Lord)
were the sons of Mary Clophas and
cousins to Jesus. Vast evidence exists
to prove there is no Hebrew or even
Aramaic word for brother in the
sense of sibling as we in the Western
World understand the term.
The Catholic belief about Mary's
virginity, then, is steeped in Old
Testament prophecy, fulfilled in
the New Testament and constantly
taught and believed by the Church
since the beginning.
- Why would the Church believe
this?
The most likely explanation is that
Mary herself explained this to the
disciples when she was with them,
comforting and strengthening them
in the Upper Room, after the death
of Jesus. Just as when we meet together
to mourn the death of a friend or
relative, we talk about that person,
so Mary would have talked with the
Apostles, telling them about the
life of Jesus, and about her own
life. From these conversations would
come the knowledge from which they
would subsequently write the Gospels.
The truth of the doctrine was held
very widely in all Christian traditions,
including the Jewish-Christian theology,
the Antiochene, the Alexandrian,
the Augustinian, the Thomist, the
Scotist, the Palamite, the Orthodox,
as well as the founding fathers of
the Lutheran, the Calvinist and the
modern Russian Church. It is one
of a very few doctrines that is widely
held and not disputed.
This is true even in the non-canonical
Gospels (such as the Gospel of James).
The Proto-evangelium contains stories
of the Bethlehem midwife summoned
by Joseph, who upon examining Mary,
discovered she was still a virgin
(i.e. the hymen was intact). This
midwife told another midwife who
did not believe her, she came, also
examined Mary and upon touching Mary,
the midwife's hand withered for her
unbelief! Many others teach the virginity
of Mary and by the mid-thirteenth
century works such as Jacobus de
Voragine's "The Golden Legend" extol
the virginity of Mary, for example,
when he quotes St. Bernard on the
Feast of the Purification, February
2nd.
"O Blessed Virgin, you have neither
cause nor need of purification..."
An excellent treatment is given by
Hilda Graef (University of Cambridge)
in her book:
Mary: A History of Doctrine and
Devotion
which is regarded as the classical
text on Mary. This book has been
granted both the Imprimatur and
Nihil Obstat and can be taken as
sound Catholic doctrine.
If one accepts Jesus as Lord, then
it would be unusual to find a believer
who doubts the virginity of Mary.
Those who cast doubt on this were
mainly Protestant theologians in
the 1960s and 1970s and they were
the same ones who doubted other accounts
in the Bible. In other words, it
was not the virginity of Mary which
they doubted, rather they had lost
the gift of faith in the truth of
the inspired word of God, that which
is truly, TRUTH itself.
Hope this helps,
Do come back to me if not.
Terry Quinn
England
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Mike
replied:
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Hi Jan,
I have appended two references from
the Early Church Fathers below.
I hope this helps a little.
In a private e-mail you sent to me, your friend may say:
Quotes from these Early Church
Fathers are not Holy Scripture.
My reply is:
Although quotes are not in the Scriptures,
you can not deny the historicity
of what they
said during the earliest period within Christendom.
Your friend may say:
They are biased because they are
from Catholic sources.
My reply is:
Go to a local secular library
and look up the same quotes there!
Mike
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Martyrdom Of The Holy And Glorious Apostle Bartholomew
— Around 71 A. D., Chapter Four.
And it happened, when the night had
passed, and the following day was
dawning, the sun having risen, the
apostle appeared alone with the king
in his bed-chamber, and said to him:
- Why didst thou seek me yesterday
the whole day with gold and silver,
and precious stones, pearls, and
raiment?
For these gifts those persons
long for who seek earthly things;
but I seek nothing earthly, nothing
carnal. Wherefore I wish to teach
thee that the Son of God deigned
to be born as a man out of a virgin's
womb. He was conceived in the womb
of the virgin; He took to Himself her who was always a virgin, having
within herself Him who made the heaven
and the earth, the sea, and all that
therein is. He, born of a virgin,
like mankind, took to Himself a beginning
in time, He who has a beginning neither
of times nor days; but He Himself
made every beginning, and everything
created, whether in things visible
or invisible. And as this virgin
did not know man, so she, preserving
her virginity, vowed a vow (2) to
the Lord God. And she was the first
who did so. For, from the time that
man existed from the beginning of
the world, no woman made a vow of
this mode of life; but she, as she
was the first among women who loved
this in her heart, said, I offer
to Thee, O Lord, my virginity. And,
as I have said to thee, none of mankind
dared to speak this word; but she
being called for the salvation of
many, observed this — that she might
remain a virgin through the love of God, pure and undefiled. And suddenly,
when she was shut up in her chamber,
the archangel Gabriel appeared, gleaming
like the sun; and when she was terrified
at the sight, the angel said to her,
Fear not, Mary; for thou hast found
favour in the sight of the Lord,
and thou shall conceive. And she cast off fear, and stood up, and
said,
- How shall this be to me, since
I know not man?
The angel answered
her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon
thee, and the power of the Most High
shall overshadow thee; wherefore
also that holy thing which is born
of thee shall be called Son of God. (3)
Thus, therefore, when the angel had
departed from her, she escaped the
temptation of the devil, who deceived
the first man when at rest. For,
having tasted of the tree of disobedience,
when the woman said to him, Eat,
he ate; and thus the first man was
cast out of paradise, and banished
to this life. From him have been
horn the whole human race. Then the
Son of God having been born of the
virgin, and having become perfect
man, and having been baptized, and
after His baptism having fasted forty
days, the tempter came and said to
Him: If thou art the Son of God,
tell these stones to become loaves.
And He answered: Not on bread alone
shall man live, but by every word
of God. (4) Thus therefore the devil,
who through eating bad conquered
the first man, was conquered through
the fasting of the second man; and
as he through want of self-restraint
had conquered the first man, the son of the virgin earth, so we shall
conquer through the fasting of the
second Adam, the Son of the Virgin
Mary. |
St. Ambrose Concerning Virgins To Marcellina, His Sister
— Around 390 A. D. Book II, Chapter II
The life of Mary is set before virgins
as an example, and her many virtues
are dwelt upon, her chastity, humility,
hard life, love of retirement, and
the like; then her kindness to others,
her zeal in learning, and love of
frequenting the temple. St. Ambrose
then sets forth how she, adorned
with all these virtues, will come
to meet the numberless bands of virgins
and lead them with great triumph
to the bridal chamber of the Spouse.
6. Let, then, the life of Mary be
as it were virginity itself, set
forth in a likeness, from which,
as from a mirror, the appearance
of chastity and the form of virtue
is reflected. From this you may take
your pattern of life, showing, as
an example, the clear rules of virtue:
what you have to correct, to effect,
and to hold fast.
7. The first thing which kindles
ardour in learning is the greatness
of the teacher.
- What is greater than
the Mother of God?
- What more glorious
than she whom Glory Itself chose?
- What more chaste than she who bore
a body without contact with another
body?
- For why should I speak of her
other virtues?
She was a virgin not
only in body but also in mind, who
stained the sincerity of its disposition
by no guile, who was humble in heart,
grave in speech, prudent in mind,
sparing of words, studious in reading,
resting her hope not on uncertain riches, but on the prayer of the
poor, intent on work, modest in discourse;
wont to seek not man but God as the
judge of her thoughts, to injure
no one, to have goodwill towards
all, to rise up before her elders,
not to envy her equals, to avoid
boastfulness, to follow reason, to
love virtue.
- When did she pain her
parents even by a look?
- When did
she disagree with her neighbors?
- When did she despise the lowly?
- When
did she avoid the needy?
Being wont
only to go to such gatherings of
men as mercy would not blush at,
nor modesty pass by. There was nothing gloomy in her eyes, nothing forward
in her words, nothing unseemly in
her acts, there was not a silly movement,
nor unrestrained step, nor was her
voice petulant, that the very appearance
of her outward being might be the
image of her soul, the representation
of what is approved. For a well-ordered
house ought to be recognized on the very threshold, and should show at
the very first entrance that no darkness
is hidden within, as our soul hindered
by no restraints of the body may
shine abroad like a lamp placed within. |
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