Hi Alexander,

I believe we have a vast databank of questions on Mary’s perpetual virginity, but I'll summarize a little.  Consider the Ark of the Covenant.  In it, the tablets of the law, (the word of God) were kept, as well as Aaron’s staff and some manna.  

• What do all these elements foreshadow?  Christ.  

He is the true Word made flesh (see John 1:14), the Good Shepherd (John 10:11), and the True Bread come down from Heaven (John 6:51).

• So, if the Ark was necessarily the most Holy object amongst the Israelites, inasmuch as it contained holy things that only foreshadowed Christ, how much holier would the true Ark that contained the true Word be?  

It was entirely fitting that the Ark for the God-man be uniquely purposed for Him alone, untouchable and not “repurposed” for anyone else.  Go back and read all the stories about the 1st Ark:

• about how God designed it over many chapters,
• then how it was revered by the people and respected,
• how it was often key in battle,
• how no one could touch it, even if they intended well,
• how it was made of incorruptible wood,
• how the Shekinah glory cloud overshadowed it, and
• all the “coincidences" between 1st Samuel and Luke’s account of the Annunciation/Visitation.  

The Church fathers highlighted this relationship and it really comes to fulfillment in the Book of the Apocalypse in Chapter 12 (but really read the last verse before chapter 12 to see the set-up-that is a must!)

Catholics have this right about Mary; Scripture supports it with accounts from the history of Israel that lead us into deeper understanding of Christ and God’s plan.  Mary’s unique role as the Theotokos (God-bearer) in no way diminishes sex or marriage but rather highlights the singular role that Christ and His Church play in salvation history, Mary being the preeminent figure on behalf of the Church.

Peace,

Hi Alex,

The New Testament is focused on:

• the fundamentals concerning Christ
• the formation of the Church, in which Mary is recognized as present, and
• the promise of Salvation (the Gospel).  

There were many things that were not obvious to all the early Christians and subsequent generations, but over the following centuries clarifications were made in accordance with councils: dispelling heresies and codifying the Creed and other tenets of the faith.  

Just consider how the nature and deity of Christ was debated through so many centuries, and all the challenges that heretics made regarding this core belief, always using Scripture as the basis for the arguments.  Not much has changed in this respect.  

Without the Church that Christ established, upon His Apostles with Peter as chief among them, these disputes would not have been infallibly settled.  Likewise, all the doctrines concerning Mary have been clarified over time, settled by the Magisterium of the Church and therefore to be held by the faithful.  It would be a mistake to suggest that Mary (thereby acknowledgement of Marian doctrines) somehow competes with Christ, rather, she manifests the Glory of God in His creature, the full intent of what God destined for humanity, a new “Eve”, one in which Satan did not prevail (thus the enmity recognized in Genesis 3:15).  Reflect on this aspect of God’s plan.  

• Should Satan have spoiled the entire human project?
• Could God not succeed in creating at least one that would be receptive to His Grace undiminished? (It was true of angels.)
• Could not the Son give the grace to His Mother in the moment of her creation that she might be a pure vessel for the new “Adam”?
• When God created Eve, was she already stained by sin?
• If not, then it is not unprecedented, that He did such?

These truths about Mary speak to the very glory of God and His desire for all of humanity: to be His children, in the fullness of His grace and glory, crowned with a royal dignity beyond all other creatures, because the very Word incarnate may inhabit there.  Mary is like God’s kick in the teeth to Satan, who knows he has no chance in defeating the Almighty God, and the Word made flesh for that matter, so his ego cannot brook this utter humiliation by the least of God’s creatures, his “handmaid."

If you consider the creation of angels, you know that some fell, some did not.  There is no redemption for angels that fell; their rebellion codified their eternal disposition.  Humankind, in our current capacity, are not capable of such a determinant choice; we have the possibility of repentance, a changing of the mind or metanoia.  

• Now consider humans in Heaven, can they sin?
  (Can sinners abide in Heaven?)
• Have they forsaken their freewill and become automatons?

No, they are the most free, yet they choose eternally to remain in the good.  

• How?  By grace.  

Jesus said of John the Baptist that there was none greater among men born of women, yet the least in the Kingdom of God was greater than he.  This speaks to the fullness of Grace imparted to those who live fully in God’s kingdom: those fully alive, free, and yet have no bondage to sin.  

Mary is the first of the fully human to receive this grace; (Jesus doesn't fill this role because He is God and man, not simply man).  To gaze on Mary is to see the fullness of God’s vision for humanity, her soul “magnifies the Lord.”  

In this way, I would say that Mary was the first citizen of Heaven in the New Covenant, because the Word had fully redeemed her from her mother’s womb.  Jesus would say during his ministry, “the Kingdom of Heaven is, “upon you”, “at hand”, etc., and He manifested that wherever He went.  He did so even as a child, and thus his home was a foreshadowing of that Heavenly abode, the Holy Family to which we are all called.  

Mary helps us to understand God’s design for ourselves, and likewise so does St. Joseph and all the saints.  This is a community God is building, and Jesus, with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, is effectuating that very vision.

Do a search on the Father’s of the Church and Mary and see what you find.  She is mentioned again, well beyond the Scriptures.

Peace,