Council of Lateran (649) – Ever Virgin and Immaculate (Pontifical Doctrine IV, nos. 44-47)

# Second Council of Constantinople (553) and Lateran Council (649)The Second Council of Constantinople (553) and the Lateran Council (649) are pivotal ecumenical councils for Mariology, particularly regarding Mary’s perpetual virginity and her title as *Aeiparthenos* (Ever Virgin), a definition solidified by the Lateran Council as an ecumenical dogma.## Second Council of Constantinople (553), Canons 34-36The Fifth Ecumenical Council, convened by Justinian I, includes three Marian documents (Canons 34-36) that affirm Mary’s perpetual virginity with increasing precision. The Council introduces the term *Aeiparthenos* as a formal and dogmatic title for Mary, not merely a pious expression.> *”… of the Holy Trinity… was incarnated from the Holy Spirit and Mary, the holy, glorious Mother of God, and Ever Virgin Mary.”*## Saint Theodore I (642-649) and Saint Martin I (649-655)Pope Theodore I prepared for the great Lateran Council convened by his successor. Saint Martin I presided over the Lateran Council of 649 in Rome, an event that would be his most glorious before his martyrdom: he was imprisoned by the exarch of Ravenna and deported to Crimea, where he died from hunger and mistreatment.## Lateran Council (649), Canons 44-47The Lateran Council of 649 is the first to formally define Mary’s perpetual virginity as a dogma for the entire Church through canons and anathemas. The four Marian canons (44-47) state:– **Canon 44:** Mary remains ever-virgin: before, during, and after childbirth (*ante partum, in partu, post partum*) – **Canon 45:** Mary is the true Mother of God (*Theotokos*), not just of Christ the man – **Canon 46:** The virginity at childbirth (*virginitas in partu*) is part of the faith, against those who deny this “miracle” – **Canon 47:** Condemnation of any Monophysite interpretation that denies Christ’s true humanity born of Mary.> *”If anyone does not confess that holy Mary was and remains forever virgin and immaculate, as the holy Fathers rightly testify, and as he firmly believes that she truly gave birth to the Word of God without corruption at the end of time, through the Holy Spirit, and generated him properly and truly, having preserved her from all corruption, let him be condemned.”*## Meaning for MariologyThe expression “semper Virgo et immaculata” (always Virgin and immaculate) from Lateranense 649 is historically significant: for the first time, a council joined “semper virgo” (always Virgin) and “immaculata” (immaculate) in the same clause. This text will be remembered in the process of defining the Immaculate Conception, more than twelve centuries later.## Additional ReadingExplore Mariology, Lumen Gentium cap. VIII, Ineffabilis Deus, and Postgraduate Studies in Mariology.

Also see: The 4 Marian Dogmas: What They Are and What the Church Defines

Learn more about the Immaculate Conception.

Deepen your understanding of Mary’s Perpetual Virginity.