The Lateran Council (649) – Aeiparthenos, Ever-Virgin and Immaculate (Doctrina Pontificia IV, nn. 44-47)
The Second Council of Constantinople (553) and the Lateran Council of 649 are two decisive conciliar moments for Mariology, especially regarding Mary’s perpetual virginity and her title of Aeiparthenos (Ever-Virgin), a definition that the Lateran Council of 649 would make an ecumenical dogma.
| Collection | Doctrina Pontificia IV: Marian Documents, nn. 44-47 |
| Councils | Constantinople II (553) | Lateran (649, under Saint Martin I) |
| Period | 553-655 |
| Topic | Aeiparthenos, perpetual virginity defined as dogma |
Second Council of Constantinople (553), nn. 34-36
The fifth ecumenical council, convoked by Justinian I, contains three Marian documents (nn. 34-36) that affirm Mary’s perpetual virginity with growing precision. For the first time, the Council uses the expression Aeiparthenos (Ever-Virgin, in Greek) as a formal and dogmatic title of Mary, not merely a pious one.
“ton ena tes hagias Triados… sarkothenta ek Pneumatos Hagiou kai Marias tes hagias endoxou Theotokou kai aeiparthenou Marias”
The One of the Holy Trinity… was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and of 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 the great Lateran Council convoked by his successor. Saint Martin I presided over the Lateran Council of 649 in Rome, which would be his most glorious act before his martyrdom: he was arrested by the exarch of Ravenna and deported to Crimea, where he died of hunger and ill-treatment.
Lateran Council (649), nn. 44-47
The Lateran Synod of 649 is the first council to define formally, with canons and anathemas, Mary’s perpetual virginity as a dogma binding on the whole Church. The four Marian canons (nn. 44-47) affirm:
- n. 44: Mary is ever-virgin: before, during, and after childbirth (ante partum, in partu, post partum)
- n. 45: Mary is true Mother of God (Theotokos), not only of Christ as man
- n. 46: Virginity in childbirth (virginitas in partu) is part of the faith, against those who denied this “miracle”
- n. 47: Condemnation of any Monophysite interpretation that denies the true humanity of Christ born of Mary
“Si quis secundum sanctos Patres non confitetur proprie et secundum veritatem sanctam semperque Virginem et immaculatam Mariam esse Matrem Dei, utpote qui in fine saeculorum sine semine de Spiritu Sancto concepit proprie et vere ipsum Dei Verbum generavit, incorruptibiliter eam genuisse, condemnatus sit”
If anyone, according to the Holy Fathers, does not properly and truly confess that the holy and ever-Virgin and immaculate Mary is Mother of God, inasmuch as in the last times she conceived without seed by the Holy Spirit and properly and truly begot the very Word of God, having given birth to Him incorruptibly, let him be condemned.
Significance for Mariology
The expression “semper Virgo et immaculata” (ever-Virgin and immaculate) of the Lateran Council of 649 is historically notable: for the first time a council joins “ever-virgin” and “immaculate” in the same clause. This text will be recalled in the process of defining the Immaculate Conception, more than twelve centuries later.
Further reading
Explore Mariology, Lumen Gentium ch. VIII, Ineffabilis Deus, and the Postgraduate Program in Mariology.
Postgraduate Program in Mariology
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See also: The 4 Marian Dogmas: What They Are and What the Church Defines
Learn more about the Immaculate Conception.
Delve deeper into the Perpetual Virginity of Mary.
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