Perpetual virginity of Mary: the dogma and its meaning
Perpetual virginity of Mary, the dogma and its meaning
The perpetual virginity of Mary is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church, although it is older than the others in its formulation. Mary is confessed as a virgin before the birth, in the birth, and after the birth. For the complete article: Perpetual Virginity of Mary.
Three moments of virginity
Tradition distinguishes three moments: (1) virginity ante partum, Mary conceived Jesus without the intervention of a man. (2) virginity in partu, the birth did not break Mary’s bodily integrity. (3) virginity post partum, Mary had no other children after Jesus. The “brothers of Jesus” mentioned in the Gospel are explained by tradition as cousins or as sons of Joseph from an earlier marriage.
Theological foundation
The virginity of Mary is not an ascetical ideal imposed from without: it is the expression of a total and exclusive self-giving to God. Mary, who said Fiat, committed herself irrevocably to God. Her virginity is the bodily sign of this unreserved dedication. It is also the mark of the divine initiative in the Incarnation: Jesus is born of God, not of the will of man (Jn 1:13).
Dogmatic definition
The Lateran Council (649), presided over by Pope Martin I, defined the perpetual virginity of Mary as a doctrine of faith. The Second Council of Constantinople (553) and other earlier councils had already confirmed the title Aeiparthenos (ever-virgin). This definition is also recognized by the Orthodox Churches.
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