THE VIRGIN MARY
BEFORE DURING AND AFTER THE BIRTH OF JESUS
The expression Virgin Mary is referred to the fact that Our Lady was a Virgin
before, during and after the birth of Jesus.
Marys holy body was totally intact during the birth of Jesus and it remained virginal
for all the rest of the life of Mary.
In fact no evidence exists either in Sacred Scripture or tradition to believe otherwise.
The virginity of Mary has been defended and examined in three parts:
Marys conception of Christ (virginitas ante partum); her giving birth to Christ (virginitas in partu);
and her remaining a virgin after the birth of Christ (virginitas post partum).
This formulation was used by many of the early Church Fathers St. Augustine, St. Peter Chrysologus,
Pope St. Leo the Great, St. Gregory Nazianzus and St. Gregory Nyssa.
The conception of Jesus in the blessed womb of Mary was virginal,
meaning without the action of an earthly father.
Obviously this fact cannot be framed into a human dimension.
Marys virginity prior to the conception of Christ is quite clear from the Gospel
of St. Matthew and St. Luke, where she is clearly identified as a virgin.
Moreover, when the Archangel Gabriel announced to Mary that she would bear the Messiah,
she responded: How can this be since I do not know man? indicating her virginity.
The New Testament doesnt admit doubts:
Jesus, second person of the Holy Trinity, true God from eternity; consubstantial with the Father, entered
this world through the Blessed Virgin Mary who had conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit;
therefore, we believe Jesus is true God and true man, with both a divine and human nature.
The reluctance, shown by a large part of humanity, to accept the dogma of Marys perpetual virginity,
derives from the supernatural way Jesus Christ was born.
This way cannot be known by the human mind because its a divine fact.
Only through the faith in the Word of God contained in the Sacred Scripture,
we can fully accept the miraculous birth of Jesus from the Virgins womb.
We can also focus on the spiritual reality of Marys virginity: Mary bore the Son of God.
Her childbearing must have been essentially different from other women
since she was free of the effects of original sin.
Her virginity, childbearing and motherhood are together in union with the will of God.
As the body of Christ entered this world through the Blessed Virgin Mary in a supernatural way,
so it rose from a closed tomb and twice appeared to the apostles in the Cenacle,
passing through the walls and the barred doors (in a supernatural way again).
