“…the Creator of all things incorporated with Himself a rational soul and a sensible body from the all-holy Mary, ever-virgin…” (St. Hippolytus of Rome, 3rd century)

“Let those, therefore, who deny that the Son is by nature from the Father and proper to his essence deny also that he took true human flesh from the ever-virgin Mary.” (St Athanasius the Great, 4th century)

“…the Word himself, coming into the Blessed Virgin herself, assumed for himself his own temple from the substance of the Virgin and came forth from her a man in all that could be externally discerned, while interiorly he was true God. Therefore he kept his Mother a virgin even after her childbearing.” (St Cyril of Alexandria, 5th century)

It is the consistent witness of ancient Christian writers that Mary remained a virgin her entire life. The usual first response to this statement is, “What about Jesus’ brothers mentioned in the Gospels?”

The use of the term “brothers” in the Gospels is inconclusive evidence that she had other children because that word was used to refer to any kindred of one’s own generation. This is still the case in many cultures today. While “brothers” could mean biological brothers, it could also mean stepbrothers or even cousins. This can also cross generations as in Genesis 14, where Abram’s nephew Lot is referred to as his brother (v.14).

In the Gospel of John, we read in the crucifixion narrative that Jesus entrusts Mary to the care of the Apostle John. If she had other children, this would have been unnecessary. It would have been the responsibility of one of her other children to take her in. After the death of her son, Mary would have been alone had she not been committed to the care of John and his family.

There’s something even more important at play here that we need to appreciate in order to fully understand why the Church taught Mary’s ever-virginity. In Jewish piety, someone who had been touched by the Holy Spirit was committed to a life of celibacy afterwards. For example, Moses’ sister Miriam was a prophetess and therefore celibate. In his commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, Fr. Lawrence Farley offers another example:

“Jewish midrash (or Bible commentary) from that time, speaking about Eldad and Medad (who received the Holy Spirit in power; see Num. 11:26), lamented, ‘How sad for the wives of those men!‘ because such closeness to God meant they were now pledged to celibacy.”

The Gospel of Luke is very intentional about stressing that Mary’s Child is conceived by the Holy Spirit. This had an ongoing implication in her life. Just like the ancient Ark of the Covenant could not be touched by human hands, Mary, the living Ark of God, was also conjugally untouchable. To a pious Jew like Jospeh, this would have been clear from the moment he heard the words of the angel:

“Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 1:20)

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