By Brother Pedro Beltrán Sánchez and Fr. Jorge Luis Zarazúa Campa, fmap
Most of non-Catholic groups constantly attack the Virgin Mary, mainly denying her perpetual virginity; that is, although they accept her virginity before giving birth, they deny her virginity during childbirth and after it, especially noting that Our Lady had more children besides Our Lord. Some of the biblical texts they use to support their ideas are Mt. 13,46:47 and Mk. 3:31 where it says "His brethren" or where, according to the non-Catholic interpretation, even the names of the blood brothers of Jesus appear: "Joseph, James, Jude and Simon" (Mt 13:56; Mk 6:3).
Given this, we will point out nine proofs on which Catholics base to say that Mary was always a virgin. I hope that after reading them, you will not tell me the same that a Pentecostal pastor told me: "And what good is Mary’s virginity to me?" The answer would be: "And what is the point of speaking ill of it?" Be careful! The devil is the father of lies. Lest it be that instead of serving God you are serving the devil with your lies.
Here are the nine proofs of Mary's virginity:
1.- In the Bible, the word brother has different meanings: uncle, nephew, countryman, husband, etc. For example, in Gen 13:8 we see that Abraham tells Lot that they are "brothers", but in Gen 11:27 and Gen 12:5 it is clear that Abraham is Lot's uncle; they are, therefore, uncle and nephew, however they call themselves "brothers".
Therefore, we cannot say that the word "brother" in the Bible always refers to "blood brothers". Moreover, there are several idioms used by the people of God to refer to blood brothers, as can be seen in Canticle of Canticles 1:5, where the Shulamite emotionally says: "Do not consider me that I am brown, because the sun hath altered my color: the sons of my mother have fought against me, they have made me the keeper in the vineyards." In Psalm 50:20, the sacred writer uses both expressions: "brother", with a broader meaning, and "son of your mother", which is more specific: "You sit and speak against your brother; you slander your own mother's son.”
2.- With regard to Jesus’ brothers mentioned in Mk 6:3, Joseph, James, Jude and Simon; let us see if Joseph is really their father and Mary their mother. For example, in relation to James, in Mt 10:3 we see that his father is Alpheus = Clopas. Then, he is not the son of Saint Joseph.
With respect to the mother of James and Joseph, we see in the Bible that it is a woman called Mary (Mt 27:56, Mk 15:40) but then the Bible clarifies that it is a different Mary from the mother of Jesus: "Now there stood by the cross of Jesus, his mother and his mother's sister, Mary of Cleophas, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee” (Jn. 19:25); therefore, it is most likely that the mother of the "brothers of Jesus" is a relative (cousin) of the Virgin Mary and the so-called "brothers of Jesus" are, in reality, relatives (cousins) of Jesus.
3.- If Mary had more children, why did Jesus entrusted her to a stranger? (Jn 19, 25:27) The truth is that the Virgin Mary had no other children and that is why Jesus entrusted her to the beloved disciple, so that His mother would not remain alone.
4.- In Lk 2:41, we see that the family of Nazareth is mentioned: Jesus, Mary and Joseph; there is no talk about other children here, therefore there are not any other children.
5.- In Mk 6, it says, "the son of Mary" not "one of the children of Mary"; Jesus' relationship with Mary is always singular.
6.- In the biblical scheme, every time God announces through an angel to a woman that she will conceive and give birth to "a son", she only has one son. For example: God announces to Abraham that his wife, Sarah, will give birth to a son; well, Isaac is the only child conceived by Sarah. The same thing happens with Samson's mother (Jg. 13:3). Another case is the wife of Zacharias (Saint Elizabeth), who only had one son: Saint John the Baptist (Lk 1:3). In the case of Mary, she is also prophesied that she will "bear a son"; then she only gave birth to one son, therefore the biblical scheme was not broken either in the case of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
7.- The prophecy of Isaiah 7:14 says that "a Virgin shall conceive." The way in which people will recognize that Jesus is the Messiah is through His mother. If the mother of Jesus has more children and therefore she is not a virgin, the signal is lost. Since the Apostles recognized that Jesus was the Messiah and they knew His mother, we can conclude from this what the Church has always believed in: the perpetual virginity of Mary.
8.- The Bible says: "brothers of Jesus", but it does not say "the children of Mary". There is no text in the Bible that says "brothers of Jesus, children of Mary." See proof 1.
9.- During the first four centuries in the history of our Church, no one formulated the idea that the "brothers of Jesus" were His blood brothers. The first to do so was Helvidius, around 380 a. C., and Saint Jerome responded quickly to him with the text "Adversus Helvidium", on the perpetual virginity of Mary.
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