Lourdes 2025 (3/5) Discover Marie through her prayer
“”Virgin»» : Is it only a symbolic name or a physical reality?
The Fathers of the Church unanimously affirmed the physical virginity of Mary in the first centuries. There were not many debates on this subject. In the 20th century, the popes also reaffirmed her.
What does this virginal conception of Jesus tell us?
It is a sign of the supernatural intervention of God. Even if we first rely on the scriptures to profess the “only son, he who is God” (Jn 1, 18), the miracle which, with Mary, occurs in the flesh, helps to believe. It is also an fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah: “Here is that the Virgin is pregnant, she will give up a son, whom she will call Emmanuel” (is 7, 14).
According to the Gospel of Saint Matthew, Joseph does not unite with Marie “”until she gives birth to a son»». They may have united after …
The Church believes that Mary remains a virgin after the birth of Jesus. In the initial text, in semitized Greek, “until” means that we are interested in a certain period of time, not that that then changes. When the Bible says that Mikal, David’s first wife, did not know any other man “until” his death, she does not imply that she will know others after …
What to think of “”brothers»» of Jesus in the Bible?
In Greek, the word used is Adelphos. In the Bible, it has a generic meaning. It designates two people who have a more or less close relationship. Jacques and Joseph, “brothers of Jesus” (Mt 13:55) are for the church of close relatives. The term which means precisely “cousin” is only used once in the New Testament.
What is the meaning of virginity “”perpetual»» of Marie?
Mary’s virginity is to be understood in an eschatological sense, that is to say in relation to the future world. In heaven, we will no longer have carnal desire or the desire to have children, for all our desires will be delighted by God. We will be “similar to angels” (LC 20, 36). We will no longer need to generate, because the body of Christ will be complete. Mary foreshadows this, since receiving in her the Son of God is the completeness of happiness.
Doesn’t Mary’s virginity also say something about the vision of the Church on sexuality?
Continence has sometimes been presented as a sign of perfection … No, carnal desire is good on earth. Continence is a sign of what we will live in heaven, which is why some are called to live it from here. It recalls the eternal destiny of man. In the apocalypse, the hundred and forty-four “bought” which “follow the lamb wherever it goes”, are “virgins” (14, 3-4).
So is the virginity of Mary not related to his holiness?
It is not virginity that is a virtue, but chastity. It allows you to love perfectly, without deregulated desires likely to distort relationships. Whoever is virgin in his heart, that is to say chaste, does not allow himself to be dominated by his desires. Even more important, Mary’s virginity is a sign of her perfect faith. She believed in the fulfillment of the Scriptures in her. Thanks to his faith, the Son of God was able to be born from a woman.
“I understood Mary’s virginity better by giving her a spiritual meaning”
Corine, 60, retired
I come from a family of Catholics and Protestants. The Virgin Mary, we have talked about it a lot. When I was young, the fact that Mary was a virgin and mother was no problem for me. I told myself that “nothing is impossible for God”.
Adult, I got involved in the church. I did the catechism, from preparation to baptism and marriage, I participated in diocesan training. The subject of virginal design often returned to conversations. I realized that many people had doubts.
The questions of a catechumen and my daughters pushed me to do research. I discovered the spiritual meaning of Mary’s virginity, who is “virgin of all sin”. I found this aspect of virginity very beautiful and I think it is a shame that it is less well known.
On the other hand, to say that Mary remains a virgin physically after the birth of Jesus asks me any more question. I do not understand the meaning. Nothing prevents, in my opinion, that she had sex with Joseph, nor that she had other children. This vision of Mary’s virginity may have played in the negative vision of sexuality transmitted to an era in Catholic bourgeois families.
