Some sources from the first centuries of the Apostolic Church supporting the Perpetual virginity of Mary

The Marian Dogmas are pointed by Protestantism now days as unbiblical and heresy, the perpetual virginity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the immaculate conception and her role in the salvation plan of God as the mother of God the Son.

Here I list evidence about the perpetual virginity of Mary, and what I have found in the same sources is that their authors did not deny the dogmas of the previous paragraph and in most cases the authors support Marian dogmas.

Let’s start with the Gospel of Luke.

Luke 1:31,34 (LEB)

31 And behold, you will conceive in the womb and will give birth to a son, and you will call his name Jesus...

34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I have not had sexual relations with a man?”

In verse 31 the angel said, you will conceive “Syllempse” and bear “tikto” a son (both verbs from the Greek in the future tense)… According to the Blessed Virgin Mary’s answer in verse 34, if she had been betrothed to St. Joseph with the idea of ​​having children, she would accept the word given by the angel without a “but,” because since she had already been betrothed, it would be logical for her to have children with St. Joseph, Jesus being the first of them… In other words, let’s remember that the Jewish tradition of getting betrothed, even if they were not yet living together, they were already considered legally married, and the betrothed were allowed to have sexual intercourse. So, if the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Joseph were already betrothed when the angel visited her, if it had been a conventional marriage and she had not taken a vow of virginity, she would have had no objection to becoming pregnant and giving birth to a child. For this reason, she answers (literally from the Greek): “How will this be because I do not [sexually] know a man?” She was already betrothed to St. Joseph, so she wasn't planning on having children. In this case, sexual relations under Jewish tradition were commonly accepted during the betrothal period, especially for the purpose of having children, and wasting the seed was punishable by the law. So, as I've said before, it seems she had a vow of virginity.

In this case, St. Joseph took her as his wife, respected her vow of virginity, and took her under his exclusive care, not as a wife to procreate children, but to honor and care for the mother of the Messiah and become the legal father of Jesus. Remember, she was between 12 and 14 years old when she gave birth to Jesus, and although Joseph wanted to divorce her secretly to avoid embarrassing her and risking being stoned to death, God spoke to St. Joseph, telling him not to divorce her, but to continue the process by taking her as his wife (under his roof) and thus become a family, with him being the adoptive father of Jesus. Thus, St. Joseph was righteous and exemplifies the spirit of adoption in which, through Jesus, all believers and true followers become adopted sons and daughters of the Father.

Matthew 1:24–25 (LEB)

24 And Joseph, when he* woke up from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and he took his wife 25 and ⌊did not have sexual relations with⌋ her until she gave birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.

These verses are always taken out of their context, the word “until” in Greek is the conjunction Heos… and it is often used to indicate a selected period, without implying change in the future. It is translated as “to” or “till”. The evangelist is using this conjunction to emphasize that Joseph did not have sexual relations with Mary in the betrothal period, therefore he was not involved in Mary’s pregnancy of Jesus confirming that Jesus was truly the Son of God incarnated who came to dwell with men “Emmanuel”.

Similar uses of the conjunction can be found in 2 Samuel 6:23 (In the Septuagint the word Heos implies that she (Michol the daughter of Saul) had no child until the day of her death and this will not change in the future), and the best example is found 1 Timothy 4:13 (Paul is writing to Timothy to pay attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching until he comes, which implies that Timothy doesn’t have to stop doing it because Paul will come to him in the future).

So, what the evangelist writes simply states that Joseph is not the biological father of Jesus and does not imply that after Jesus was born, Joseph had sexual intercourse with Mary, nor that they had children.

Besides the virginity of Mary there is also evidence of the Blessed Virgin Mary being called the mother of God, reason why Church Fathers, theologians and exegetes referred with the Greek title Theotokos to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Luke 1:43 (LEB)

43 And why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord (Kurios) should come to me?

The word Kurios is a Title given to God and it is the Greek equivalence of the Hebrew word Adonai which is translated as “The Lord God” or “God”, in the Septuagint where the Title Adonai suppose to be found it is found the word Kurios. Therefore, Elizabeth after being filled by the Holy Spirit through the voice of the Blessed Virgin Mary, she actually said: Why is this granted to me, that the mother of my “God” should come to me?.

There is a prophecy about the virginity of Mary that Church Fathers normally emphasized and it is considered to be crucial also in the development of the perpetual virginity of Mary’s dogma.

Ezekiel 44:1–3 (LEB)

44 And he brought me back by the way of the outer gate of the sanctuary that is facing east, and it was shut. 2 And Yahweh said to me, “This gate will be shut. It shall not be opened, and ⌊no one⌋ will go through it, for Yahweh, the God of Israel, has entered it, and it will be shut. 3 The prince, he may sit in it to eat food ⌊before⌋ Yahweh; he will come from the way of the portico of the gate and by means of its way he will also go out.”

Generally, the Apostolic Church Fathers that wrote about the perpetual virginity of Mary in some works they use Ezekiel’s prophecy, to explain that the Virgin Mary is the “gate of the sanctuary” and “shall not be opened and no one will go through it...” saying that it is revealed through this text her perpetual virginity, they also believed in the Immaculate conception of Mary and her title as Mother of God or God-bearer (Theotokos based in Luke 1:43 and the reality of her being the chosen one to give birth to God the Son). Those Church Fathers who did not write about these dogmas never debated about it, which academically means that they had the same belief but never felt the need to write about it nor deny it.

Now let’s dive into writings that can be found in the first 500 years of the Church regarding the Blessed Virgin Mary.

St. Ignatius of Antioch

(St. Ignatius to the Trallians 6 [A.D. 98 - 117])

For they alienate Christ from the Father, and the law from Christ. They also calumniate His being born of the Virgin; they are ashamed of His cross; they deny His passion; and they do not believe His resurrection.

If Ignatius would not believe in the Virginity of Mary after the birth of Jesus, he would render the sentence differently (“…being born of a virgin called Mary” or “being born of a virgin”), instead he writes “…being born of the Virgin”, which implies to my criteria that they already believed in Mary “aeiparthenos” Mary ever-virgin, being “The Virgin” a title instead of a reference of her state before giving birth to Jesus.

(St. Ignatius to the Philippians 3)

For “Wisdom builded for herself a house.” And God the Word was born as man, with a body, of the Virgin, without any intercourse of man… He was then truly born, truly grew up, truly ate and drank, was truly crucified, and died, and rose again. He who believes these things, as they really were, and as they really took place, is blessed. He who believeth them not is no less accursed than those who crucified the Lord.

The Protoevangelium of James

(Protoevangelium of James 4, 7 [A.D. 120])

And behold, an angel of the Lord stood by [St. Anne], saying, ‘Anne! Anne! The Lord has heard your prayer, and you shall conceive and shall bring forth, and your seed shall be spoken of in all the world.’ And Anne said, ‘As the Lord my God lives, if I beget either male or female, I will bring it as a gift to the Lord my God, and it shall minister to him in the holy things all the days of its life.’ . . . And [from the time she was three] Mary was in the temple of the Lord as if she were a dove that dwelt there.

(ibid., 8–9)

And when she was twelve years old there was held a council of priests, saying, ‘Behold, Mary has reached the age of twelve years in the temple of the Lord. What then shall we do with her, lest perchance she defile the sanctuary of the Lord?’ And they said to the high priest, ‘You stand by the altar of the Lord; go in and pray concerning her, and whatever the Lord shall manifest to you, that also will we do.’ . . . [A]nd he prayed concerning her, and behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him saying, ‘Zechariah! Zechariah! Go out and assemble the widowers of the people and let them bring each his rod, and to whomsoever the Lord shall show a sign, his wife shall she be. . . . And Joseph [was chosen]. . . . And the priest said to Joseph, ‘You have been chosen by lot to take into your keeping the Virgin of the Lord.’ But Joseph refused, saying, ‘I have children, and I am an old man, and she is a young girl’.

(ibid., 15)

And Annas the scribe came to him [Joseph] . . . and saw that Mary was with child. And he ran away to the priest and said to him, ‘Joseph, whom you did vouch for, has committed a grievous crime.’ And the priest said, ‘How so?’ And he said, ‘He has defiled the virgin whom he received out of the temple of the Lord and has married her by stealth’.

“And the priest said, ‘Mary, why have you done this? And why have you brought your soul low and forgotten the Lord your God?’ . . . And she wept bitterly saying, ‘As the Lord my God lives, I am pure before him, and know not man’”.

Clement of Alexandria

...many even down to our own time regard Mary, on account of the birth of her child, as having been in the puerperal state, although she was not. For some say that, after she brought forth, she was found, when examined, to be a virgin. (“The Stromata, or Miscellanies,” [A.D. 150-215] ).

Although Clement of Alexandria is not considered a Church Father anymore by the Catholic Church, I believe he is important for this case.

St. Hyppolitus (Disciple of St. Irenaeus, disciple of St. Polycarp, disciple of St. John the Apostle)

But the pious confession of the believer is that, with a view to our salvation, and in order to connect the universe with unchangeableness, the Creator of all things incorporated with Himself a rational soul and a sensible6 body from the all-holy Mary, ever-virgin, by an undefiled conception, without conversion, and was made man in nature, but separate from wickedness: the same was perfect God, and the same was perfect man; the same was in nature at once perfect God and man. (“Against Beron and Helix,” [A.D. 170-236]).

SINCE, then, the blessed prophets have been eyes to us, setting forth for our behoof the clear declaration of things secret, both through life, and through declaration, and through inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and discoursing, too, of things not yet come to pass, in this way also to all generations they have pictured forth the grandest subjects for contemplation and for action. Thus, too, they preached of the advent of God in the flesh to the world, His advent by the spotless and God-bearing (Theotokos, from the Greek Theo – meaning “God” - and (τόκος) from the Greek Tiktein – meaning “Give birth” -) Mary in the way of birth and growth, and the manner of His life and conversation with men, and His manifestation by baptism, and the new birth that was to be to all men, and the regeneration by the laver; and the multitude of His miracles, and His blessed passion on the cross, and the insults which He bore at the hands of the Jews, and His burial, and His descent to Hades, and His ascent again, and redemption of the spirits that were of old, and the destruction of death, and His life-giving awaking from the dead, and His re-creation of the whole world, and His assumption and return to heaven, and His reception of the Spirit, of which the apostles were deemed worthy, and again the second coming, that is destined to declare all things. For as being designated seers, they of necessity signified and spake of these things beforetime. (“The End of the World, and on Antichrist, and on the Second Coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ” [A.D. 170-236]) - https://ref.ly/logosref/Hippolytus.De_cons._mun._1

As I did add the etymology of the word Theotokos inside of parenthesis after the word “God-bearing”, I consider necessary to talk a bit more about how the Greek word τόκος is used in literature under the sense of producing or generating or giving birth. In the case of the writings of the Apostolic Church Fathers when talking about the Blessed Virgin Mary, it is used in the context to give birth or to bear a son that is divine. Thus, Theotokos (God-bearer) implies that she is going to bear or give birth to God, and it is describing her as mother of God not under the idea of being superior or equal to the Trinity or being the mother of the Trinity, but regarding her function and the Honor given to her by God to be the Temple or the Ark of the New Covenant because she did bear the Son of God. So, tíktō (to bear or give birth) is used some times in the same context of bearing a child in the New Testament, and implies that the subject is or will be mother as it is written in Matthew 1:21, Matthew 1:23, Luke 1:57, Luke 2:6, John 16:21, Galatians 4:27, Revelation 12:2-4, and it is also used under the context of sin in James 1:15.

St. Irenaeus (disciple of St. Polycarp, disciple of St. John the Apostle)

St. Hippolytus was his disciple, and St. Hippolytus is said to have mirrored his teacher; therefore, it is evident that St. Irenaeus held the same position on theological doctrines that, in this case, were received by oral tradition from St. Polycarp. While the following quotation only mentions the Blessed Virgin Mary as the God-bearer and refers to her as the Virgin who became the patron saint of the virgin Eve, there are no writings by St. Polycarp or anyone else that rebuke St. Irenaeus when he taught and wrote such things about our Blessed Mother Mary. We can say the same thing when St. Hippolytus wrote about the Blessed Virgin Mary as the God-bearer, ever-virgin. Therefore, neither St. Irenaeus nor any other contemporary rebuked St. Hippolytus, which tells us that in both cases what they wrote were confessions commonly believed by Christians.

For just as the former was led astray by the word of an angel, so that she fled from God when she had transgressed His word; so did the latter, by an angelic communication, receive the glad tidings that she should sustain (portaret) God, being obedient to His word. And if the former did disobey God, yet the latter was persuaded to be obedient to God, in order that the Virgin Mary might become the patroness (advocata) of the virgin Eve. (“Irenæus against Heresies,” [AD between 174 and 180]).

The original latin says: “Quemadmodum enim per verbum angeli seducta Eva, Deum verbo non oboediens fugit, ita per verbum angeli evangelizata Maria, Deum verbo oboediens portavit.”

The Latin word Portaret is translated here as “sustain” Deum (God), but it may be a reference to the Greek term Theo-tokos that was used in that time. The other possible translations from Latin will be:

...should bear God or carry God or give birth to God

How is translated grammatically correct the last part “Deumn verbo oboediens portavit” under the context of Mary receiving the good news through the messenger?

In terms of grammar, the sentence is an example of a nominative-accusative construction, where the subject (implied to be “Maria”) is in the nominative case, and the direct object (“Deum”) is in the accusative case. The ablative phrase “verbo” provides additional information about the means by which the action was performed.

Here’s a more detailed breakdown of the syntax:

“Deum” (accusative singular) - direct object

“verbo” (ablative singular) - means or instrument

“obediens” (nominative singular) - participle agreeing with the subject

“portavit” (third person singular perfect tense) - verb

Therefore, the translation of the phrase “Deum verbo oboediens portavit” can be:

“...carried (under the context of give birth) God, obeying his word”

Or:

“…bore God, having obeyed his word”

Fragments from the writings of St. Peter of Alexandria [AD 200-300]

That therefore up to the period of the Lord’s Passion, and at the time of the last destruction of Jerusalem, which happened under Vespasian, the Roman emperor, the people of Israel, rightly observing the fourteenth day of the first lunar month, celebrated on it the Passover of the law, has been briefly demonstrated. Therefore, when the holy prophets, and all, as I have said, who righteously and justly walked in the law of the Lord, together with the entire people, celebrated a typical and shadowy Passover, the Creator and Lord of every visible and invisible creature, the only-begotten Son, and the Word co-eternal with the Father and the Holy Spirit, and of the same substance with them, according to His divine nature, our Lord and God, Jesus Christ, being in the end of the world born according to the flesh of our holy and glorious lady, Mother of God, and Ever-Virgin, and, of a truth, of Mary the Mother of God; and being seen upon earth, and having true and real converse as man with men, who were of the same substance with Him, according to His human nature, Himself also, with the people, in the years before His public ministry and during His public ministry, did celebrate the legal and shadowy Passover, eating the typical lamb. For “I came not to destroy the law, or the prophets, but to fulfil them,” the Saviour Himself said in the Gospel.

Origen

“The Book [the Protoevangelium] of James [records] that the brethren of Jesus were sons of Joseph by a former wife, whom he married before Mary. Now those who say so wish to preserve the honor of Mary in virginity to the end, so that body of hers which was appointed to minister to the Word . . . might not know intercourse with a man after the Holy Spirit came into her and the power from on high overshadowed her. And I think it in harmony with reason that Jesus was the first fruit among men of the purity which consists in [perpetual] chastity, and Mary was among women. For it were not pious to ascribe to any other than to her the first fruit of virginity” (Commentary on Matthew 2:17 [A.D. 248]).

St. Athanasius of Alexandria [A.D. 296-373]

“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” (Discourses Against the Arians 2:70 [A.D. 360]).

St. Hilary of Poitiers

“If they [the brethren of the Lord] had been Mary’s sons and not those taken from Joseph’s former marriage, she would never have been given over in the moment of the passion [crucifixion] to the apostle John as his mother, the Lord saying to each, ‘Woman, behold your son,’ and to John, ‘Behold your mother’ [John 19:26–27), as he bequeathed filial love to a disciple as a consolation to the one desolate” (Commentary on Matthew 1:4 [A.D. 354]).

St. Epiphanius of Salamis

“We believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of all things, both visible and invisible; and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God . . . who for us men and for our salvation came down and took flesh, that is, was born perfectly of the holy ever-virgin Mary by the Holy Spirit” (The Man Well-Anchored 120 [A.D. 374]).

“And to holy Mary, [the title] ‘Virgin’ is invariably added, for that holy woman remains undefiled” (Medicine Chest Against All Heresies 78:6 [A.D. 375]).

St. Jerome

“[Helvidius] produces Tertullian as a witness [to his view] and quotes Victorinus, bishop of Petavium. Of Tertullian, I say no more than that he did not belong to the Church. But as regards Victorinus, I assert what has already been proven from the gospel—that he [Victorinus] spoke of the brethren of the Lord not as being sons of Mary but brethren in the sense I have explained, that is to say, brethren in point of kinship, not by nature. [By discussing such things we] are . . . following the tiny streams of opinion. Might I not array against you the whole series of ancient writers? Ignatius, Polycarp, Irenaeus, Justin Martyr, and many other apostolic and eloquent men, who against [the heretics] Ebion, Theodotus of Byzantium, and Valentinus, held these same views and wrote volumes replete with wisdom. If you had ever read what they wrote, you would be a wiser man” (Against Helvidius: The Perpetual Virginity of Mary 19 [A.D. 383]).

“We believe that God was born of a virgin, because we read it. We do not believe that Mary was married after she brought forth her Son, because we do not read it. . . . You [Helvidius] say that Mary did not remain a virgin. As for myself, I claim that Joseph himself was a virgin, through Mary, so that a virgin Son might be born of a virginal wedlock” (ibid., 21).

Didymus the Blind

“It helps us to understand the terms ‘first-born’ and ‘only-begotten’ when the Evangelist tells that Mary remained a virgin ‘until she brought forth her first-born son’ [Matt. 1:25]; for neither did Mary, who is to be honored and praised above all others, marry anyone else, nor did she ever become the Mother of anyone else, but even after childbirth she remained always and forever an immaculate virgin” (The Trinity 3:4 [A.D. 386]).

St. Ambrose of Milan

“Imitate her [Mary], holy mothers, who in her only dearly beloved Son set forth so great an example of material virtue; for neither have you sweeter children [than Jesus], nor did the Virgin seek the consolation of being able to bear another son” (Letters 63:111 [A.D. 388]).

Pope Siricius I

“You had good reason to be horrified at the thought that another birth might issue from the same virginal womb from which Christ was born according to the flesh. For the Lord Jesus would never have chosen to be born of a virgin if he had ever judged that she would be so incontinent as to contaminate with the seed of human intercourse the birthplace of the Lord’s body, that court of the eternal king” (Letter to Bishop Anysius [A.D. 392]).

Rufinus of Aquileia

What could be said with such evident reference to the inviolate preservation of the Virgin’s condition? That Gate of Virginity was closed; through it the Lord God of Israel entered; through it He came forth from the Virgin’s womb into this world; and the Virgin-state being preserved inviolate, the gate of the Virgin remained closed for ever. Therefore the Holy Ghost is spoken of as the Creator of the Lord’s flesh and of His temple. (Rufinus: A Commentary on the Apostle’s Creed [A.D. 404]).

Theodoret of Cyrus

On this account we also call the holy Virgin “Theotokos,” and deem those who object to this appellation to be alienated from true religion.

In the same manner we call those men corrupt and exclude them from the assembly of the Christians, who divide our one Lord Jesus Christ into two persons or two sons or two Lords, for we have heard the very divine Paul saying “One Lord, one faith, one baptism” and again “One Lord Jesus Christ by Whom are all things” and again “Jesus Christ the same yesterday and to-day and for ever” and in another place—“He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens.”11 And countless other passages of this kind may be found in the Apostle’s writings, proclaiming the one Lord. (Theodoret of Cyrus, “Letters of the Blessed Theodoret, Bishop of Cyrus” [A.D, 393 - 423])

If any one refuses to confess the holy Virgin to be “Theotokos,” or calls our Lord Jesus Christ bare man, or divides into two sons Him who is one only begotten and first born of every creature, I pray that he may fall from hope in Christ, and let all the people say amen, amen. (Theodoret of Cyrus, “Letters of the Blessed Theodoret, Bishop of Cyrus” [A.D, 393 - 423])

St. Augustine

“In being born of a Virgin who chose to remain a Virgin even before she knew who was to be born of her, Christ wanted to approve virginity rather than to impose it. And he wanted virginity to be of free choice even in that woman in whom he took upon himself the form of a slave” (Holy Virginity 4:4 [A.D. 401]).

“It was not the visible sun, but its invisible Creator who consecrated this day for us, when the Virgin Mother, fertile of womb and integral in her virginity, brought him forth, made visible for us, by whom, when he was invisible, she too was created. A Virgin conceiving, a Virgin bearing, a Virgin pregnant, a Virgin bringing forth, a Virgin perpetual. Why do you wonder at this, O man?” (Sermons 186:1 [A.D. 411]).

“Heretics called Antidicomarites are those who contradict the perpetual virginity of Mary and affirm that after Christ was born she was joined as one with her husband” (Heresies 56 [A.D. 428]).

Leporius

“We confess, therefore, that our Lord and God, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, born of the Father before the ages, and in times most recent, made man of the Holy Spirit and the ever-virgin Mary” (Document of Amendment 3 [A.D. 426]).

St. Cyril of Alexandria

“[T]he 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” (Against Those Who Do Not Wish to Confess That the Holy Virgin is the Mother of God 4 [A.D. 430]).

Pope St. Leo I

“His [Christ’s] origin is different, but his [human] nature is the same. Human usage and custom were lacking, but by divine power a Virgin conceived, a Virgin bore, and Virgin she remained” (Sermons 22:2 [A.D. 450]).

Or is it possible that he thought our Lord Jesus Christ was not of our nature for this reason, that the angel, who was sent to the blessed Mary ever Virgin, says, “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee: and therefore that Holy Thing also that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God,” (Letter XXVIII. II [A.D. 450])

Earlier archaeological evidence

To my perspective, the earlier archaeological evidence we have about the great respect for the Blessed Virgin Mary is found in an epitaph of a bishop. This epitaph describes various topics like Jesus as the shepherd, our Blessed Mother Mary as a virgin, the Eucharist, the Church of Rome, the Church of the East, St. Paul and prayers for the dead.

St. Abercius of Hieropolis (died ca. 167 A.D.)

Probably the bishop of Hieropolis successor of St. Papias. He lived and died at the time of the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius. The name Abercius may be identified with Avircius Marcellus mentioned by St. Eusebius as the author of a work against Montanism.

There is archaeological evidence of the inscription of St. Abercius, a greek epitaph (short text honouring a deceased person) that says the following:

The citizen of a chosen city, this [monument] I made [while] living, that there I might have in time a resting-place of my body, [I] being by name Abercius, the disciple of a holy shepherd who feeds flocks of sheep [both] on mountains and on plains, who has great eyes that see everywhere. For this [shepherd] taught me [that the] book [of life] is worthy of belief. And to Rome he sent me to contemplate majesty, and to see a queen golden-robed and golden-sandalled; there also I saw a people bearing a shining mark. And I saw the land of Syria and all [its] cities; Nisibis [I saw] when I passed over Euphrates. But everywhere I had brethren. I had Paul ... Faith everywhere led me forward, and everywhere provided as my food a fish of exceeding great size, and perfect, which a holy virgin drew with her hands from a fountain and this it [faith] ever gives to its friends to eat, it having wine of great virtue, and giving it mingled with bread. These things I, Abercius, having been a witness [of them] told to be written here. Verily I was passing through my seventy-second year. He that discerneth these things, every fellow-believer [namely], let him pray for Abercius. And no one shall put another grave over my grave; but if he do, then shall he pay to the treasury of [the] Romans two thousand pieces of gold and to my good native city of Hieropolis one thousand pieces of gold.

My Commentary

Therefore, The Blessed Virgin Mary was an exception of the rule among any other woman in human history… As the Ark of the Covenant contained the presence of God, as the temple was being considered the most holy place, because this was the place where God inhabited on earth… In the same way the Blessed virgin Mary was all-Holy, without sin, like the Fathers of the Church, some theologians or exegetes described her, in order that when she delivered her first and only son, Jesus the Messiah, will come to the world to tabernacle with us in a perfect undefiled body out of a holy womb. It is sound to say also, that she was ever-virgin because of the matter that her ministry was to bring forth the only eternal Messiah (the First and the Last) and her womb was to be consecrated for the Messiah alone and not for other human being, finishing the line of descendants of David who will rule Israel and the whole world according to prophecies of the Anointed One ruling the world forever with a kingdom with no end. The One who will bring peace and will eradicate all evil in his second coming.

Edgar Ramírez - BTh.