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Hitman... if you want scriptural reference go to Genesis when God promises a Savior to Adam and Eve:

"I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel." ... "As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughter.." Canticles ii, 2, etc, this is why the lily is the symbol of purity, virginity, chastity.

Also, Exodus, where God appears to Moses in the burning bush, and there are many others verses in the old testament, expecially in the Song of Songs, which the Church, the sole interpreter of Scripture has attributed to Mary since the very beginning... you can see this in the writitngs of the Early Church Fathers: St. Jerome, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Ambrose etc.. and these interpretation cannot be considered "religious cultural reference."

But also, look at the Angels, virginity (chastity) is called the angelical virtue, it makes sense that Mary, the Mother of God, has to surpass the Angels in this virtue. Mary, the Mother of God, MUST be the example of ALL virtues for Angels and men. This is WHY God did not take Her virginity when He asked Her to be the Mother of Her Son, otherwise, St. Joseph could have well been the carnal/biological Father of Jesus.

When Mary said to the Angel, "How will this be, since I know not man..," the Church (St. Jerome) interpretes it to mean that Mary said this because She was not going to know any other man, and there was no way She would even know any man: that is why She asks "how will this be.." because She was going to get married to St. Joseph, and sexual relations are expected in every single marriage.. it would n ot make sense that She would ask this questions, then. ALso, after the Angel explained to Her how it would come to happen, She said, "Let it be done to me according to thy word," Meaning that the only way She would give birth to a child would be the way the Angel told Her, and not any other way. Remember also, that God punished Zachariah for asking the angel how his wife would give birth since they were both old because it meant that he doubted, BUT when Mary ASKED, She was not punished, the Angel explained to Her how it would come to pass, and it was not a sign of doubt, but of prudence because, it is the Catholic beleif, that She had already vowed Her Virginity to God, and that She would forst renounce to be the Mother of God, than to break Her vow of Virginity.. according to the Church and the Church Fathers. And of course, it was God Who inspired Mary to make that vow of virginity to Him, so He was not going to make Her break that vow.

As i said before, there are many other biblical passages in the Old Testament that are applied to Mary, but I do not have time right now to post them all. Just remember the care God took to make sure that the old Ark of the Covenant was the best that there could be, how not just any one was allowed to touch it, and how, from the very beginning there has been no doubt in the Christian mind, that Mary remained a Virgin.. of course that is until martin luther came along, but even he believed Mary's Perpetual Virginity before his revolt.

Also, we know that Jesus is called the firstborn of Mary, because well, He was the first Son She had, but if She had others, where were they when Jesus "got lost" at the age of 12? And most importantly, Why did Jesus leave Mary to "His brothers" instead of to St. John the Evangelist? It was the custom that sons had to take care of their mothers.

Above all, you have to remember that the New Testament, was to teach, mainly, about Jesus, not Mary.. and this not because Mary's role is not important, but people had to know about Jesus in order to believe.

And then.. there is this verse (from Mary's Magnificat): "My soul doth magnify the Lord. And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. Because he hath regarded the humility of his handmaid; for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. Because he that is mighty, hath done great things to me; and holy is his name..."

What were these "great things" the Lord made for Her? Also, the fuller one is to God, the lesser we resemble the ways of men. Purity, Chastity, and Virginity are the most difficult virtues to practice... there have been many, many Saints who have in imitation of Mary, why would Mary Herself not practice it?