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The Church Fathers- Mary: Ever Virgin
The Church Fathers ^ | 120AD-450AD

Posted on 05/31/2011 11:53:33 AM PDT by marshmallow

The Protoevangelium of James

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

“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., 8–9).

“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’” (ibid., 15).

“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’” (ibid.).

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 firstfruit 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 firstfruit of virginity” (Commentary on Matthew 2:17 [A.D. 248]).

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]).

Athanasius

“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]).

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]).

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]).

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]).

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]).

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 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]).


TOPICS: Catholic; History; Theology
KEYWORDS: virginmary
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To: Mad Dawg
So there IS an asymmetry in our thinking, just not the one you present.

Well I would certainly agree your thinking is something else altogether different...how I would describe that thinking is not permitted on the boards.

There is nothing outside of Christ.... that will change peoples minds if they choose to pray to any and all things, people who have departed, or for that matter a dog or cat.....and call it prayer. Pagans have been doing so for centuries as well.

But I can safely say praying to Christ far exceeds all other forms of prayer to idols or any such 'imaginations of ones mind and heart'.... Since that is what HE has asked of us, that we pray to Him. This settles the matter for me...and HE is the heart of the matter on prayer.

761 posted on 06/03/2011 9:52:21 AM PDT by caww
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To: papertyger
Did you defend your private definition of “blasphemy,” or not?

Still making the thread about me? Not good....

Hoss

762 posted on 06/03/2011 10:03:32 AM PDT by HossB86 ( NOBODY admits to being a Calvinist unless they are one. I AM ONE.)
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To: HossB86

The

SUPREMELY SANCTIMONIOUS SELF-RIGHTEOUS PARAGON PRISSIES of the VATICAN CULTISTS AT THE CENTER OF THE MULTI-VERSE

DO *NOT* NEED TO FOLLOW RULES!

HAVEN’T YOU READ THE STATIONS OF THE WHITE HANKY! LOL.


763 posted on 06/03/2011 10:08:54 AM PDT by Quix (Times are a changin' INSURE you have believed in your heart & confessed Jesus as Lord Come NtheFlesh)
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To: Quix

Ditto here. LOLOL!


764 posted on 06/03/2011 10:09:38 AM PDT by Alamo-Girl
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To: Quix

Quix —

You know, you’re right. I must go visit and re-read those stations. Plus, I need to get a copy of the “daffynitionary” because apparently the standard dictionaries aren’t sufficient.

However, I will NOT do penance.

:D

Hoss


765 posted on 06/03/2011 10:13:39 AM PDT by HossB86 ( NOBODY admits to being a Calvinist unless they are one. I AM ONE.)
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To: NEWwoman

I Agree


766 posted on 06/03/2011 10:16:14 AM PDT by marbren
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To: marbren

Thanks. :)


767 posted on 06/03/2011 10:35:08 AM PDT by NEWwoman (God Bless America)
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To: marbren; Quix

“Let us love one another, for Love is of God.”

(I read that somewhere.)

Thank you for kind words. TO God be ALL the whoopee, I mean, Glory!

Bears fruit... IS a fruit. Six of one, half dozen of the other ....

:-)

God is great.we ain’t. And that is GOOD NEWS!

Just came from a lovely wedding. am delirious.

And the party begins in a couple of hours. Mexican food and fun!

Y’all go ahead and fight without me. I got praising Jesus to do .... His mercies endure forever!


768 posted on 06/03/2011 10:45:49 AM PDT by Mad Dawg (Oh Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.)
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To: Quix
Running my mouth on stuff I know nothing about is an essential American skill. It's called politics.

But journalism is also a contender....

769 posted on 06/03/2011 10:47:32 AM PDT by Mad Dawg (Oh Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.)
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Comment #770 Removed by Moderator

To: Quix
THE VATICAN CULT FAILS as any remotely Christian successor to Christ.

Nothing about Christ about them but everything about Mary. They are Maryian's - Marians not Christians.
771 posted on 06/03/2011 12:23:09 PM PDT by presently no screen name
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To: Iscool
So how could you make such a statement that all you ask of Mary is to convey a prayer to Jesus??? M

In all seriositude, because the "by your intercession" is understood.

772 posted on 06/03/2011 12:30:34 PM PDT by Mad Dawg (Oh Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.)
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To: Iscool

I gather you must be someone who denies the Trinity ,Iscool?

The only way you can agree with Nestorian heresy is to deny that Christ is the 2nd person in the Holy Trinity


773 posted on 06/03/2011 12:55:14 PM PDT by stfassisi ((The greatest gift God gives us is that of overcoming self"-St Francis Assisi)))
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To: HossB86; Alex Murphy

LOL.

I’ll try and remember to send you a complete copy of the current edition of

THE STATIONS OF THE WHITE HANKY.

Someone would do well to compile the DAFFYNITIONARY. Goodness knows The Vatican Cultists won’t give us a copy. It’s probably an unconscious thing anyway.

Or maybe the Knights of whatever wrote it in code.

Seems to me Alex Murphy would be far better suited to the task.

Alex???


774 posted on 06/03/2011 1:33:20 PM PDT by Quix (Times are a changin' INSURE you have believed in your heart & confessed Jesus as Lord Come NtheFlesh)
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To: Mad Dawg

Wellllllllllll Goodness . . . a wedding . . . seems as though a blessing should be in order . . .

if one such as you . . . dares to carry a Proddy blessing to such a couple . . . . LOL.

Prayerfully pondering . . . .

MAY THE LORD GOD OF ABRAHAM, ISAAC AND JACOB BLESS YOU BOTH WITH:

1. The Reverential Fear/Awe of The Lord a la Moses;
2. David’s and John the Beloved’s growing desperate and abiding hunger to Know God more and more fully, more and more deeply, more and more intensely—and to know His love for you similarly;

3. The Hope of the Resurrection and the Joy of our Salvation secure in the Blood of Jesus and the proof of Resurrection morning;

4. The Peace of the Prince of Peace that passes understanding in all circumstances;

5. The Patience and Perseverences through all that life throws at you—The Patience and Perseverance of The Garden of Gethsemene;

6. The Endurance of The Cross of Calvary;

7. The Faithfulness of the Way of the Cross;

8. The Compassion of the Lord of Compassion on The Cross;

9. The Provision of the Lord of Abundant life IN HIM;

10. The Guidance of Holy Spirit through all circumstances, events and relationships;

11. A Thankful heart in all situations as the will of God in Christ Jesus—regardless—while Overcoming the world, the flesh and the devil by the Blood of The Lamb and the word of your testimonies;

12. HIS AMAZING GRACE—THROUGH IT ALL UNTIL YOU STAND FACE TO FACE IN HIS GLORY ON TRANSPARENT STREETS OF GOLD.

BLESS YOU IN YOUR MARRIAGE AND IN ALL YOUR DOINGS AS YOU HONOR AND PUT CHRIST FIRST IN EVERY AREA OF YOUR LIVES.

GOD’S BEST TO YOU BOTH,

—Dr Quix


775 posted on 06/03/2011 1:45:11 PM PDT by Quix (Times are a changin' INSURE you have believed in your heart & confessed Jesus as Lord Come NtheFlesh)
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To: Mad Dawg
It might be better this way:

MAY THE LORD GOD OF ABRAHAM, ISAAC AND JACOB BLESS YOU BOTH WITH:

1. The Reverential Fear/Awe of The Lord a la Moses;

2. David's and John the Beloved's growing desperate and abiding hunger to Know God more and more fully, more and more deeply, more and more intensely--and to know His love for you similarly;

3. The Hope of the Resurrection and the Joy of our Salvation secure in the Blood of Jesus and the proof of Resurrection morning;

4. The Peace of the Prince of Peace that passes understanding in all circumstances;

5. The Patience and Perseverences through all that life throws at you--The Patience and Perseverance of The Garden of Gethsemene;

6. The Endurance of The Cross of Calvary;

7. The Faithfulness of the Way of the Cross;

8. The Compassion of the Lord of Compassion on The Cross;

9. The Provision of the Lord of Abundant life IN HIM;

10. The Guidance of Holy Spirit through all circumstances, events and relationships;

11. A Thankful heart in all situations as the will of God in Christ Jesus--regardless--while Overcoming the world, the flesh and the devil by the Blood of The Lamb and the word of your testimonies;

12. HIS AMAZING GRACE--THROUGH IT ALL UNTIL YOU STAND FACE TO FACE IN HIS GLORY ON TRANSPARENT STREETS OF GOLD.

BLESS YOU IN YOUR MARRIAGE AND IN ALL YOUR DOINGS AS YOU HONOR AND PUT CHRIST FIRST IN EVERY AREA OF YOUR LIVES.

GOD'S BEST TO YOU BOTH,

--Dr Quix

776 posted on 06/03/2011 1:48:52 PM PDT by Quix (Times are a changin' INSURE you have believed in your heart & confessed Jesus as Lord Come NtheFlesh)
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To: Mad Dawg
It might be better this way--or maybe in navy blue:

.



A WEDDING BLESSING

MAY THE LORD GOD OF ABRAHAM, ISAAC AND JACOB BLESS YOU BOTH WITH:


1. The Reverential Fear/Awe of The Lord a la Moses;

2. David's and John the Beloved's growing desperate and abiding hunger to Know God more and more fully, more and more deeply, more and more intensely--and to know His love for you similarly;

3. The Hope of the Resurrection and the Joy of our Salvation secure in the Blood of Jesus and the proof of Resurrection morning;

4. The Peace of the Prince of Peace that passes understanding in all circumstances;

5. The Patience and Perseverences through all that life throws at you--The Patience and Perseverance of The Garden of Gethsemene;

6. The Endurance of The Cross of Calvary;

7. The Faithfulness of the Way of the Cross;

8. The Compassion of the Lord of Compassion on The Cross;

9. The Provision of the Lord of Abundant life IN HIM;

10. The Guidance of Holy Spirit through all circumstances, events and relationships;

11. A Thankful heart in all situations as the will of God in Christ Jesus--regardless--while Overcoming the world, the flesh and the devil by the Blood of The Lamb and the word of your testimonies;

12. HIS AMAZING GRACE--THROUGH IT ALL UNTIL YOU STAND FACE TO FACE IN HIS GLORY ON TRANSPARENT STREETS OF GOLD.

BLESS YOU IN YOUR MARRIAGE AND IN ALL YOUR DOINGS AS YOU HONOR AND PUT CHRIST FIRST IN EVERY AREA OF YOUR LIVES.

GOD'S BEST TO YOU BOTH,

--Dr Quix

777 posted on 06/03/2011 1:52:40 PM PDT by Quix (Times are a changin' INSURE you have believed in your heart & confessed Jesus as Lord Come NtheFlesh)
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To: Mad Dawg

Run it off in my direction most any time, Bro.


778 posted on 06/03/2011 1:53:33 PM PDT by Quix (Times are a changin' INSURE you have believed in your heart & confessed Jesus as Lord Come NtheFlesh)
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To: presently no screen name

So it must seem to the natives of Irian Jira . . .

Given that actions speak louder than words . . . though most of their words seem also to be about Ishtar-Mary . . . as well as the vast majority of their Church names.


779 posted on 06/03/2011 1:56:17 PM PDT by Quix (Times are a changin' INSURE you have believed in your heart & confessed Jesus as Lord Come NtheFlesh)
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To: Mad Dawg

In all seriositude, because the “by your intercession” is understood.


Sorry, Bro . . . sort of . . . mostly not except by the firmness of what follows . . .

THAT comes across as an ocean full of slick rationalized glibness and slight of hand nonsense . . . even for you.

I’m frankly, a bit shocked.

If you are asserting that every RC who prays anything toward, involving Mary has THAT CLEARLY IN FOCUS CONSCIOUSLY IN THEIR MIND THROUGHOUT ALL SUCH PRAYERS

. . . I’ll consider you far more deluded than I thought possible.


780 posted on 06/03/2011 1:59:25 PM PDT by Quix (Times are a changin' INSURE you have believed in your heart & confessed Jesus as Lord Come NtheFlesh)
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