A Virginal Marriage?

IN AN attempt to reconcile the claimed perpetual virginity of Mary with her marriage to Joseph, many painters and sculptors have depicted Joseph as a man who was advanced in age. They reasoned that Joseph was really more like a guardian to Mary than a husband. But Pope John Paul II recently advocated a different view of the matter. He suggests that Joseph “was not an elderly man at the time.” Rather, “his interior perfection, the fruit of grace, led him to live his spousal relationship with Mary with virginal affection.”

If Mary intended to remain a virgin forever, why did she get engaged? “It may be presumed,” answers the pope, “that at the time of their betrothal there was an understanding between Joseph and Mary about the plan to live as a virgin.”

However, the Bible presents the matter differently. Matthew’s account says that Joseph “had no relations with her until she bore a son.” (Matthew 1:25, Catholic New American Bible, italics ours.) After the birth of Jesus, the marital union of Joseph and Mary was by no means virginal. One proof of this is that later in the Gospel account, Jesus is shown to have brothers and sisters.—Matthew 13:55, 56.

Thus, while the Bible states that Mary was a virgin when she gave birth to Jesus, there is no basis for claiming that she lived as a virgin for the rest of her life with Joseph.