Mary has been put on a pedestal, symbolically and literally. In contrast to these powerful images, the alternative picture of Mary, the perpetual-married-virgin, deprives women of a model not only of leadership and courage, but also of sexual desire and passion. Material art portrayed her in some contexts as a priestly figure (as in an 11th century mosaic from Ravenna), with her own autonomy and authority, where she embodies the symbolic vocation of all Christians to “give birth” to the transforming presence of Christ. In line with the New Testament, the early church also gave Mary the title of “God-bearer” ( Theotokos), which became part of Christian orthodoxy, not tied to her perpetual virginity. She is a vital presence at the birth of the church at Pentecost, sharing the divine vision of a world transformed. She initiates Jesus’ ministry at the wedding of Cana and follows him to the cross, despite the dangers. Wikimedia CommonsĪs the first Christian, Mary proclaims a radical message of social justice, where the poor are exalted and the powerful overthrown.
Jan van Eyck, The Ghent Altarpiece, Virgin Mary detail, circa 1426. It accorded with the surrounding culture where Greek philosophers, male and female, tried to live a simple life without attachment to family or possessions. Mary was seen to exemplify this choice, along with Jesus and the apostle Paul. This view arises not from the New Testament but from an apocryphal Gospel in the second century, the “Protoevangelium of James”, which affirms Mary’s perpetual virginity.įrom the second century onwards, Christians saw virginity as an ideal, an alternative to marriage and children. In Catholicism, Mary remains a virgin throughout her married life. The brothers and sisters of Jesus are seen as either cousins or children of Joseph by an earlier marriage. Mary and Joseph begin their sexual relationship following Jesus’ birth, and so Jesus has brothers and sisters.Ĭatholic piety goes beyond this, with Mary depicted as a virgin not only before but also during and after Jesus’ birth, her hymen miraculously restored. Their birth stories are different, but both present Mary as a virgin when she became pregnant with Jesus. Belief in the virgin birth comes from the Gospels of Matthew and Luke.
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