Topic: Do we believe that Mary was always a virgin?
Source of this posting: Moderator response to emailed question
Date originally posted: March 13, 2002
Moderator who originally posted this source: J. Ruffo
Question: The question of Mary being a virgin her whole life. Did not Jesus have brothers and sisters. Little is ever said of them in the Bible but they are mentioned.
Answer:
Dear Joe,
If you were the person on our Live Chat last night, I think I already answered this one for you.
If you were not with us last night online: check out the very excellent explanation on the virginity of Mary in our CatholicQanA Virtual Library, under the FAQ Library, click “Mary”, and then click “Some Thoughts on the Perpetual Virginity of Mary”.
Also, the bible uses the same word for “brothers” and “sisters” as it does for “cousins”. They all lived together in the same lodging. So when the scripture talks about Jesus’ brothers and sisters, it’s really referring to his cousins.
There’s another school of thought that wonders if Joseph was married before. Perhaps he was a widower and had children from his former marriage? These children would then be like step-brothers and step-sisters to Jesus. But, if this premise has any truth in fact, we’ll have to wait to find out by asking Joseph in person about it when we meet him in Heaven.
Father John