Early Church Fathers on Mary’s Perpetual Virginity. . .

As we continue our study of the Early Church Fathers (ECFs), we see that, regardless of what many non-Catholics believe, the Church has always taught that Mary had no other children besides Jesus:

Hilary of Poitiers:  If they [the brethren of the Lord] had been Mary's sons... 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) [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. [A.D. 360]).

Epiphanius: 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. [A.D. 374]).

Jerome: 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. [A.D. 383]).


It’s also interesting to note that the Protestant Reformers believed in Mary’s perpetual virginity:

Luther: "It is an article of faith that Mary is Mother of the Lord and still a virgin...Christ, we believe, came forth from a womb left perfectly intact."

Calvin: "There have been certain folks who wish to suggest from this passage (Matt 1:25) that the Virgin Mary had other children than the Son of God, and that Joseph had dwelt with her later; but what folly is this!”

Zwingli: "I firmly believe that Mary, according to the words of the gospel, as a pure Virign brought forth for us the Son of God and in childbirth and after childbirth forever remained a pure, intact Virgin."