Mary Ever-virgin...(period)

[Fiat_Voluntas_Tua]

Blessed be God!


These are quotes from the very eairly Church Father's...way back in the beginging...There Grandfather's probably knew Mary. (note the dates...also if you are only going to read a few quotes read the last ones!)

[quote]  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]).  [/quote]

[quote] 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 [b][A.D. 374]).  [/quote]

[quote]"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]). [/b] [/quote]

[quote]  Jerome  -  "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). Around AD 383 [/quote]

[quote]"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]).  [/quote]

[quote]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]).  [/quote]

[quote]Augustine  -  "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]).  [/quote]

[quote]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]).  [/quote]

[quote]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]).  [/quote]

[quote]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]).  [/quote]

[quote]Council of Constantinople II  -  "If anyone will not confess that the Word of God ... came down from the heavens and was made flesh of holy and glorious Mary, mother of God and ever-virgin, and was born from her, let him be anathema" (Anathemas Against the "Three Chapters" 2 [A.D. 553]).  [/quote]

[u][b]Today most Protestants are unaware of these early beliefs regarding Mary’s virginity and the proper interpretation of "the brethren of the Lord." And yet, the Protestant Reformers themselves—Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Ulrich Zwingli—honored the perpetual virginity of Mary and recognized it as the teaching of the Bible, as have other, more modern Protestants. [/b][/u]

[quote] [b]Martin Luther  [/b]-  "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." (Weimer's The Works of Luther, English translation by Pelikan, Concordia, St. Louis, v. 11, pp. 319-320; v. 6. p. 510.)  [/quote]

[quote][b]Martin Luther[/b]  -  "Christ . . . was the only Son of Mary, and the Virgin Mary bore no children besides Him . . . I am inclined to agree with those who declare that 'brothers' really mean 'cousins' here, for Holy Writ and the Jews always call cousins brothers."
{Pelikan, ibid., v.22:214-15 / Sermons on John, chaps. 1-4 (1539) }  [/quote]

[quote][b]John Calvin[/b]  -  "I firmly believe that Mary, according to the words of the gospel as a pure Virgin brought forth for us the Son of God and in childbirth and after childbirth forever remained a pure, intact Virgin. "(Zwingli Opera, Corpus Reformatorum, Berlin, 1905, v. 1, p. 424.) [/quote]

[quote]Zwingli had printed in 1524 a sermon on 'Mary, ever virgin, mother of God.' [/quote]

[quote][b]Huldreich Zwingli[/b]  -  "I have never thought, still less taught, or declared publicly, anything concerning the subject of the ever Virgin Mary, Mother of our salvation, which could be considered dishonourable, impious, unworthy or evil . . . I believe with all my heart according to the word of holy gospel that this pure virgin bore for us the Son of God and that she remained, in the birth and after it, a pure and unsullied virgin, for eternity."  {Thurian, ibid., p.76 / same sermon}  [/quote]

[quote][b]John Wesley [/b]-  "I believe... he [Jesus Christ] was born of the blessed Virgin, who, as well after as she brought him forth, continued a pure and unspotted virgin."  {"Letter to a Roman Catholic," quoted in A. C. Coulter, John Wesley, New York: Oxford University Press, 1964, 495}  [/quote]


My brother's and sister's it is not a merely a Catholic Idea, but a Christian Truth that Mary was ever-Virgin...Not only did the First Church Father's say so, but even those who broke off from the Catholic Church still agreed that [b]Mary was, is, and will continue to be Ever-Virgin. [/b]

With Charity,

Ave Maria,

Andrew

[StColette]

great quotes Andy, I've used them a bunch Only problem is some non-Catholics won't accept them Sola Scriptura But for those who will listen to them are those with an open heart and mind and are willing to learn and usually convert

[Fiat_Voluntas_Tua]

"But for those who will listen to them are those with an open heart and mind and are willing to learn and usually convert." <---(This happened to me :-)

True...but there are a bunch of hard-core Luthern's and Methodist's...and i believe they will find it shocking to see that Luther and Wesley supported it.

Ave Maria,

Andy

[StColette]

Oooh that's awesome about your conversion

Yeah those quotes are a big surprise to Lutherans and Methodists