The deepening of faith in the virginal motherhood led the Church to confess Mary’s real and perpetual virginity even in the act of giving birth to the Son of God made man. In fact, Christ’s birth did not diminish his mother’s virginal integrity but sanctified it. And so the liturgy of the Church celebrates Mary as the ‘Ever Virgin’ – Catechism 499.

The Apostles’ Creed states that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. Mary conceived Jesus without a human father, and the Church has traditionally taught that she was a virgin, before, in and after the birth of the Lord. This virginal conception of Jesus is God’s work, beyond all human understanding and possibility (CCC 497). We can understand its true meaning only with the gift of faith. The theological significance of Mary’s virginity is intimately related to the divinity of Jesus. What the Catholic faith believes about Mary is rooted in its beliefs about Jesus. From all eternity God chose Mary to be the Mother of Jesus. She was a true daughter of Israel, one in a line of holy women who helped prepare for her mission of cooperating with God’s plan for our salvation. Her free cooperation – “Let it be done to me according to your word”– helped God’s plan bear fruit.

By maintaining its belief in Mary’s virginity, the Catholic Church teaches that God alone took the initiative in the Incarnation. God alone is the Father of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.