- Source: Adversus Helvidium
On the Perpetual Virginity of Blessed Mary Against Helvidius (Latin: De perpetua virginitate beatae Mariae adversus Helvidium) is an apologetic work of Saint Jerome which refutes Helvidius’ stance on Mary’s virginity. (c. AD 342/7–420).Helvidius took the view that although Mary was a virgin at the time she conceived Jesus, she and Joseph had sexual relations subsequently — hence the brothers and sisters of Jesus mentioned in the Gospels. Jerome, in contrast, argued vigorously for the perpetual virginity of Mary, whom he deemed exemplary for women making (or contemplating) vows of virginity. In Jerome's interpretation, the brothers and sisters of Jesus became cousins, while Joseph himself (in correction of earlier traditions) was transformed into a lifelong celibate to serve as a model for Christian men. For Jerome, Joseph was Mary's guardian, not her husband; the relation was not a marriage, which for Jerome implied sex.
Saint Jerome maintains against Helvidius three propositions:
That Joseph was only putatively, not really, the husband of Mary.
That the "brothers" of the Lord were his cousins, not his own brothers.
That virginity is better than the married state.
See also
Brothers of Jesus
Sources
External links
Jerome (c. 383), "The Perpetual Virginity of Blessed Mary - Against Helvidius", in Philip Schaff; Henry Wace; Kevin Knight (eds.), Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, Vol. 6, Translated by W.H. Fremantle, G. Lewis and W.G. Martley, Buffalo, New York: Christian Literature Publishing Co. (retrieved from New Advent)
"The Perpetual Virginity of Blessed Mary Against Helvidius". clerus.org. Archived from the original on April 11, 2019. Retrieved July 18, 2022.
The Perpetual Virginity of Blessed Mary public domain audiobook at LibriVox
