Since the earliest days of the Church, Mary has been honoured as Virgin Most Holy. Were Mary and Joseph genuinely married if their relationship excluded the conjugal embrace?

Those who conclude that this holy couple were not genuinely married because they lacked the conjugal expression of marital love are overlooking something important. 

What unites a man and a woman more than the physical joining of bodies is a total and sincere yes to the beloved, accepting all that he or she is, without reservation, without qualification.

Unconditional love does require bodily expression for it to be genuine. It is true that sexual love is a profound dimension of marriage, but it flows from and is rooted in something prior, namely the unconditional love and commitment of the lover and beloved to one another.

“The marriage of Mary with Joseph conceals within itself, at the same time, the mystery of the perfect communion of persons, of Man and Woman in the conjugal covenant, and at the same time the mystery of this singular ‘continence for the kingdom of heaven:’ a continence that served the most perfect ‘fruitfulness of the Holy Spirit’ in the history of salvation,” wrote blessed John Paul II in his Theology of the Body (75.3).

What made Mary and Joseph truly husband and wife was the faithful, fruitful, and lifelong communion of persons within which God himself, their child, was reared.

Review

“We are enjoying listening to your CD in the evenings. It is fantastic!”

-Joseph & Mariola O’Brien, Toronto, ON, Canada.

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