The nuptials of Mary and Joseph were solemnized in the Temple, and, after receiving the sacerdotal blessing, the newly-married couple would be accompanied by their relatives and friends, walking in procession with music and rejoicing and the waving of myrtle and palm-branches, to their abode, the house which Joachim and Anne had occupied near the Probatic Pool. Perhaps—for this was a Jewish custom where it was designed to show honor—some of these branches would be cast under the feet of the Blessed Virgin and her spouse. Mary was to have her one scene of honor and pomp upon earth, as her Divine Son was to have His in His descent from the Mount of Olives on the road to His Passion, when He was to espouse to Himself the Church upon the Cross of Calvary. The friends of the bridegroom and the bride would on their arrival partake of the marriage-feast which had been prepared for them, an instance of which practice we see in the marriage at Cana in Galilee, where the Mother of Jesus was present, to which our Lord, as well as His disciples, was invited, and which He honored with His presence and first public miracle.
After the feast, and as the sun went down, the guests would depart, leaving the married pair alone with God and with their good angels, who, we may piously believe, were now called to witness the interchange of those secret words which revealed the hitherto hidden vows, of the existence of which, however, we have reason to be well persuaded that the Holy Spirit had already interiorly assured them. It was now, then, that, according to the opinion of Fathers and Doctors, Mary and Joseph, while remaining bound together by the contract and tie of matrimony, renewed in a solemn and absolute form their respective vows of perpetual virginity. And thus, while continuing in the face of the law and in verity husband and wife, they were to live together as brother and sister, innocent and immaculate, like the angels of God in Heaven. They might be compared to a rose and a lily growing together in one vase. It was, indeed, an incomparable marriage, uniting all that is sweet and pure in the two estates; so that the devout servant of Mary and Joseph, John Gerson, speaking before the Council of Constance of this most pure marriage, gave expression to his ecstasy, when contemplating it, by exclaiming that in them virginity had espoused itself. Nothing in this marriage but what was heavenly, nothing savoring of earth. Holy doctors (as has been already observed) have interpreted the “sealed book” spoken of by Isaias the prophet,1 which should be delivered to one that is learned, as the Blessed Virgin, who is also called “a garden enclosed, a fountain sealed up,”2 so that no foot of man should enter the former or profane hand invade the waters of the latter, and that it was to Joseph that this book was given. And when was it given? No doubt it was on the solemn day of his espousals with Mary that Joseph had this mystical book committed into his keeping. The book was the symbol of Mary’s virginity, and it was given to the most pure Joseph in order that he might guard it in his virginal hands. And Joseph, knowing before his espousals that the Blessed Virgin had consecrated her virginity to God, understood the mystery of the sealed book, and received it into his custody only to respect and to guard it.
Let us listen to the great Bishop of Geneva on the subject of Joseph’s virginity. “In what degree,” he says, “may we suppose that Joseph possessed holy virginity, a virtue which assimilates us to the angels, if the Blessed Virgin was, not only the most perfectly pure and spotless Virgin, but, as the Church sings, Virginity itself, Sancta et Immaculata Virginitas! How highly exalted in this virtue must he have been whom the Eternal Father chose as the guardian of her virginity, or, rather I might say, as its companion; how great, I repeat, must he have been in this virtue! Both had made a vow to preserve virginity during their whole lives, and behold! God wills that they should be joined in the bands of a holy marriage, not that they might unsay their vow or repent of it, but to confirm them in it, and that they might be a mutual support in carrying out their holy enterprise; for this reason they now renewed their vow to live together as virgins for the remainder of their lives.”3
But here some doubts may arise. If these two most holy spouses were already confirmed in grace and free from all incentives to evil, which in the one had never existed and in the other had by a singular privilege been extinguished or suppressed; if, albeit conditionally, they had both of them promised God to observe perpetual virginity, what need was there for them to bind themselves anew by an absolute vow to preserve in holy matrimony this unspotted lily of virginity? Were they inspired by God to do so? We cannot doubt it. For, indeed, they never did anything without diligently taking counsel of God, and God sent His angels to assure them of His good pleasure. If, then, this act was prompted by God, was pleasing to God, was accepted by God, without doubt it was of great advantage to themselves, and of profit to us; not that they feared lest they might fail in their holy resolve unless they bound themselves by this vow, for through divine grace they were already most firm in their determination, but because, being two most holy creatures, emulous of the highest perfection, and aware that the works of perfection are the more acceptable to God and have the greater merit and reward if performed by vow, partaking as they then do of the virtue of religion, they, in order that their virginity might be pleasing to God in the highest degree, resolved to consecrate and give it to Him by an absolute and solemn vow, as in fact they did. And thus Mary and Joseph, possessing all the graces and gifts of the conjugal state, were by their vow to have at the same time all the privileges and rare excellencies of virginity. It could not be that they should be deprived of this signal glory.
Then, as respects the profit to us. Mary was to be proposed for all future ages as the example, the mirror, and the model of all women, high and low, married and virgins, and especially of those who should consecrate themselves to God by a perpetual vow. And what is said of Mary as respects women must, in due proportion, be said of Joseph in regard to men. Joseph, so perfect before God, was to serve as an example and a model to all men, virgins as well as married, and particularly to those who have vowed perpetual chastity. He, too, was to be the first among men to make this generous and solemn vow, in order to become, as the Church styles him, the guardian of virgins and their great patriarch; and, in fact, the sublime example of Mary and Joseph drew numbers of saints of the New Law to follow in their steps, and oblige themselves, by vow, to lead a virginal life even in the state of holy matrimony, who have been held forth in ecclesiastical history as the admiration and marvel of the world.
Such, then, were the chief reasons why these two most holy spouses, although confirmed in grace, took an absolute and formal vow of perpetual virginity after the celebration of their marriage; and this is the common opinion of Fathers and Doctors. But, if they had made a vow before their marriage, and, not content with this, solemnly renewed it subsequently from their love of holy virginity, how, it may be asked, can their marriage be reckoned true and valid? Is not the vow of virginity directly opposed to the chief end of holy matrimony? Before applying ourselves to the solution of this difficulty, we may observe that St. Thomas teaches that all that is essential to matrimony is that, between those who legitimately contract it, there should be mutual consent and mutual engagement of fidelity.4 It is certain, as St. Augustine says, that those are still true spouses who, after being lawfully united in marriage, resolve in their hearts to remain ever virgins. And the same Augustine denounces the heretic Julian, of the sect of the Pelagians, who openly denied the truth of the marriage between Mary and Joseph. This being premised, we may further observe that it is clear from more than one passage in the Holy Gospel that Mary was truly Joseph’s wife, and Joseph truly Mary’s husband, for she is expressly called the wife of Joseph, as Joseph is called the husband of Mary.5 If Joseph be sometimes styled by the Fathers simply the guardian, not the husband, of Mary, this way of speaking was not intended to exclude the reality of the matrimonial bond which united them, but only to rebut any possible surmise which might arise against their virginal purity.
But to return to the difficulty suggested respecting the vows. St. Augustine, St. Thomas, and the Master of the Sentences, not to mention others, firmly hold that Mary and Joseph took two vows of virginity; the first mental, simple, and conditional, that is, dependent on God not disposing otherwise. This vow was taken by each long before their union. The second vow was absolute, perpetual, and without limitation, and followed immediately on their marriage. Neither of these vows, however, could invalidate it. Not the first, because simple and conditional, and such vows never invalidate marriage, which a solemn vow alone can render void. Neither can it be urged that, since it was a promise, it was not lawful to break it; for it was a conditional promise, and the condition depended on God, who was pleased to release the two holy spouses from all previous promise, and, therefore, from all obligation. It is certain, also, that Mary and Joseph merited greatly by their obedience to what God had thus ordained; for, had not He decreed their union, they would have willingly remained in their solitary virginal state.
If the previous vow had no power to nullify the validity and reality of their marriage, still less could their subsequent vow, although absolute and unlimited. The contract was effected, the knot was tied; no subsequent disposition, however holy, could dissolve or break that holy matrimonial bond; it could only strengthen it by rendering it more holy. Every one is at liberty to deny himself in regard to what belongs to him. Such a denial does not deprive him of the right of his own property. You may own an enclosed garden without culling or appropriating to yourself one of its flowers, and make an offering of all to God’s altar. Mary did not cease to be Joseph’s spouse because she had bound herself by a vow of virginity, nor did Joseph cease to be the true husband of Mary because he had consecrated to God his virginal purity. Thus a true marriage subsisted between them by mutual consent notwithstanding their vow, and all the more sublime in that it was more pure. The Church has always held such marriages to be true marriages, although accompanied by virginity, as we see in the examples of St. Thecla, St. Cecilia, the Emperor St. Henry of Germany, St. Edward the Confessor, and many other saints. How, then, shall we not hold as true, and most valid, the virginal marriage of Joseph and Mary? The proofs alleged by St. Thomas are irrefragable.
It may be further asked, if Jesus, who was essential purity, willed to be born of a virgin, why did He will that she should also be married? This question has also been fully treated by St. Thomas, who has given many reasons. Some of these have already been indicated by anticipation. Jesus, when born into the world, must be born according to the appearances of the world. His genealogy from Abraham, Juda, and David must also be clearly established; and a genealogy with the Hebrews was always traced on the father’s side, the mother’s, indeed, being (generally speaking) of the same descent and tribe; wherefore St. Jerome says that Jesus was conceived of a married virgin, in order that by Joseph’s origin Mary’s might be proved. It was also needful to hide the mystery from the profane, and also from the devil; against this adversary Jesus had a shield in Joseph; for, if Satan had discovered his vanquisher in the Babe of Bethlehem, he would at once have begun to wage fierce war against Him. Again, it was needful (as already observed) to guard Mary from dishonoring imputations on the part of those who were ignorant of the mystery, and from the penalties of the law, as also in order that she should be protected, maintained, supported, and consoled in toils and sufferings, especially during the flight into Egypt. To these reasons it must be added that in Joseph she would have an additional and unimpeachable witness that Jesus was conceived without an earthly father, and by the sole power of the Holy Ghost; and more credit would be given to her own declaration of her virginity, because, as St. Ambrose observes, if a virgin who is unmarried becomes a mother, it will certainly be assumed that in affirming her virginity she lies; but a married woman in such case has no inducement to lie, since it is in the order of nature that a married woman should have children. A mystical reason may also be given for this holy marriage; for the virgin espoused to the most pure Joseph was to be the type and figure of the Church, who was espoused as a virgin to a virginal Spouse, that is, to Jesus Christ, as St. Augustine says. Finally, in the person of Mary and Joseph the virginal and conjugal states were severally approved, sanctified, and glorified against ancient and modern heretics, who have furiously assaulted both the vows of virginity and the sacrament of matrimony.
Nor let it be objected that this marriage of Mary and Joseph tended to hide and veil from men the virginity of Mary, since this was the one chief object and desire of these two holy spouses; that is, while jealously guarding and cultivating virginity, to withdraw it from the observation of men and from their esteem, hiding it through humility under the veil of matrimony, that they might not be regarded as singular. Let us listen again to St. Francis de Sales speaking of St. Joseph, and what he says applies with still greater force to Mary: “Joseph was very specially careful to keep the precious pearl of his virginity concealed; for this reason he consented to bind himself in marriage, so that no one should come to know it, and that under the shelter of marriage he might live concealed. Whereby virgins, both men and women, who desire to live in chastity are instructed that it is not sufficient to be virgins, but they must also be humble.” The virginity of Mary, according to the Divine counsels, was to remain concealed until the preaching of Christ, which was to manifest His Divinity; and until that time arrived, Joseph, like the veil of the Temple, was to hide from the profane the Holy of Holies; but, the propitious moment being come, the mysterious veil was withdrawn, and the virginity of Mary was displayed in all its splendor. It was proclaimed by Apostles, declared by Evangelists, and thenceforth glorified throughout the world by holy doctors. And, along with the virginity of Mary, the virginity of Joseph began by degrees to shine forth also, so that no one can say that the reality of the marriage between Mary and Joseph can in any way have effaced or obscured the belief of their stainless purity. That thought can only arise in the minds of carnal men, who (as the Apostle tells us6) discern not the things that are of the Spirit of God.
If any one should ask, would not a richer and more powerful spouse have been more suitable for our Sovereign Lady, the reply is not far to seek. It is not power or riches which attract the eyes of God. It is virtue, rectitude, humility, poverty, and sanctity of life. Joseph was given to Mary as her spouse because he possessed immense treasures of grace and of holiness, such as might have excited the envy of the celestial intelligences, because his singular endowments had rendered him preeminent above all, and because before God he occupied a more elevated and sublime position than that of all the kings of the earth. The Virgin was confided, not to the most powerful, but to the worthiest, not to the richest, but to the holiest; like to the Ark of the Lord, which was a figure of Mary, and was placed, not in the palace of kings, but under the lowly roof and in the charge of a simple Gethite, Obededom, upon whose house, in consequence, all the blessings of Heaven were showered.7 It is manifest also that Jesus, coming into the world to condemn pride, arrogance, and the ill-acquired riches of men, willed that His most holy Mother and His foster-father should give the first example of a life, poor, frugal, modest, and laborious, such as might rebuke the insolent pride of the worldly, and be an abiding example and consolation to those who are placed in a poor and humble condition of life.