Did Mary Take a Vow of Perpetual Virginity?

Mark Brumley is president of Ignatius Press, one of the nation's largest Catholic publishers and distributors of videos and music. A former staff apologist with Catholic Answers, he is author of How Not to Share our Faith, co-author of A Study Guide for Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week, and a contributor to The Five Issues That Matter Most. He is also the executive producer of several documentaries, including The Story of the Nativity, Lost Gospels or False Gospels, and Did Jesus Really Rise from the Dead?. He is the former director of Communications and of the Office for Social Ministries of the Diocese of San Diego.

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It was Jewish custom to be betrothed for 12 months while the husband built a house for them to live in. Once the house was built he would come and get her. There is nothing to suggest a vow of perpetual virginity as it says Joseph did not know her untill after Jesus was born.