“WE believe that God was born of the Virgin, because we read it. That Mary was married after she brought forth, we do not believe, because we do not read it. Nor do we say this to condemn marriage…. For virginity itself is the fruit of marriage…. You say that Mary did not continue a virgin: I claim still more, that Joseph himself on account of Mary was a virgin, so that from a virgin wedlock a virgin son was born.”
~St. Jerome (c. 340-420): The Perpetual Virginity of Blessed Mary, Chap. 21.
Madonna of the Magnificat (Madonna del Magnificat), by Sandro Botticelli.
Tempera on panel, 1480-81; Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.
