Josephology: On Joseph and Mary's Marriage 

As Christmas approaches and we contemplate the birth of our Savior, I think it's a good time to clear up the confusion over what led up to His birth -- namely, that Mary wasn't married at the time of the Annunciation.

Contrary to popular misunderstanding, Mary was not an "unwed mother" at the moment of the Incarnation, nor was she merely "engaged" to Joseph -- she was truly and legally married to him; a wife. Jesus was conceived, as is proper, within the bond of Holy Matrimony, not outside it. Following are some resources that address the nature and validity of Joseph and Mary's marriage.

Joseph and Mary's Marriage and the Incarnation

"In Hebrew Law the betrothal was not a simple promise of marriage in the future, but, with binding force, was equivalent to it. In Deuteronomy, as in the Gospel, the betrothed was called 'wife' because she was indeed that. Accused of infidelity, she would be obliged to suffer the punishment for adultery, and she would be stoned to death. Did her betrothed die, she would be looked upon as a widow. Nor could she be rejected except through the same process of divorce as the Law required for a married woman.

"Cohabitation, however, was generally postponed for some months, perhaps a year. The rabbis held the bride should be given the time to prepare her trousseau, the groom, to fulfill the promises of the [marriage] contract and prepare the home.

"Actually, the betrothed could have marital relations and if the bride conceived a child by her groom, no fault would be found. Because of these facts, the endless controversies carried on later about Mary's conception of the Incarnate Word, some affirming that she was truly married, others denying it, are absolutely pointless -- a mere war of words." [emphasis added]
~ Michel Gasnier, OP; Joseph the Silent

* * *

"In the Book of Luke we read that the Angel Gabriel appeared to a virgin named Mary, betrothed to a man named Joseph. From the point of view of our own time and culture, this seems to tell us that, at the time the angel announced the conception of the Son of God, Mary and Joseph were merely engaged.

"Was this really so? ... According to Jewish custom, the betrothal was not merely an engagement but had the force of marriage, including the marital rights.

"... Lest there be any doubt about this understanding of 'betrothal,' the Church herself has given us an explanation of the 'betrothal' of Joseph and Mary. 'According to Jewish custom, marriage took place in two stages: first, the legal, or true marriage was celebrated, and then, only after a certain period of time, the husband brought his wife into his own house. Thus, before he lived with Mary, Joseph was already her 'husband.' " (Op. cit., Redemptoris Custos, n. 18)

"Thus the betrothal of Joseph and Mary refers to an actual marriage. Yet there was a period of possibly [up to] one year following the betrothal in which the couple did not live together. ... The Jews did not consider it unlawful or even necessarily unusual for a woman to conceive a child during the one-year period. This explains why no one thought it was unusual or at least unlawful for Mary to be with child during this time. Otherwise, it would have been a great scandal in the little town of Nazareth, and it could have made her subject to the law and its punishment."
~ Dominic De Domenico, OP; True Devotion to St. Joseph and the Church

* * *

"Nor let the word 'espoused' be understood, as by some it has been understood, as if Mary were at the time only promised in marriage, that is, betrothed. No. The nuptials had already been celebrated, according to the true sense of Scripture, a point which has been clearly established by the Holy Fathers and Doctors, and, in particular, by the Angelic Doctor, St. Thomas. Thus we find St. Matthew calling Joseph the husband of Mary, and Mary the wife of Joseph."
~ Edward Healy Thompson, MA; The Life and Glories of St. Joseph

The Validity of Joseph and Mary's Marriage

"The Scripture testifies clearly that Joseph was the husband of Mary and that Mary was his wife. One could not be a husband or a wife if one did not marry. The Scripture would not call him husband if it meant that he was not Mary's husband. (Cf. Mt. 1:18-20)

"Still, one should not wish to rely here on a private interpretation of the Scripture unless it is consistent with Tradition and the Magisterium of the Church. The Fathers of the Church, including St. Augustine, have unanimously upheld the genuineness of this marriage. It is also the teaching of St. Thomas Aquinas, the universal Doctor of the Church. Besides, the teaching has been upheld by papal encyclicals in more recent times.

"According to the view of St. Augustine, there are three goods of marriage: offspring, fidelity, and sacrament. All three of these, he says, have fulfillment in the marriage of Joseph and Mary. ... Offspring is more perfectly fulfilled in the marriage of Joseph and Mary because the offspring is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who infinitely surpasses all created persons.

"There is fidelity because there is no adultery. ... As the offspring of the marriage, Jesus is also the final end or cause of this marriage. In this sense, the marriage is a sacrament of the New Testament. Following the appearance of an angel in a dream to Joseph, we see that their previously valid marriage becomes a marriage of two people who believe in Christ, a new reality."
~ Dominic De Domenico, OP; True Devotion to St. Joseph and the Church

* * *

"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. 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."
~ Edward Healy Thompson, MA; The Life and Glories of St. Joseph

See also: Josephology: On Joseph and Mary's Marriage, Part II

Labels: joseph, josephology, mariology, mary

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