Msg Base:  AREA 5  - ASK FATHER            CIN ECHO   AMDG
  Msg No: 256.  Mon  3-09-92 22:27  (NO KILL)  (MAILED)
    From: Father Mateo
      To: Tom Mcgrew
 Subject: Mary's Virginity "in partu"

+-
| of the doctrine that Jesus passed miraculously out of Mary's womb so as
| not to disturb her virginity.  I find it in the Catholic Encyclopedia and
| other reference works, and I was taught it in parochial school.  But most
| other Catholics I talk to say they never heard of it.
|    Is this something we are moving away from?
|                     Sincerely,
+-[TM=>FM]
Dear Tom,
 
The doctrine that Mary bore her Son miraculously without any violation
of her bodily integrity is a doctrine of Catholic faith.  Ott in his
"Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma" (page 205) says that this is a
doctrine of faith "on the ground of the general promulgation of
doctrine", which I take to mean an exercise of the Church's ordinary
magisterium, without the intervention of a formal, infallible
definition of Pope or Council.
 
The doctrine is found in the writings of the Council of Chalcedon, the
Lateran Synod of 649, Pope Paul IV (1555) and Pope Pius XII (Mystici
Corpous).
 
You may download a message on this subject: Area 005, ASK FATHER, Msg.
No. 347, 12-21-91 from Father Mateo to Rick Forest.
 
As a baptized and confirmed Catholic, you have the privilege and
obligation to spread the Gospel.  Please do not hesitate to TEACH
others, like these Catholics who you say "never heard" of this or any
other doctrine.
 
                                Sincerely in Christ,
 
                                Father Mateo
 
Sysop note.
==========
For you convience I have included the following message:
 
Area:    ASK FATHER E00/501 GT > FIDO                  Msg 347
 
From:    Father Mateo                                  21st December 1991
To:      Rick Forest                                   11:17 pm
 
Subject: Mary
         ----
 
+-
| Dear Father Mateo;
|        I am a Baptist seminary student in Louisville, KY., and worndered
| about
| the Catholic view on a certain topic. In a church history class, a
| discussion came up about the various views of Mary and her role in the
| birth of Jesus. Did she go through labor pains? I realize that this may
| seem a trivial question and no disrespect is intended, but this does
| inform us as to the idea of Mary as the "mother of God."
|        Any help in this question would be appreciated.
|  
|        Rick
+-[RF=>FM]
 
Dear Rick,
 
Welcome to this conference.  Your question on whether Our Lady
suffered labor pains while giving birth to Our Lord is part of
the larger question of her perpetual virginity.  The Catholic
doctrine is that Mary was/is a virgin before, during and ever
after childbirth ("ante partum, in partu, post partum").
 
The Jesuit theologian, Michael Gruenthaner, expresses the "during
childbirth" part of our doctrine in this way:  "It is an article
of the Catholic faith that she did so (i.e., gave birth to Jesus)
without suffering the usual lesions of the tissues which occur in
ordinary childbirth, so that she remained a virgin physically even
in parturition.  The passage of the child through her body has been
compared to the transit of light through crystal"   (Michael J.
Gruenthaner, S. J. "Mary in the New Testament" in  J. Carol's
"Mariology", vol. 1, page 92).
 
Early Christians in their meditation on Scripture saw in Moses'
burning bush a type or figure of this Christian mystery: as the
fire blazed without changing the bush, so Christ came forth from
Mary's womb without disturbing the integrity of her body.  Others
are reminded of Mary's virginity "in partu" when they meditate on
Jesus' entering and leaving the locked Upper Room, where the
disciples were gathered after the Resurrection.  This tropic use
of Scripture is not used to prove doctrine, but to foster piety.
 
I hope this helps your discussions, and welcome other questions
about our teachings and practice.
 
                                Your brother in Christ,
 
                                Father Mateo