“To Eve it was said: In sorrow shalt thou bring forth children. Mary was exempt from this law, for preserving her virginal integrity inviolate she brought forth Jesus the Son of God without experiencing, as we have already said, any sense of pain” (Catechism of the Council of Trent for Parish Priests, Trans., John A. McHugh, O.P., Charles J. Callan, O.P., South Bend, Ind., Marian Publications, 1972, p. 4).
Okay, so I looked furthur. In the Protoevangelion of James there is this line:
“And the midwife went along with him and stood in the cave. Then a bright cloud overshadowed the cave, and the midwife said, This day my soul is magnified, for my eyes have seen surprising things, and salvation is brought forth to Israel. But suddenly the cloud became a great light in the cave, so that their eyes could not bear it. But the light gradually decreased, until the infant appeared, and nursed at the breast of his mother Mary. Then the midwife cried out and said, How glorious a day in this, wherein my eyes have seen this extraordinary sight! And the midwife went out from the cave, and Salome met her. And the midwife said to her, Salome, Salome, I will tell you a most surprising thing which I saw, A virgin has brought forth, which is a thing contrary to nature.”
We will have to discuss this one at one of our breakfasts-hopefully soon! Whenever I post about this it sets off a firestorm.
On Fr. Z’s Blog it set off a fire storm and he tried to bring people back to the central point. Huw had a good post about it also and mentioned the people who are more concerned with the way the lamps hang in the church. I guess those types are everywhere.