The Perpetual Problem of the Perpetual Virgin

I never enjoyed the issue of whether Mary had children or not. When I was Protestant, I hated asking it, and as a Catholic I hate answering it. The reason is a result of the fact that it requires someone to think. This is going to be a long and hard post. I suggest only reading it when you don't have other distractions and when you have the time to dedicate to reading it and thinking about it.
Let's start with the objections often raised by (most, because some believe in the Perpetual Virginity) Protestants, and then we'll work on the proof of the Ever-Virgin:

1) Matthew 13:55 is most often employed and used. "Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brethren James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not all his sisters with us?" Let's look at the words used her for brothers (adelphoi) and sisters (adelphe). The word adelphoi has a much broader meaning that literally a blood-brother (like my two younger brothers). It may, and often does, refer to male or female relatives that one is not a descendant of and that are not descendants from. It can be used as a blood brother, step-brother, nephew, uncle, cousin, etc. Furthermore, it can refer to non-relatives, such as neighbors, fellow workers, coreligionists, and friends.

As an example of this broad usage, one can look at the 120 "brothers" in Acts 1:15 (they obviously did not have the same mother, else the mother would have been in perpetual labor!). Furthermore, one can look at Lot and his uncle Abraham, who were called "brothers" in Gen. 11:26-28, 29:15.
The reasoning behind relatives being called brothers or sisters was because in Hebrew, there was no word for cousin, nephew, or uncle. The person was referred to as simply a "brother." Linguistically, this was far easier than calling the person the son of a mother’s sister. Since the New Testament was written in a dialect of Greek that was heavily influenced by the Semitic culture, many of the Hebrew idioms, such as "brother" having multiple meanings, come across into the Greek text. So, the fact that Jesus had adelphoi does not mean that Mary had other children.

2) Matthew 1:25 is, in my experience, the second most often used verse to try and contradict the Perpetual Virginity."But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus." Let's delve, once again, into the Greek. The word used for "until" here is heos, which does not imply that Mary had marital relations after the birth of Christ. One reads in 2 Samuel 6:23 that Michal, the daughter of Saul, had no child "until" the day of her death. Obviously, Michal did not have any children after that day, either! Hebrews 1:13 ("To which of the angels did God ever say, "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet"?) and 1 Timothy 4:13 ("Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching") are similar examples. Matthew’s intent here is not to explain what happened after the birth of Christ, but rather before. He is only concerned with the fact that Joseph and Mary had no relations before then.

So what about proof? Well, let's look at Luke 1:34, "How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?" There are only two options here: either Mary was a consecrated virgin or she was an idiot. Mary asks the angel 'how will this be'. Mary was old enough to know how biology works, how babies are made. Furthermore, she was betrothed to Joseph. If she was not a consecrated virgin, she would have known that soon she would have marital relations and, therefore, bare a child. It only makes sense for her to question how it would be done if she had plans to be a perpetual virgin. If an angel came to my fiancée and told her she would give birth, she wouldn't be confused. She knows that we are engaged and that we will soon be married and have marital relations. However, if she was a consecrated virgin her question would make more sense.

Finally, I must point out that Mary's perpetual virginity is not a new belief. We can look at Origen in 248 (Commentary on Matthew, 2:17) and Athanasius in 360 (Discourses Against the Arians, 2:70), though there are a ton more. We can also fast-forward to the Reformation, where such leaders as Martin Luther believed in the Perpetual Virginity.

There really is no good argument against Mary's Perpetual Virginity. It does, however, have some support in Scripture (and no contradiction), it has been believed since some of the earliest Church Fathers, and was even held as a precious belief by most of the Protestant Reformers.

Holy Virgin of virgins, pray for us.