Only in 1854 could the world be sure that Mary had been ‘conceived normally but without sin’! Until then, ‘perpetual virginity’, the nonsense developed by Jerome and Athanasius in the fourth century, had sufficed to vouchsafe Mary’s purity.
Natiyak lamang sa wakas ng mundo noong 1854 na si Maria ay ‘ipinaglihi sa normal na paraan ngunit walang kasalanan’! Bago noon, ang kalokohang aral na inimbento nina Jerome at Athanasius noong ika-apat na siglo tungkol sa ‘walang hanggang pagkabirhen’ ay sapat na upang masiguro ang kadalisayan ni Maria.