From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   April 9th - St. Mary "of Cleophas"   
      
   "And there were standing by the cross of Jesus His mother and His mother's   
   sister, Mary of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalen." How should we understand "His   
   mother's sister," literally, as in having the same parents, or in the same   
   sense that Jesus's "brothers" are to be understood as close relatives?   
   The short answer is that Mary of Cleophas is probably the Blessed Virgin's   
   sister-in-law. Mary of Cleophas may have had a previous husband named   
   Alpheus, or this Alpheus may have been Cleophas. The Blessed Virgin Mary, of   
   course, only had one husband (Joseph) and remained a virgin. The long answer   
   follows.   
      
   Jesus' relatives   
      
   Reading the Bible, we find that Jesus had brethren named James, Joseph,   
   Simon (Simeon) and Jude (Mt 13:55). We also know that His mother Mary had a   
   "sister" called Mary. This other Mary in turn had a husband named Cleophas   
   (Jn 19:25). I hope here to summarize and untangle this maze of relatives. I   
   do not seek to prove the Blessed Virgin Mary's perpetual virginity here;   
   there are many other sources for that purpose that I will list below.   
      
   First, let us see what the Gospels tell us. At the death of Jesus, we are   
   told that Mary wife of Cleophas/Clopas (Jn 19:25) was present. She was   
   described as the mother of James and Joseph (Mt 27:56) in one account, and   
   mother of James the Less and Joses in another (Mk 15:40). On the other hand,   
   James is described as the son of Alphaeus in the synoptic Gospels' listing   
   of the Apostles (Mt 10:3, Mk 3:18, Lk 6:15). We can infer that Mary wife of   
   Cleophas is unlikely to be a true sister of the Virgin Mary, since they bear   
   the same name. However, they are related in some way. This parallels the   
   semitic use of "brother" in relating James to Jesus.   
      
   An ancient historian named Hegesippus can shed further light. A native of   
   Palestine, Hegesippus finished his Memoirs in the reign of Pope Eleutherius   
   (AD 175-189) when he was an old man. He draws his information from personal   
   sources, as he was able to question some surviving members of Jesus' family.   
   Hegesippus can tell us that:   
      
   "After the martyrdom of James, it was unanimously decided that Simeon, son   
   of Clopas, was worthy to occupy the see of Jerusalem. He was, it is said, a   
   cousin of the Saviour;" Hegesippus recounts in fact that Clopas was a   
   brother of Joseph (Eusebius, Hist. eccl., III, 11).   
      
   St. Epiphanius (Haer., LXXVII, 7) says the same and adds (ibid., 14) "that   
   this Simeon, the son of Clopas, was a cousin of James the Just," as   
   Hegesippus says in another passage. (Prat, Jesus Christ, p. 505).   
      
   Cleophas is the brother of Joseph (Jesus' adopted father). It follows that   
   Cleophas' wife Mary is the Virgin Mary's sister in law, which explains why   
   they can have the same name and are called sisters. It also follows that   
   James is Jesus' cousin. Ferdinand Prat reasons:   
      
   "We know, then that the mother of two of the brothers of the Lord was Mary   
   of Cleophas, the sister of the Blessed Virgin. We also know that Cleophas,   
   St Joseph's brother, was the father of a third, called Simon or Simeon.   
   Since the remaining one, Jude, is always connected with Simon and is, like   
   him, part of the family of David, it is natural to suppose that he was also   
   a son of Cleophas.   
      
   All the points that remain obscure would be cleared up, in our opinion, if   
   two hypotheses are risked. Mary, the sister of the Blessed Virgin, having   
   two sons, James and Joseph, by a first marriage, was married a second time   
   to Cleophas, brother of St. Joseph, who also had two sons, Simon and Jude,   
   by a former marriage. In light of the customs of the country and the age,   
   there was nothing extraordinary in the marriage of a widow and a widower,   
   each with children. The second hypothesis is that the sister of the Blessed   
   Virgin had as her first husband a man of the tribe of Levi, called Alpheus.   
      
   In this fashion nine or ten problems would be solved. Thus one could explain   
   why James, Joseph, Simon and Jude are always named in that order, as   
   brethren of the Lord; why James and Joseph are a pair distinct from Simon   
   and Jude; why Mary, sister of the Blessed Virgin, is called the mother of   
   James and Joseph and not the mother of Simon and Jude; why, according to   
   Hegesippus, Simon and not James is the son of Cleophas; why, again according   
   to Hegesippus, Simon and Jude are of the family of David; why, according to   
   tradition, James was of sacerdotal ancestry; why the common opinion of   
   Catholics identifies James, son of Mary, sister of the Blessed Virgin, with   
   James the Apostle, the son of Alpheus; why Mary of Cleophas is called in the   
   Gospel sister of the Blessed Virgin, when she was really her sister-in-law,   
   being the wife of St. Joseph's brother; finally, why, after the deaths of   
   Joseph and Cleophas, the two sisters brought their families together, so   
   that thereafter the two families seemed to be but one." (Prat, Jesus Christ,   
   p. 136-137).   
      
   We do not hear of Cleophas or Joseph (Jesus' adopted father) in the Gospels   
   during Jesus' adult life. We can imagine that after their deaths, the two   
   families-deprived of their protectors and heads-came together under one   
   roof. This would further strengthen their ties: the two Marys as "sisters"   
   and Jesus and His cousins as "brothers". Gospel and tradition kept these   
   names without denying Mary's perpetual virginity.   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   One must pass through the desert and spend some time there in order to   
   receive   
   the grace of God; it is there that one empties oneself, that one drives away   
   from oneself everything which is not God and that one empties completely the   
   house of one's soul in order to leave all of it to God alone.   
   -Blessed Charles de Foucald   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   Blessed is the rich man that is found without blemish: and that hath not   
   gone   
   after gold, nor put his trust in money nor in treasures. 9 Who is he, and we   
   will praise him? for he hath done wonderful things in his life.   
   (Ecclesiasticus  31:8-9)   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   A brief novena to our Lord as Christ the King of All Nations:   
      
   Christ conquers! Christ reigns! Christ commands!   
   Christ the King, have mercy on us!   
      
   Our Father...   
      
   V: Jesus, King and center of all hearts,   
   R: By the coming of Thy kingdom, grant us peace.   
      
   Glory be...   
      
   O Lord our God, Thou alone art the Most Holy King and Ruler of all   
   nations. We pray to Thee, O Lord, in the great expectation of receiving   
   from Thee, O Divine King; mercy, peace, justice, and all good things.   
      
   V: Jesus, King and center of all hearts,   
   R: By the coming of Thy kingdom, grant us peace.   
      
   Glory be...   
      
   Protect, O Lord our King, our families and the land of our birth. Guard   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)