(June 22, 2015 at 4:39 pm)abaris Wrote:(June 22, 2015 at 4:24 pm)Catholic_Lady Wrote: I don't think this was the case with Mary and Joseph.
Based on what? Going by history, real history, and the law of the land in question there wasn't a single marriage that wasn't arranged.
Catholic/Orthodox tradition in this case, both claim the marriage was essentially orchestrated by God as a cover so Mary had someone to look after her and to give the impression Jesus was Josephs child. So she wouldn't suffer stigma for being a single mother.