Letter 260

To the Same Person. You have written: "If at first Joseph did not know the Virgin until she had given birth, then surely after the birth he did know her." How, then, did he know her? It is plain that he knew how to honor and to receive with reverence the virgin who had been honored by God before the birth, and who again appeared a virgin after the birth.

Γέγραφας, ὅτι Εἰ πρῶτον οὐκ ἐγίνωσκε τὴν Παρθένον Ἰωσὴφ μέχρι τῆς ἀποτέξεως, πάντως δήπου μετὰ τὸν τόκον ἔγνω. Πῶς οὖν ἔγνω; Πρόδηλον, ὅτι ἔγνω τιμᾶν καὶ καταδέξασθαι τὴν ἐκ θεοῦ τετιμημένην παρθένον πρὸ τοῦ ἀποτέξεως, καὶ πάλιν παρθένον μετὰ τὸν τόκον φανεῖσαν.