Mary

   1) (first century)

   The Mother of Jesus Christ.

   According to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, while Mary was still a virgin, she conceived Jesus through the Holy Spirit. His future birth was announced by the Angel Gabriel and Mary willingly accepted her role as the mother of the Son of God. She visited her cousin Elizabeth who recognised her as the ‘mother of my Lord’ and Mary sang the Magnificat, a hymn glorifying God for his great works. Subsequently she visited Bethlehem with joseph, her betrothed husband, and Jesus was born in a stable. As a result of heavenly visitations, shepherds came to see the new-born baby.

   Then, when Mary and Joseph presented Jesus in the Temple in Jerusalem, simeon prophesied that a sword would pierce Mary’s soul. Matthew’s Gospel records the visit of the wise men to Bethlehem and Mary and Joseph’s flight to Egypt to escape the jealousy of King Herod. Mary was mentioned in the context of Jesus’s visit to Jerusalem at the age of twelve; she appeared as a wedding guest in Cana when Jesus turned water into wine and, according to the Fourth Gospel, she was present at the crucifixion. Although the Gospels recorded that Jesus had several brothers and sisters, Mary’s perpetual virginity was first mentioned in the apocryphal Gospel of james; this was generally accepted from the fifth century and has become an important article of faith in the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches. In order to combat the teachings of nestorius, she was described as Theotokos (Bearer of God) also in the fifth century. Subsequently the doctrine of her Assumption into heavenly glory was formulated by Gregory of tours and became official dogma of the Roman Catholic Church in 1950. In 1854 Pope Pius IX had already proclaimed the dogma of her Immaculate Conception (that she was born without stain of original sin). She has been the subject of intense devotion within the Church and the inspiration for many artists. The legendary story of her birth was recorded in the mediaeval Gospel of the Birth of Mary.

   Luke, Chapters 1–2;

   Matthew, Chapters 1–2;

   H.C. Graef, Mary: A History of Doctrine and Devotion, 2 vols (1963–5);

   J. McHugh, The Mother of Jesus in the New Testament (1975).

   2) (first century)

   Disciple.

   Mary was the sister of lazarus and martha. She lived at Bethany and when Jesus visited the house, she stayed listening to him while her sister bustled about doing the domestic chores. On occasion she has been identified with Mary magdalene. According to legend, with her brother and sister, she founded churches in the south of France.

   Luke, Chapter 10.