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Knights of Mother Mary
Mother Mary was chosen by God to bring His Son into our world for
redemption of our sins. If you are in need of prayer or guidance just
call upon the name of Mary. She has appeared to many, to bring
Divine Messages from God.
During their betrothal the first stage of a Jewish marriage, during which the couple are not ever
permitted to be alone together under one roof, hence may not yet cohabit, despite already being
husband and wife in legal terms the angel Gabriel announced to her that she was to be the
mother of the promised Messiah by conceiving him through the Holy Spirit, the power of the
Most High (the Annunciation, Luke 1:35). When Joseph was told of her conception by the Holy
Spirit, he was afraid; but "an angel of the Lord" commanded him in a dream to be unafraid and
take his wife to his home, which Joseph obediently did, thereby formally completing the
wedding rites (Matthew 1:18-25).
Since the angel had told Mary that Elizabeth, having previously been barren, was now herself
pregnant by the power of the word of God, Mary then hurried to visit her relation, who was
living with her husband Zechariah in a city of Judah in the hill country (probably at Juttah,
Joshua 15:55; 21:16, in the neighbourhood of Maon), at a considerable distance (about 160 km)
from Nazareth (Luke 1:39). Immediately on entering the house she was saluted by Elizabeth as
the mother of her Lord, and then forthwith gave utterance to her hymn of thanksgiving (Luke
1:46-56; comp. 1 Samuel 2:1-10) commonly known as the 'Magnificat.
Mary is involved in an incident during the only event in Jesus’ early adult life that is recorded:
his going up to Jerusalem when twelve years of age, where he was found among the teachers in
the temple (Luke 2:41-52). Probably some time between this event and the opening of Jesus’
public ministry Mary was widowed, for Joseph is not mentioned again.
After Jesus’ baptism by His cousin, John "the Baptist" (in which the
Holy Spirit came down and rested upon Jesus "like a dove"), and His
temptations by the Devil in the desert wilderness, Mary was present
at the marriage in Cana, where Jesus worked his first public miracle,
at her intercession (John 2:1-11).
After this event, there are some events with Mary present along with
her other sons (James, Joseph, Simon and Judas) and sometimes
her daughters (never named). We find her at the Cross along with
her sister Mary, and Mary Magdalene, Salome and other women
(John 19:26). Mary, cradling the dead body of her Son, is a common
motif in art, called a "pietà" or "piety".
After the Ascension, of about 120 people gathered in the Upper Room on the occasion of the
election of Matthias to the vacancy of Judas, Mary is the only person mentioned by name other
than the eleven Apostles and the candidates (Acts 1:12-26, especially v. 14 though it is said that
Jesus’ brothers were there as well in this verse). From this time, she wholly disappears from the
historical, Biblical accounts, although it is held by some Christian groups that she is again
portrayed as the heavenly Woman of Revelation (Revelation 12:1). Her death is not recorded in
Scripture.
Later Christian writings and traditions
According to the Gospel of James, which, though not part of the New
Testament, contains biographical material about Mary considered
"plausible" by some Orthodox and Catholic Christians, she was the
daughter of Joachim and Anna. Before Mary's conception, Anna had been
barren, and her parents were quite old when she was conceived. They took
her to live in the Temple in Jerusalem when she was three years old, much
like Hanna took Samuel to the Tabernacle, as recorded in the Old
Testament (Tanakh, Hebrew Bible).
According to Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox tradition, between three and fifteen years
after Christ's Ascension, in either Jerusalem or Ephesus, Mary died; while surrounded by the
apostles. Later, when the apostles opened her tomb, they found it empty, and concluded that she
had been bodily assumed into Heaven. ("Mary's Tomb" - a tomb in Jerusalem is attributed to
Mary, but it was unknown until the 6th century.)
It should also be noted that the account in (Sura 3 of) The Qur'an tracks the accounts in
Apocrypha, namely the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew and infancy gospel of James the Just,
regarding the use of 'rods' to determine a guardian/husband after she reached the age of puberty
(3.44), and, the account of the scandal caused upon the discovery of her with child (19.27-28),
both of which are not recorded in the canonical Gospels.
Finally, the Qur'an describes Mary as "sister of Harun" (19.28-29) and "daughter of Imran"
(66.12). Harun is the Arabic form of the Hebrew Aaron, while Imran is an Arabic form of the
Hebrew Amram. Amran was the father of "Aaron, Moses and Miriam" in the Old Testament
(Numbers 26.59).
The Immaculate Conception
The Immaculate Conception is a Catholic doctrine that
asserts that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was preserved by
God from the stain of original sin at the time of her own
conception. Specifically, the doctrine says she was not
afflicted by the privation of sanctifying grace that afflicts
mankind, but was instead filled with grace by God, and
furthermore lived a life completely free from sin. It is
commonly confused with the doctrine of the virgin birth,
though the two doctrines deal with separate subjects. Mary
was conceived by normal biological means, but her soul was
acted upon by God (kept "immaculate") at the time of her
conception.
The Immaculate Conception was solemnly defined as a dogma by Pope Pius IX in his
constitution Ineffabilis Deus, published December 8, 1854 (the Feast of the Immaculate
Conception). The Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary had been established in 1483 by
Pope Sixtus IV who stopped short of defining the doctrine as a dogma of the Catholic Faith, thus
giving Catholics freedom to believe in this or not; this freedom had been reiterated by the
Council of Trent. The existence of the feast was a strong indication of the Church´s belief in the
Immaculate Conception, even before its 19th century definition as a dogma.
Mary's Age
While the teaching of the Catholic Church that Mary was a virgin is not accepted by a number of
liberal Christian scholars who argue that the Greek term parthenos in Luke 1:27 does not
necessarily have to mean "virgin [intacta]" but that there is also evidence for it signifying any
"young woman", it is generally agreed that Mary was very young when she conceived Jesus. On
the other hand, the "young woman" evidence is based on the Isaiah prophecy hundreds of years
prior and is taken from the Hebrew language. Other Christian scholars point out that Joseph
"kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son" in Matthew 1:25, and it is difficult for the
meaning to be "young woman" and not "virgin," as well as the fact that a young woman
conceiving would not be much of a sign as a virgin conceiving. Some insight into traditions
concerning her later life, e.g., that she died between three and 15 years after the crucifixion of
Jesus, can be found in the New Testament Apocrypha. Assuming that Jesus died in his 30s,
there is also little reason to doubt that his mother could still be alive at the time of his death, or
that she could have witnessed it (cf. Jn 19:25).
Virgin Birth of Jesus - Nativity of Jesus
The Apostles' Creed and Nicene Creed both refer to Mary as
"the Virgin Mary". This alludes to the belief that Mary
conceived Jesus through the action of God the Holy Spirit, and
not through intercourse with Joseph or anyone else. That she
was a virgin at this time is affirmed by Eastern Christianity,
Roman Catholicism and by many (though not all) Protestants.
Denial of this is considered heretical by Catholics and Eastern
Orthodox (and Evangelicals) alike.
Persons who are neither Christians nor Muslims generally doubt that Mary was a virgin when
she gave birth to Jesus. A common view by non-Christian sources speculates that Mary had
relations with a Roman soldier and then married Joseph who protected her from the harsh
Jewish laws of the time which would have sentenced her to death by stoning for such an act.
This version is recorded by Origen in the third century and attributed to Celsus of the second
century, who said he heard it from a Jew, in Origen's Contra Celsum 1.28-32.
The Gospel of Matthew describes Mary as a virgin who fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah 7:14. The
Hebrew word almah that appears in this verse, and the Greek word parthenos that Jews used to
translate it in the Greek Septuagint that Matthew quotes here, have been the subjects of dispute
for almost two millennia. This disagreement is related to the question of whether Isaiah 7:14 is a
prophecy of Jesus' birth. Regardless of the meaning of this verse, it is clear that the authors of
the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke asserted that Mary had "no relations with man"
before Jesus' birth.
The most prominent leaders of the Reformation, Luther, Zwingli, and Calvin also defended the
perpetual virginity of Mary against those who questioned it. But by the 17th century, the
Catholic and Protestant churches came to see Mary as a major point of division, and Protestant
theologians began arguing that Mary did not remain a virgin and that the "brothers" of Jesus
were indeed his half-brothers, sons of Mary and Joseph. Today most Protestants reject the
doctrine of Mary's perpetual virginity.
Islam teaches that Mary conceived Jesus as a virgin, but that Jesus had a single parent (Mary)
and was not the Son of God. Muslims also believe that Mary remained a virgin for her entire life.
Mary's assumption
For Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholics alike, Mary's
assumption, i.e., the lifting up of her body into Heaven after
her death is seen as a concrete and present instance of the
resurrection of the body, a belief integral to Christian
theology and found in the creeds.
The promulgated dogma is not worded so as to force the issue as to whether she experienced
death prior to her Assumption, as there is no theological basis for doing so. Ludwig Ott (Bk. III,
Pt. 3, Ch. 2, §6) states that "the fact of her death is almost generally accepted by the Fathers and
Theologians, and is expressly affirmed in the Liturgy of the Church," to which he adduces a
number of helpful citations, and concludes that "for
Mary, death, in consequence of her freedom from
original sin and from personal sin, was not a
consequence of punishment of sin.
Both Roman Catholics and Orthodox make a clear distinction between such veneration (which is
also due to the other saints) and adoration which is due to God alone. (The term worship is used
by some theologians to subsume both sacrificial worship and worship of praise, e.g. Orestes
Brownson in his book Saint Worship. The word "worship", while commonly used in place of
"adoration" in the modern English vernacular, strictly speaking implies nothing more than the
acknowledgement of "worth-ship" or worthiness, and thus means no more than the giving of
honor where honor is due [e.g. the use of "Your Worship" as a form of address to judges in
certain English legal traditions].
"Worship" is sometimes used in this sense in Catholic literature when referring to the
veneration of the Blessed Virgin and other saints). Mary, they point out, are not of herself
divine, and has only such powers to help as are granted to her by God in response to her prayers.
Such miracles as may occur through Mary's intercession are ultimately the result of God's love
and omnipotence. Roman Catholicism distinguishes three forms of honor: latria, due only to
God, and usually translated by the English word adoration; hyperdulia, accorded only to the
Blessed Virgin Mary, usually translated simply as veneration; and dulia, accorded to the rest of
the saints, also usually translated as veneration. The Orthodox distinguish between worship and
veneration but do not accept a sort of "hyper"-veneration only for the Theotokos.
The Roman Catholic practice of celebrating saints' days and making intercessory requests
addressed especially to Mary and other departed saints they considered (and consider) to be
idolatry. With the exception of some portions of the Anglican Communion, Protestantism
usually follows the reformers in rejecting the practice of directly addressing Mary and other
saints in prayers of admiration or petition, as part of their religious worship of God.
Protestants will not typically call the respect or honour that they may have for Mary veneration
because of the special religious significance that this term has in the Catholic practice.