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<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en"> <head> <title>CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: The Blessed Virgin Mary</title><script src="https://dtyry4ejybx0.cloudfront.net/js/cmp/cleanmediacmp.js?ver=0104" async="true"></script><script defer data-domain="newadvent.org" src="https://plausible.io/js/script.js"></script><link rel="canonical" href="https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15464b.htm"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> <meta name="description" content="The Blessed Virgin Mary is the mother of Jesus Christ, the mother of God"> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="RSS" href="http://feeds.newadvent.org/bestoftheweb?format=xml"><link rel="icon" href="../images/icon1.ico" type="image/x-icon"><link rel="shortcut icon" href="../images/icon1.ico" type="image/x-icon"><meta name="robots" content="noodp"><link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="../utility/screen6.css" media="screen"></head> <body class="cathen" id="15464b.htm">  <br/> <div id="capitalcity"><table summary="Logo" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 width="100%"><tr valign="bottom"><td align="left"><a href="../"><img height=36 width=153 border="0" alt="New Advent" src="../images/logo.gif"></a></td><td align="right"> <form id="searchbox_000299817191393086628:ifmbhlr-8x0" action="../utility/search.htm">  <input type="hidden" name="safe" value="active"> <input type="hidden" name="cx" value="000299817191393086628:ifmbhlr-8x0"/> <input type="hidden" name="cof" value="FORID:9"/>  <label for="searchQuery" id="searchQueryLabel">Search:</label> <input id="searchQuery" name="q" type="text" size="25" aria-labelledby="searchQueryLabel"/>  <label for="submitButton" id="submitButtonLabel" class="visually-hidden">Submit Search</label> <input id="submitButton" type="submit" name="sa" value="Search" aria-labelledby="submitButtonLabel"/> </form> <table summary="Spacer" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr><td height="2"></td></tr></table> <table summary="Tabs" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr> <td bgcolor="#ffffff"></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../"> Home </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_white_on_color" href="../cathen/index.html"> Encyclopedia </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../summa/index.html"> Summa </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../fathers/index.html"> Fathers </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../bible/gen001.htm"> Bible </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../library/index.html"> Library </a></td> </tr></table> </td> </tr></table><table summary="Alphabetical index" width="100%" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr><td class="bar_white_on_color"> <a href="../cathen/a.htm"> A </a><a href="../cathen/b.htm"> B </a><a href="../cathen/c.htm"> C </a><a href="../cathen/d.htm"> D </a><a href="../cathen/e.htm"> E </a><a href="../cathen/f.htm"> F </a><a href="../cathen/g.htm"> G </a><a href="../cathen/h.htm"> H </a><a href="../cathen/i.htm"> I </a><a href="../cathen/j.htm"> J </a><a href="../cathen/k.htm"> K </a><a href="../cathen/l.htm"> L </a><a href="../cathen/m.htm"> M </a><a href="../cathen/n.htm"> N </a><a href="../cathen/o.htm"> O </a><a href="../cathen/p.htm"> P </a><a href="../cathen/q.htm"> Q </a><a href="../cathen/r.htm"> R </a><a href="../cathen/s.htm"> S </a><a href="../cathen/t.htm"> T </a><a href="../cathen/u.htm"> U </a><a href="../cathen/v.htm"> V </a><a href="../cathen/w.htm"> W </a><a href="../cathen/x.htm"> X </a><a href="../cathen/y.htm"> Y </a><a href="../cathen/z.htm"> Z </a> </td></tr></table></div> <div id="mobilecity" style="text-align: center; "><a href="../"><img height=24 width=102 border="0" alt="New Advent" src="../images/logo.gif"></a></div>  <div id="mi5"><span class="breadcrumbs"><a href="../">Home</a> > <a href="../cathen">Catholic Encyclopedia</a> > <a href="../cathen/v.htm">V</a> > The Blessed Virgin Mary</span></div> <div id="springfield2"> <div class='catholicadnet-728x90' id='cathen-728x90-top' style='display: flex; height: 100px; align-items: center; justify-content: center; '></div> <h1>The Blessed Virgin Mary</h1> <p><em><a href="https://gumroad.com/l/na2"><strong>Please help support the mission of New Advent</strong> and get the full contents of this website as an instant download. Includes the Catholic Encyclopedia, Church Fathers, Summa, Bible and more  all for only $19.99...</a></em></p> <p>The Blessed Virgin Mary is the mother of <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Jesus Christ</a>, the mother of <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a>.</p> <p>In general, the theology and history of Mary the Mother of God follow the chronological order of their respective sources, i.e. the <a href="../cathen/14526a.htm">Old Testament</a>, the <a href="../cathen/14530a.htm">New Testament</a>, the early <a href="../cathen/03712a.htm">Christian</a> and <a href="../cathen/08399a.htm">Jewish</a> witnesses.</p> <h2 id="section1">Mary prophesied in the Old Testament</h2> <p>The <a href="../cathen/14526a.htm">Old Testament</a> refers to Our Blessed Lady both in its <a href="../cathen/12473a.htm">prophecies</a> and its <a href="../cathen/15107a.htm">types or figures</a>.</p> <h3>Genesis 3:15</h3> <p>The first <a href="../cathen/12473a.htm">prophecy</a> referring to Mary is found in the very opening chapters of the <a href="../bible/gen003.htm#vrs15">Book of Genesis (3:15)</a>: "I will put enmities between thee and the <a href="../cathen/15687b.htm">woman</a>, and thy seed and her seed; she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel." This rendering appears to differ in two respects from the original <a href="../cathen/07175a.htm">Hebrew text</a>:</p> <p>(1) First, the <a href="../cathen/07175a.htm">Hebrew text</a> employs the same verb for the two renderings "she shall crush" and "thou shalt lie in wait"; the <a href="../cathen/13722a.htm">Septuagint</a> renders the verb both times by <em>terein</em>, to lie in wait; Aquila, <a href="../cathen/14378a.htm">Symmachus</a>, the <a href="../cathen/14408a.htm">Syriac</a> and the <a href="../cathen/13417a.htm">Samaritan</a> translators, interpret the <a href="../cathen/07176a.htm">Hebrew</a> verb by expressions which mean to crush, to bruise; the Itala renders the <em>terein</em> employed in the <a href="../cathen/13722a.htm">Septuagint</a> by the <a href="../cathen/09019a.htm">Latin</a> "servare", to guard; <a href="../cathen/08341a.htm">St. Jerome</a> [1] maintains that the <a href="../cathen/07176a.htm">Hebrew</a> verb has the meaning of "crushing" or "bruising" rather than of "lying in wait", "guarding". Still in his own work, which became the <a href="../cathen/15515b.htm">Latin Vulgate</a>, the <a href="../cathen/04171a.htm">saint</a> employs the verb "to crush" (<em>conterere</em>) in the first place, and "to lie in wait" (<em>insidiari</em>) in the second. Hence the punishment inflicted on the <a href="../cathen/04764a.htm">serpent</a> and the <a href="../cathen/04764a.htm">serpent's</a> retaliation are expressed by the same verb: but the wound of the <a href="../cathen/04764a.htm">serpent</a> is mortal, since it affects his head, while the wound inflicted by the <a href="../cathen/04764a.htm">serpent</a> is not mortal, being inflicted on the heel.</p> <div class="CMtag_300x250" style="display: flex; height: 300px; align-items: center; justify-content: center; "></div> <p>(2) The second point of difference between the <a href="../cathen/07175a.htm">Hebrew text</a> and our version concerns the agent who is to inflict the mortal wound on the serpent: our version agrees with the present <a href="../cathen/15515b.htm">Vulgate</a> text in reading "she" (<em>ipsa</em>) which refers to the <a href="../cathen/15687b.htm">woman</a>, while the <a href="../cathen/07175a.htm">Hebrew text</a> reads <em>hu'</em> (<em>autos, ipse</em>) which refers to the seed of the <a href="../cathen/15687b.htm">woman</a>. According to our version, and the <a href="../cathen/15515b.htm">Vulgate</a> reading, the <a href="../cathen/15687b.htm">woman</a> herself will win the victory; according to the <a href="../cathen/07175a.htm">Hebrew text</a>, she will be victorious through her seed. In this sense does the <a href="../cathen/03052b.htm">Bull</a> "Ineffabilis" ascribe the victory to Our Blessed Lady. The reading "she" (<em>ipsa</em>) is neither an intentional corruption of the original text, nor is it an accidental <a href="../cathen/05525a.htm">error</a>; it is rather an explanatory version expressing explicitly the fact of Our Lady's part in the victory over the <a href="../cathen/04764a.htm">serpent</a>, which is contained implicitly in the <a href="../cathen/07176a.htm">Hebrew</a> original. The strength of the <a href="../cathen/15006b.htm">Christian tradition</a> as to Mary's share in this victory may be inferred from the retention of "she" in <a href="../cathen/08341a.htm">St. Jerome's</a> version in spite of his acquaintance with the original text and with the reading "he" (<em>ipse</em>) in the old <a href="../cathen/09019a.htm">Latin</a> version.</p> <p>As it is quite commonly admitted that the <a href="../cathen/08549a.htm">Divine judgment</a> is directed not so much against the <a href="../cathen/04764a.htm">serpent</a> as against the originator of <a href="../cathen/14004b.htm">sin</a>, the seed of the <a href="../cathen/04764a.htm">serpent</a> denotes the followers of the <a href="../cathen/04764a.htm">serpent</a>, the "brood of vipers", the "generation of vipers", those whose father is the <a href="../cathen/04764a.htm">Devil</a>, the children of <a href="../cathen/05649a.htm">evil</a>, <em>imitando, non nascendo</em> (<a href="../cathen/02084a.htm">Augustine</a>). [2] One may be tempted to understand the seed of the <a href="../cathen/15687b.htm">woman</a> in a similar collective sense, embracing all who are born of <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a>. But seed not only may denote a particular <a href="../cathen/11726a.htm">person</a>, but has such a meaning usually, if the context allows it. <a href="../cathen/11567b.htm">St. Paul</a> (<a href="../bible/gal003.htm#vrs16">Galatians 3:16</a>) gives this explanation of the word "seed" as it occurs in the <a href="../cathen/11548a.htm">patriarchal</a> promises: "To <a href="../cathen/01051a.htm">Abraham</a> were the promises made and to his seed. He saith not, and to his seeds, as of many; but as of one, and to his seed, which is <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Christ</a>". Finally the expression "the <a href="../cathen/15687b.htm">woman</a>" in the clause "I will put enmities between thee and the <a href="../cathen/15687b.htm">woman</a>" is a literal version of the <a href="../cathen/07175a.htm">Hebrew text</a>. The Hebrew Grammar of Gesenius-Kautzsch [3] establishes the rule: Peculiar to the <a href="../cathen/07176a.htm">Hebrew</a> is the use of the article in order to indicate a <a href="../cathen/11726a.htm">person</a> or thing, not yet <a href="../cathen/08673a.htm">known</a> and not yet to be more clearly described, either as present or as to be taken into account under the contextual conditions. Since our indefinite article serves this purpose, we may translate: "I will put enmities between you and a <a href="../cathen/15687b.htm">woman</a>". Hence the <a href="../cathen/12473a.htm">prophecy</a> promises a <a href="../cathen/15687b.htm">woman</a>, Our Blessed Lady, who will be the enemy of the <a href="../cathen/04764a.htm">serpent</a> to a marked degree; besides, the same <a href="../cathen/15687b.htm">woman</a> will be victorious over the <a href="../cathen/04764a.htm">Devil</a>, at least through her offspring. The completeness of the victory is emphasized by the contextual phrase "earth shall thou eat", which is according to Winckler [4] a common old-oriental expression denoting the deepest humiliation [5].</p> <h3>Isaias 7:1-17</h3> <p>The second <a href="../cathen/12473a.htm">prophecy</a> referring to Mary is found in <a href="../bible/isa007.htm#vrs1">Isaias 7:1-17</a>. Critics have endeavoured to represent this passage as a combination of occurrences and sayings from the life of the <a href="../cathen/08179b.htm">prophet</a> written down by an unknown hand [6]. The credibility of the contents is not necessarily affected by this theory, since <a href="../cathen/12477a.htm">prophetic</a> <a href="../cathen/15006b.htm">traditions</a> may be recorded by any writer without losing their credibility. But even Duhm considers the theory as an apparent attempt on the part of the <a href="../cathen/04491c.htm">critics</a> to find out what the readers are willing to bear patiently; he believes it is a real misfortune for <a href="../cathen/04491c.htm">criticism</a> itself that it has found a mere compilation in a passage which so graphically describes the birth-hour of <a href="../cathen/05752c.htm">faith</a>.</p> <p>According to <a href="../bible/2ki016.htm#vrs1">2 Kings 16:1-4</a>, and <a href="../bible/2ch027.htm#vrs1">2 Chronicles 27:1-8</a>, <a href="../cathen/01101e.htm">Achaz</a>, who began his reign 736 B.C., openly professed <a href="../cathen/07636a.htm">idolatry</a>, so that <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a> gave him into the hands of the kings of <a href="../cathen/14399a.htm">Syria</a> and <a href="../cathen/08193a.htm">Israel</a>. It appears that an alliance had been concluded between Phacee, King of <a href="../cathen/08193a.htm">Israel</a>, and Rasin, King of <a href="../cathen/04611a.htm">Damascus</a>, for the purpose of opposing a barrier to the <a href="../cathen/02007c.htm">Assyrian</a> aggressions. <a href="../cathen/01101e.htm">Achaz</a>, who cherished <a href="../cathen/02007c.htm">Assyrian</a> proclivities, did not join the coalition; the allies invaded his territory, intending to substitute for <a href="../cathen/01101e.htm">Achaz</a> a more subservient ruler, a certain son of Tabeel. While Rasin was occupied in reconquering the maritime city Elath, Phacee alone proceeded against <a href="../cathen/08536a.htm">Juda</a>, "but they could not prevail". After Elath had fallen, Rasin joined his forces with those of Phacee; "<a href="../cathen/14399a.htm">Syria</a> hath rested upon Ephraim", whereupon "his (<a href="../cathen/01101e.htm">Achaz'</a>) heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the woods are moved with the wind". Immediate preparations must be made for a protracted siege, and <a href="../cathen/01101e.htm">Achaz</a> is busily engaged near the upper pool from which the city received the greater part of its water supply. Hence the <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">Lord</a> says to <a href="../cathen/08179b.htm">Isaias</a>: "Go forth to meet <a href="../cathen/01101e.htm">Achaz</a>. . .at the end of the conduit of the upper pool". The <a href="../cathen/12477a.htm">prophet's</a> commission is of an extremely consoling nature: "See thou be quiet; hear not, and let not thy heart be afraid of the two tails of these firebrands". The scheme of the enemies shall not succeed: "it shall not stand, and this shall not be." What is to be the particular fate of the enemies?</p> <div class="bulletlist"><ul><li><a href="../cathen/14399a.htm">Syria</a> will gain nothing, it will remain as it has been in the past: "the head of <a href="../cathen/14399a.htm">Syria</a> is <a href="../cathen/04611a.htm">Damascus</a>, and the head of <a href="../cathen/04611a.htm">Damascus</a> is Rasin".</li><li>Ephraim too will remain in the immediate future as it has been hitherto: "the head of Ephraim is <a href="../cathen/13416a.htm">Samaria</a>, and the head of <a href="../cathen/13416a.htm">Samaria</a> the son of Romelia"; but after sixty-five years it will be destroyed, "within threescore and five years Ephraim shall cease to be a people". </li></ul></div> <div class="CMtag_300x250" style="display: flex; height: 300px; align-items: center; justify-content: center; "></div> <p><a href="../cathen/01101e.htm">Achaz</a> had abandoned the <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">Lord</a> for <a href="../cathen/10443b.htm">Moloch</a>, and put his trust in an alliance with <a href="../cathen/02007c.htm">Assyria</a>; hence the conditional <a href="../cathen/12473a.htm">prophecy</a> concerning <a href="../cathen/08536a.htm">Juda</a>, "if you will not <a href="../cathen/02408b.htm">believe</a>, you shall not continue". The test of <a href="../cathen/02408b.htm">belief</a> follows immediately: "ask thee a sign of the <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">Lord</a> thy <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a>, either unto the depth of <a href="../cathen/07207a.htm">hell</a> or unto the height above". <a href="../cathen/01101e.htm">Achaz</a> <a href="../cathen/07610a.htm">hypocritically</a> answers: "I will not ask, and I will not tempt the <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">Lord</a>", thus refusing to express his <a href="../cathen/02408b.htm">belief</a> in <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a>, and preferring his <a href="../cathen/02007c.htm">Assyrian</a> policy. The king prefers <a href="../cathen/02007c.htm">Assyria</a> to <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a>, and <a href="../cathen/02007c.htm">Assyria</a> will come: "the <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">Lord</a> shall bring upon thee and upon thy people, and upon the house of thy father, days that have not come since the time of the separation of Ephraim from <a href="../cathen/08536a.htm">Juda</a> with the king of the <a href="../cathen/02007c.htm">Assyrians</a>." The house of <a href="../cathen/04642b.htm">David</a> has been grievous not merely to <a href="../cathen/09580c.htm">men</a>, but to <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a> also by its unbelief; hence it "shall not continue", and, by an irony of Divine punishment, it will be destroyed by those very <a href="../cathen/09580c.htm">men</a> whom it preferred to <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a>.</p> <p>Still the general <a href="../cathen/10212c.htm">Messianic</a> promises made to the house of <a href="../cathen/04642b.htm">David</a> cannot be frustrated: "The <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">Lord</a> Himself shall give you a sign. Behold a <a href="../cathen/15458a.htm">virgin</a> shall conceive, and bear a son, and his name shall be called <a href="../cathen/05404a.htm">Emmanuel</a>. He shall eat butter and honey, that he may know to refuse the <a href="../cathen/05649a.htm">evil</a> and to choose the <a href="../cathen/06636b.htm">good</a>. For before the child know to refuse the <a href="../cathen/05649a.htm">evil</a>, and to choose the <a href="../cathen/06636b.htm">good</a>, the land which thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of the face of her two kings." Without answering a number of questions connected with the explanation of the <a href="../cathen/12473a.htm">prophecy</a>, we must confine ourselves here to the bare <a href="../cathen/12454c.htm">proof</a> that the <a href="../cathen/15458a.htm">virgin</a> mentioned by the <a href="../cathen/08179b.htm">prophet</a> is Mary the Mother of <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Christ</a>. The argument is based on the premises that the <a href="../cathen/08179b.htm">prophet's</a> <a href="../cathen/15458a.htm">virgin</a> is the mother of <a href="../cathen/05404a.htm">Emmanuel</a>, and that <a href="../cathen/05404a.htm">Emmanuel</a> is <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Christ</a>. The relation of the <a href="../cathen/15458a.htm">virgin</a> to <a href="../cathen/05404a.htm">Emmanuel</a> is clearly expressed in the <a href="../cathen/08045a.htm">inspired</a> words; the same indicate also the identity of <a href="../cathen/05404a.htm">Emmanuel</a> with the <a href="../cathen/10212c.htm">Christ</a>.</p> <p>The connection of <a href="../cathen/05404a.htm">Emmanuel</a> with the extraordinary Divine sign which was to be given to <a href="../cathen/01101e.htm">Achaz</a> predisposes one to see in the child more than a common boy. In <a href="../bible/isa008.htm#vrs8">8:8</a>, the <a href="../cathen/08179b.htm">prophet</a> ascribes to him the ownership of the land of <a href="../cathen/08536a.htm">Juda</a>: "the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O <a href="../cathen/05404a.htm">Emmanuel</a>". In <a href="../bible/isa009.htm#vrs6">9:6</a>, the government of the house of <a href="../cathen/04642b.htm">David</a> is said to be upon his shoulders, and he is described as being endowed with more than <a href="../cathen/09580c.htm">human</a> qualities: "a child is born to us, and a son is given to us, and the government is upon his shoulders, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God the Mighty</a>, the Father of the World to Come, and the Prince of Peace". Finally, the <a href="../cathen/08179b.htm">prophet</a> calls <a href="../cathen/05404a.htm">Emmanuel</a> "a rod out of the root of Jesse" endowed with "the <a href="../cathen/07409a.htm">spirit of the Lord</a>. . .the <a href="../cathen/07409a.htm">spirit</a> of wisdom and of understanding, the <a href="../cathen/07409a.htm">spirit</a> of counsel, and of fortitude, the <a href="../cathen/07409a.htm">spirit</a> of knowledge and of godliness"; his advent shall be followed by the general signs of the <a href="../cathen/10212c.htm">Messianic</a> era, and the remnant of the <a href="../cathen/08193a.htm">chosen people</a> shall be again the people of <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a> (<a href="../bible/isa011.htm#vrs1">11:1-16</a>).</p> <p>Whatever obscurity or ambiguity there may be in the <a href="../cathen/12477a.htm">prophetic</a> text itself is removed by <a href="../cathen/10057a.htm">St. Matthew</a> (<a href="../bible/mat001.htm#vrs18">1:18-25</a>). After narrating the <a href="../cathen/05141a.htm">doubt</a> of <a href="../cathen/08504a.htm">St. Joseph</a> and the <a href="../cathen/01476d.htm">angel's</a> assurance, "that which is conceived in her is of the <a href="../cathen/07409a.htm">Holy Ghost</a>", the <a href="../cathen/05645a.htm">Evangelist</a> proceeds: "now all this was done that it might be fulfilled which the <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">Lord</a> spoke by the <a href="../cathen/08179b.htm">prophet</a>, saying: Behold a <a href="../cathen/15458a.htm">virgin</a> shall be with child, and bring forth a son, and they shall call his name <a href="../cathen/05404a.htm">Emmanuel</a>." We need not repeat the exposition of the passage given by <a href="../cathen/03449a.htm">Catholic</a> <a href="../cathen/04157a.htm">commentators</a> who answer the exceptions raised against the obvious meaning of the <a href="../cathen/05645a.htm">Evangelist</a>. We may infer from all this that Mary is mentioned in the <a href="../cathen/12473a.htm">prophecy</a> of <a href="../cathen/08179b.htm">Isaias</a> as mother of <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Jesus Christ</a>; in the light of <a href="../cathen/10057a.htm">St. Matthew's</a> reference to the <a href="../cathen/12473a.htm">prophecy</a>, we may add that the <a href="../cathen/12473a.htm">prophecy</a> predicted also Mary's <a href="../cathen/15448a.htm">virginity</a> untarnished by the conception of the <a href="../cathen/05404a.htm">Emmanuel</a> [7].</p> <h3>Micheas 5:2-3</h3> <p>A third <a href="../cathen/12473a.htm">prophecy</a> referring to Our Blessed Lady is contained in <a href="../bible/mic005.htm#vrs2">Micah 5:2-3</a>: "And thou, <a href="../cathen/02533a.htm">Bethlehem, Ephrata</a>, art a little one among the thousands of <a href="../cathen/08536a.htm">Juda</a>: out of thee shall be come forth unto me that is to be the ruler in <a href="../cathen/08193a.htm">Israel</a>, and his going forth is from the beginning, from the days of <a href="../cathen/05551b.htm">eternity</a>. Therefore will he give them up till the time wherein she that travaileth shall bring forth, and the remnant of his brethren shall be converted to the children of <a href="../cathen/08193a.htm">Israel</a>." Though the <a href="../cathen/10278a.htm">prophet</a> (about 750-660 B.C.) was a contemporary of <a href="../cathen/08179b.htm">Isaias</a>, his <a href="../cathen/12477a.htm">prophetic</a> activity began a little later and ended a little earlier than that of <a href="../cathen/08179b.htm">Isaias</a>. There can be no <a href="../cathen/05141a.htm">doubt</a> that the <a href="../cathen/08399a.htm">Jews</a> regarded the foregoing <a href="../cathen/12473a.htm">prediction</a> as referring to the <a href="../cathen/10212c.htm">Messias</a>. According to <a href="../cathen/10057a.htm">St. Matthew</a> (<a href="../bible/mat002.htm#vrs6">2:6</a>) the chief <a href="../cathen/12406a.htm">priests</a> and <a href="../cathen/13634a.htm">scribes</a>, when asked where the <a href="../cathen/10212c.htm">Messias</a> was to be born, answered <a href="../cathen/07289c.htm">Herod</a> in the words of the <a href="../cathen/12473a.htm">prophecy</a>, "And thou <a href="../cathen/02533a.htm">Bethlehem</a> the land of <a href="../cathen/08536a.htm">Juda</a>. . ." According to <a href="../cathen/08438a.htm">St. John</a> (<a href="../bible/joh007.htm#vrs42">7:42</a>), the <a href="../cathen/08399a.htm">Jewish</a> populace gathered at <a href="../cathen/08344a.htm">Jerusalem</a> for the celebration of the feast asked the rhetorical question: "Doth not the <a href="../cathen/13635b.htm">Scripture</a> say that <a href="../cathen/10212c.htm">Christ</a> cometh of the seed of <a href="../cathen/04642b.htm">David</a>, and from <a href="../cathen/02533a.htm">Bethlehem</a>, the town where <a href="../cathen/04642b.htm">David</a> was?" The Chaldee paraphrase of <a href="../bible/mic005.htm#vrs2">Micah 5:2</a>, confirms the same view: "Out of thee shall come forth unto me the <a href="../cathen/10212c.htm">Messias</a>, that he may exercise dominion in <a href="../cathen/08193a.htm">Israel</a>". The very words of the <a href="../cathen/12473a.htm">prophecy</a> admit of hardly any other explanation; for "his going forth is from the beginning, from the days of <a href="../cathen/05551b.htm">eternity</a>".</p> <p>But how does the <a href="../cathen/12473a.htm">prophecy</a> refer to the Virgin Mary? Our Blessed Lady is denoted by the phrase, "till the time wherein she that travaileth shall bring forth". It is <a href="../cathen/15073a.htm">true</a> that "she that travaileth" has been referred to the <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a> (<a href="../cathen/08341a.htm">St. Jerome</a>, <a href="../cathen/14574b.htm">Theodoret</a>), or to the collection of the <a href="../cathen/06422a.htm">Gentiles</a> united with <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Christ</a> (<a href="../cathen/13031b.htm">Ribera</a>, <a href="../cathen/09659b.htm">Mariana</a>), or again to <a href="../cathen/02179b.htm">Babylon</a> (<a href="../cathen/03189a.htm">Calmet</a>); but, on the one hand, there is hardly a sufficient connection between any of these events and the promised <a href="../cathen/10212c.htm">redeemer</a>, on the other hand, the passage ought to read "till the time wherein she that is barren shall bring forth" if any of these events were referred to by the <a href="../cathen/10278a.htm">prophet</a>. Nor can "she that travaileth" be referred to Sion: Sion is spoken of without <a href="../cathen/15107a.htm">figure</a> before and after the present passage so that we cannot expect the <a href="../cathen/10278a.htm">prophet</a> to lapse suddenly into figurative language. Moreover, the <a href="../cathen/12473a.htm">prophecy</a> thus explained would not give a satisfactory sense. The contextual phrases "the ruler in <a href="../cathen/08193a.htm">Israel</a>", "his going forth", which in <a href="../cathen/07176a.htm">Hebrew</a> implies birth, and "his brethren" denote an individual, not a nation; hence we infer that the bringing forth must refer to the same <a href="../cathen/11726a.htm">person</a>. It has been shown that the person of the ruler is the <a href="../cathen/10212c.htm">Messias</a>; hence "she that travaileth" must denote the mother of <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Christ</a>, or Our Blessed Lady. Thus explained the whole passage becomes clear: the <a href="../cathen/10212c.htm">Messias</a> must be born in <a href="../cathen/02533a.htm">Bethlehem</a>, an insignificant village in <a href="../cathen/08536a.htm">Juda</a>: his <a href="../cathen/05782a.htm">family</a> must be reduced to <a href="../cathen/12327a.htm">poverty</a> and obscurity before the time of his birth; as this cannot happen if the <a href="../cathen/14568a.htm">theocracy</a> remains intact, if <a href="../cathen/04642b.htm">David's</a> house continues to flourish, "therefore will he give them up till the time wherein she that travaileth shall bring forth" the <a href="../cathen/10212c.htm">Messias</a>. [8]</p> <h3>Jeremias 31:22</h3> <p>A fourth <a href="../cathen/12473a.htm">prophecy</a> referring to Mary is found in <a href="../bible/jer031.htm#vrs22">Jeremias 31:22</a>; "The <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">Lord</a> has created a new thing upon the earth: A <a href="../cathen/15687b.htm">woman</a> shall compass a man". The text of the <a href="../cathen/12477a.htm">prophet</a> <a href="../cathen/08334a.htm">Jeremias</a> offers no small difficulties for the scientific interpreter; we shall follow the <a href="../cathen/15515b.htm">Vulgate</a> version of the <a href="../cathen/07176a.htm">Hebrew</a> original. But even this rendering has been explained in several different ways: Rosenmuller and several conservative <a href="../cathen/12495a.htm">Protestant</a> interpreters defend the meaning, "a <a href="../cathen/15687b.htm">woman</a> shall <em>protect</em> a man"; but such a motive would hardly induce the <a href="../cathen/09580c.htm">men</a> of <a href="../cathen/08193a.htm">Israel</a> to return to <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a>. The explanation "a <a href="../cathen/15687b.htm">woman</a> shall <em>seek</em> a man" hardly agrees with the text; besides, such an inversion of the natural order is presented in <a href="../bible/isa004.htm#vrs1">Isaias 4:1</a>, as a sign of the greatest calamity. Ewald's rendering, "a <a href="../cathen/15687b.htm">woman</a> shall <em>change into</em> a man", is hardly faithful to the original text. Other <a href="../cathen/04157a.htm">commentators</a> see in the <a href="../cathen/15687b.htm">woman</a> a <a href="../cathen/15107a.htm">type</a> of the <a href="../cathen/14379b.htm">Synagogue</a> or of the <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a>, in man the <a href="../cathen/15107a.htm">type</a> of <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a>, so that they explain the <a href="../cathen/12473a.htm">prophecy</a> as meaning, "<a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a> will dwell again in the midst of the <a href="../cathen/14379b.htm">Synagogue</a> (of the people of <a href="../cathen/08193a.htm">Israel</a>)" or "the <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a> will protect the earth with its <a href="../cathen/06147a.htm">valiant</a> <a href="../cathen/09580c.htm">men</a>". But the <a href="../cathen/07175a.htm">Hebrew text</a> hardly suggests such a meaning; besides, such an explanation renders the passage tautological: "<a href="../cathen/08193a.htm">Israel</a> shall return to its <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a>, for <a href="../cathen/08193a.htm">Israel</a> will <a href="../cathen/09397a.htm">love</a> its <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a>". Some recent writers render the <a href="../cathen/07176a.htm">Hebrew</a> original: "<a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a> creates a new thing upon the earth: the <a href="../cathen/15687b.htm">woman</a> (wife) returns to the man (her husband)". According to the <a href="../cathen/10582c.htm">old law</a> (<a href="../bible/deu024.htm#vrs1">Deuteronomy 24:1-4</a>; <a href="../bible/jer003.htm#vrs1">Jeremiah 3:1</a>) the husband could not take back the wife once repudiated by him; but the <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">Lord</a> will do something new by allowing the faithless wife, i.e. the guilty nation, to return to the friendship of <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a>. This explanation rests upon a conjectural correction of the text; besides, it does not necessarily bear the <a href="../cathen/10212c.htm">Messianic</a> meaning which we expect in the passage.</p> <div class="CMtag_300x250" style="display: flex; height: 300px; align-items: center; justify-content: center; "></div> <p>The <a href="../cathen/05230a.htm">Greek</a> <a href="../cathen/06001a.htm">Fathers</a> generally follow the <a href="../cathen/13722a.htm">Septuagint version</a>, "The <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">Lord</a> has created <a href="../cathen/13407a.htm">salvation</a> in a new plantation, men shall go about in safety"; but <a href="../cathen/02035a.htm">St. Athanasius</a> twice [9] combines Aquila's version "<a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a> has created a new thing in <a href="../cathen/15687b.htm">woman</a>" with that of the <a href="../cathen/13722a.htm">Septuagint</a>, saying that the new plantation is <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Jesus Christ</a>, and that the new thing created in <a href="../cathen/15687b.htm">woman</a> is the body of the <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">Lord</a>, conceived within the virgin without the co-operation of man. <a href="../cathen/08341a.htm">St. Jerome</a> too [10] understands the <a href="../cathen/12477a.htm">prophetic</a> text of the virgin conceiving the <a href="../cathen/10212c.htm">Messias</a>. This meaning of the passage satisfies the text and the context. As the <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Word Incarnate</a> possessed from the first moment of His conception all His perfections excepting those connected with His bodily development, His mother is rightly said to "compass a man". No need to point out that such a condition of a newly conceived child is rightly called "a new thing upon earth". The context of the <a href="../cathen/12473a.htm">prophecy</a> describes after a short general introduction (30:1-3) <a href="../cathen/08193a.htm">Israel's</a> future freedom and restoration in four stanzas: <a href="../bible/jer030.htm#vrs4">30:4-11, 12-22</a>; <a href="../bible/jer030.htm#vrs23">30:23</a>; <a href="../bible/jer031.htm#vrs14">31:14, 15-26</a>; the first three stanzas end with the hope of the <a href="../cathen/10212c.htm">Messianic</a> time. The fourth stanza, too, must be expected to have a similar ending. Moreover, the <a href="../cathen/12473a.htm">prophecy</a> of <a href="../cathen/08334a.htm">Jeremias</a>, uttered about 589 B.C. and understood in the sense just explained, agrees with the contemporary <a href="../cathen/10212c.htm">Messianic</a> expectations based on <a href="../bible/isa007.htm#vrs14">Isaias 7:14</a>; <a href="../bible/isa009.htm#vrs6">9:6</a>; <a href="../bible/mic005.htm#vrs3">Micah 5:3</a>. According to <a href="../cathen/08334a.htm">Jeremias</a>, the mother of <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Christ</a> is to differ from other mothers in this, that her child, even while within her womb, shall possess all those properties which constitute real manhood [11]. The <a href="../cathen/14526a.htm">Old Testament</a> refers indirectly to Mary in those <a href="../cathen/12473a.htm">prophecies</a> which predict the <a href="../cathen/07706b.htm">Incarnation</a> of the <a href="../cathen/09328a.htm">Word of God</a>.</p> <h2 id="section2">Old Testament types and figures of Mary</h2> <p>In order to be sure of the <a href="../cathen/15107a.htm">typical</a> sense, it must be <a href="../cathen/13001a.htm">revealed</a>, i.e. it must come down to us through <a href="../cathen/13635b.htm">Scripture</a> or <a href="../cathen/15006b.htm">tradition</a>. Individual pious writers have developed copious <a href="../cathen/01449a.htm">analogies</a> between certain data of the <a href="../cathen/14526a.htm">Old Testament</a> and corresponding data of the <a href="../cathen/14530a.htm">New</a>; however ingenious these developments may be, they do not prove that <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a> really intended to convey the corresponding <a href="../cathen/15073a.htm">truths</a> in the <a href="../cathen/08045a.htm">inspired</a> text of the <a href="../cathen/14526a.htm">Old Testament</a>. On the other hand, it must be kept in mind that not all <a href="../cathen/15073a.htm">truths</a> contained in either <a href="../cathen/13635b.htm">Scripture</a> or <a href="../cathen/15006b.htm">tradition</a> have been explicitly proposed to the <a href="../cathen/05769a.htm">faithful</a> as matters of <a href="../cathen/02408b.htm">belief</a> by the explicit <a href="../cathen/04675b.htm">definition</a> of the <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a>.</p> <p>According to the principle "Lex orandi est lex credenti" we must treat at least with reverence the numberless suggestions contained in the official <a href="../cathen/12345b.htm">prayers</a> and <a href="../cathen/09306a.htm">liturgies</a> of the <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a>. In this sense we must regard many of the titles bestowed on Our Blessed Lady in her <a href="../cathen/09287a.htm">litany</a> and in the <a href="../cathen/02149a.htm">"Ave maris stella"</a>. The <a href="../cathen/01575b.htm">Antiphons</a> and <a href="../cathen/12787a.htm">Responses</a> found in the <a href="../cathen/11219a.htm">Offices</a> recited on the various <a href="../cathen/06021b.htm">feasts</a> of Our Blessed Lady suggest a number of <a href="../cathen/15107a.htm">types</a> of Mary that hardly could have been brought so vividly to the notice of the <a href="../cathen/10326a.htm">Church's ministers</a> in any other way. The third <a href="../cathen/01575b.htm">antiphon</a> of <a href="../cathen/09038a.htm">Lauds</a> of the <a href="../cathen/03779a.htm">Feast of the Circumcision</a> sees in "the bush that was not burnt" (<a href="../bible/exo003.htm#vrs2">Exodus 3:2</a>) a <a href="../cathen/15107a.htm">figure</a> of Mary conceiving her <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Son</a> without the loss of her <a href="../cathen/15448a.htm">virginity</a>. The second <a href="../cathen/01575b.htm">antiphon</a> of <a href="../cathen/09038a.htm">Lauds</a> of the same <a href="../cathen/11219a.htm">Office</a> sees in <a href="../cathen/06402c.htm">Gideon's</a> fleece wet with dew while all the ground beside had remained dry (<a href="../bible/jdg006.htm#vrs37">Judges 6:37-38</a>) a <a href="../cathen/15107a.htm">type</a> of Mary receiving in her womb the <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Word Incarnate</a> [12]. The <a href="../cathen/11219a.htm">Office</a> of the Blessed Virgin applies to Mary many passages concerning the spouse in the <a href="../cathen/03302a.htm">Canticle of Canticles</a> [13] and also concerning Wisdom in the <a href="../bible/pro008.htm#vrs22">Book of Proverbs 8:22-31</a> [14]. The application to Mary of a "garden enclosed, a fountain sealed up" mentioned in Canticles 4:12 is only a particular instance of what has been said above. [15] Besides, <a href="../cathen/13468a.htm">Sara</a>, <a href="../cathen/04663a.htm">Debbora</a>, <a href="../cathen/08554a.htm">Judith</a>, and <a href="../cathen/05549a.htm">Esther</a> are variously used as <a href="../cathen/15107a.htm">figures</a> of Mary; the <a href="../cathen/01721a.htm">ark of the Covenant</a>, over which the <a href="../cathen/12396a.htm">presence of God</a> manifested itself, is used as the <a href="../cathen/15107a.htm">figure</a> of Mary carrying <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a> <a href="../cathen/07706b.htm">Incarnate</a> within her womb. But especially <a href="../cathen/05646b.htm">Eve</a>, the mother of all the living (<a href="../bible/gen003.htm#vrs20">Genesis 3:20</a>), is considered as a <a href="../cathen/15107a.htm">type</a> of Mary who is the mother of all the living in the order of <a href="../cathen/06689a.htm">grace</a> [16].</p> <h2 id="section3">Mary in the gospels</h2> <p>The reader of the <a href="../cathen/06655b.htm">Gospels</a> is at first surprised to find so little about Mary; but this obscurity of Mary in the <a href="../cathen/06655b.htm">Gospels</a> has been studied at length by <a href="../cathen/11756c.htm">Blessed Peter Canisius</a> [17], <a href="../cathen/11067c.htm">Auguste Nicolas</a> [18], <a href="../cathen/10794a.htm">Cardinal Newman</a> [19], and <a href="../cathen/11111a.htm">Very Rev. J. Spencer Northcote</a> [20]. In the commentary on the <a href="../cathen/09534a.htm">"Magnificat"</a>, published 1518, even <a href="../cathen/09438b.htm">Luther</a> expresses the <a href="../cathen/02408b.htm">belief</a> that the <a href="../cathen/06655b.htm">Gospels</a> praise Mary sufficiently by calling her (eight times) the Mother of <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Jesus</a>. In the following paragraphs we shall briefly group together what we <a href="../cathen/08673a.htm">know</a> of Our Blessed Lady's life before the birth of her <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Divine Son</a>, during the hidden <a href="../cathen/08377a.htm">life</a> of <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Our Lord</a>, during His public <a href="../cathen/08377a.htm">life</a> and after His <a href="../cathen/12789a.htm">resurrection</a>.</p> <h3>Mary's Davidic ancestry</h3> <p><a href="../cathen/09420a.htm">St. Luke</a> (<a href="../bible/luk002.htm#vrs4">2:4</a>) says that <a href="../cathen/08504a.htm">St. Joseph</a> went from <a href="../cathen/10725a.htm">Nazareth</a> to <a href="../cathen/02533a.htm">Bethlehem</a> to be enrolled, "because he was of the house and <a href="../cathen/05782a.htm">family</a> of <a href="../cathen/04642b.htm">David</a>". As if to exclude all <a href="../cathen/05141a.htm">doubt</a> concerning the <a href="../cathen/04642b.htm">Davidic</a> descent of Mary, the <a href="../cathen/05645a.htm">Evangelist</a> (<a href="../bible/luk001.htm#vrs32">1:32, 69</a>) states that the child born of Mary without the intervention of <a href="../cathen/09580c.htm">man</a> shall be given "the throne of <a href="../cathen/04642b.htm">David</a> His father", and that the <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">Lord God</a> has "raised up a horn of <a href="../cathen/13407a.htm">salvation</a> to us in the house of <a href="../cathen/04642b.htm">David</a> his servant". [21] <a href="../cathen/11567b.htm">St. Paul</a> too testifies that <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Jesus Christ</a> "was made to him [<a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a>] of the seed of <a href="../cathen/04642b.htm">David</a>, according to the flesh" (<a href="../bible/rom001.htm#vrs3">Romans 1:3</a>). If Mary were not of <a href="../cathen/04642b.htm">Davidic</a> descent, her <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Son</a> conceived by the <a href="../cathen/07409a.htm">Holy Ghost</a> could not be said to be "of the seed of <a href="../cathen/04642b.htm">David</a>". Hence <a href="../cathen/04157a.htm">commentators</a> tell us that in the text "in the sixth month the <a href="../cathen/06330a.htm">angel Gabriel</a> was sent from <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a>. . .to a <a href="../cathen/15448a.htm">virgin</a> <a href="../cathen/05543a.htm">espoused</a> to a man whose name was <a href="../cathen/08504a.htm">Joseph</a>, of the house of <a href="../cathen/04642b.htm">David</a>" (<a href="../bible/luk001.htm#vrs26">Luke 1:26-27</a>); the last clause "of the house of <a href="../cathen/04642b.htm">David</a>" does not refer to <a href="../cathen/08504a.htm">Joseph</a>, but to the <a href="../cathen/15448a.htm">virgin</a> who is the principal <a href="../cathen/11726a.htm">person</a> in the narrative; thus we have a direct <a href="../cathen/08045a.htm">inspired</a> testimony to Mary's <a href="../cathen/04642b.htm">Davidic</a> descent. [22]</p> <p>While <a href="../cathen/04157a.htm">commentators</a> generally agree that the <a href="../cathen/06410a.htm">genealogy</a> found at the beginning of the <a href="../cathen/10056b.htm">first Gospel</a> is that of <a href="../cathen/08504a.htm">St. Joseph</a>, <a href="../cathen/01541a.htm">Annius of Viterbo</a> proposes the opinion, already alluded to by <a href="../cathen/02084a.htm">St. Augustine</a>, that <a href="../cathen/09420a.htm">St. Luke's</a> <a href="../cathen/06410a.htm">genealogy</a> gives the pedigree of Mary. The text of the <a href="../cathen/09420a.htm">third Gospel</a> (<a href="../bible/luk003.htm#vrs23">3:23</a>) may be explained so as to make <a href="../cathen/07204b.htm">Heli</a> the father of Mary: "<a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Jesus</a>. . .being the son (as it was supposed of <a href="../cathen/08504a.htm">Joseph</a>) of <a href="../cathen/07204b.htm">Heli</a>", or "<a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Jesus</a>. . .being the son of <a href="../cathen/08504a.htm">Joseph</a>, as it was supposed, the son of <a href="../cathen/07204b.htm">Heli</a>" (Lightfoot, Bengel, etc.), or again "<a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Jesus</a>. . .being as it was supposed the son of <a href="../cathen/08504a.htm">Joseph</a>, who was [the son-in-law] of <a href="../cathen/07204b.htm">Heli</a>" [23]. In these explanations the name of Mary is not mentioned explicitly, but it is implied; for <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Jesus</a> is the Son of <a href="../cathen/07204b.htm">Heli</a> through Mary.</p> <h3>Her parents</h3> <p>Though few <a href="../cathen/04157a.htm">commentators</a> adhere to this view of <a href="../cathen/09420a.htm">St. Luke's</a> <a href="../cathen/06410a.htm">genealogy</a>, the name of Mary's father, <a href="../cathen/07204b.htm">Heli</a>, agrees with the name given to Our Lady's father in a <a href="../cathen/15006b.htm">tradition</a> founded upon the report of the <a href="../fathers/0847.htm">Protoevangelium of James</a>, an <a href="../cathen/01601a.htm">apocryphal</a> Gospel which dates from the end of the second century. According to this document the <a href="../cathen/11478c.htm">parents</a> of Mary are <a href="../cathen/08406b.htm">Joachim</a> and <a href="../cathen/01538a.htm">Anna</a>. Now, the name <em>Joachim</em> is only a variation of <em>Heli</em> or <em>Eliachim</em>, substituting one Divine name (<a href="../cathen/08329a.htm">Yahweh</a>) for the other (<a href="../cathen/05393a.htm">Eli, Elohim</a>). The <a href="../cathen/15006b.htm">tradition</a> as to the <a href="../cathen/11478c.htm">parents</a> of Mary, found in the Gospel of James, is reproduced by <a href="../cathen/08459b.htm">St. John Damascene</a> [24], <a href="../cathen/07016a.htm">St. Gregory of Nyssa</a> [25], <a href="../cathen/06484a.htm">St. Germanus of Constantinople</a> [26], pseudo-Epiphanius [27], pseudo-Hilarius [28], and <a href="../cathen/06312a.htm">St. Fulbert of Chartres</a> [29]. Some of these writers add that the birth of Mary was obtained by the fervent <a href="../cathen/12345b.htm">prayers</a> of <a href="../cathen/08406b.htm">Joachim</a> and <a href="../cathen/01538a.htm">Anna</a> in their advanced age. As <a href="../cathen/08406b.htm">Joachim</a> belonged to the royal family of <a href="../cathen/04642b.htm">David</a>, so <a href="../cathen/01538a.htm">Anna</a> is supposed to have been a descendant of the <a href="../cathen/12406a.htm">priestly</a> <a href="../cathen/05782a.htm">family</a> of <a href="../cathen/01003a.htm">Aaron</a>; thus <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Christ</a> the Eternal King and <a href="../cathen/12406a.htm">Priest</a> sprang from both a royal and <a href="../cathen/12406a.htm">priestly</a> <a href="../cathen/05782a.htm">family</a> [30].</p> <h3>The hometown of Mary's parents</h3> <p>According to <a href="../bible/luk001.htm#vrs26">Luke 1:26</a>, Mary lived in <a href="../cathen/10725a.htm">Nazareth</a>, a city in <a href="../cathen/06341c.htm">Galilee</a>, at the time of the <a href="../cathen/01541c.htm">Annunciation</a>. A certain <a href="../cathen/15006b.htm">tradition</a> maintains that she was <a href="../cathen/07674d.htm">conceived</a> and born in the same house in which the <a href="../cathen/09328a.htm">Word</a> became <a href="../cathen/07706b.htm">flesh</a> [31]. Another <a href="../cathen/15006b.htm">tradition</a> based on the Gospel of James regards <a href="../cathen/04798b.htm">Sephoris</a> as the earliest home of <a href="../cathen/08406b.htm">Joachim</a> and <a href="../cathen/01538a.htm">Anna</a>, though they are said to have lived later on in <a href="../cathen/08344a.htm">Jerusalem</a>, in a house called by St. Sophronius of Jerusalem [32] <em>Probatica</em>. <em>Probatica</em>, a name probably derived from the sanctuary's nearness to the pond called <em>Probatica</em> or <a href="../cathen/02536a.htm"><em>Bethsaida</em></a> in John 5:2. It was here that Mary was born. About a century later, about A.D. 750, <a href="../cathen/08459b.htm">St. John Damascene</a> [33] repeats the statement that Mary was born in the Probatica.</p> <p>It is said that, as early as in the fifth century the empress Eudoxia built a church over the place where Mary was born, and where her <a href="../cathen/11478c.htm">parents</a> lived in their old age. The present Church of St. Anna stands at a distance of only about 100 Feet from the pool Probatica. In 1889, 18 March, was discovered the <a href="../cathen/04558a.htm">crypt</a> which encloses the supposed <a href="../cathen/14773b.htm">burying-place</a> of <a href="../cathen/01538a.htm">St. Anna</a>. Probably this place was originally a garden in which both <a href="../cathen/08406b.htm">Joachim</a> and <a href="../cathen/01538a.htm">Anna</a> were laid to rest. At their time it was still outside of the city walls, about 400 feet north of the <a href="../cathen/14499a.htm">Temple</a>. Another <a href="../cathen/04558a.htm">crypt</a> near <a href="../cathen/01538a.htm">St. Anna's</a> tomb is the supposed birthplace of the Blessed Virgin; hence it is that in early times the church was called St. Mary of the Nativity [34]. In the <a href="../cathen/03475c.htm">Cedron Valley</a>, near the road leading to the Church of the Assumption, is a little sanctuary containing two <a href="../cathen/01362a.htm">altars</a> which are said to stand over the <a href="../cathen/14773b.htm">burying-places</a> of Sts. <a href="../cathen/08406b.htm">Joachim</a> and <a href="../cathen/01538a.htm">Anna</a>; but these <a href="../cathen/14773b.htm">graves</a> belong to the time of the <a href="../cathen/04543c.htm">Crusades</a> [35]. In <a href="../cathen/04798b.htm">Sephoris</a> too the <a href="../cathen/04543c.htm">Crusaders</a> replaced by a large church an ancient sanctuary which stood over the legendary house of Sts. <a href="../cathen/08406b.htm">Joachim</a> and <a href="../cathen/01538a.htm">Anna</a>. After 1788 part of this church was restored by the <a href="../cathen/06217a.htm">Franciscan Fathers</a>.</p> <h3>Her Immaculate Conception</h3> <p>The <a href="../cathen/07674d.htm">Immaculate Conception</a> of Our Blessed Lady has been treated in a <a href="../cathen/07674d.htm">SPECIAL ARTICLE</a>.</p> <h3>The birth of Mary</h3> <p>As to the place of the birth of Our Blessed Lady, there are three different <a href="../cathen/15006b.htm">traditions</a> to be considered.</p> <p>First, the event has been placed in <a href="../cathen/02533a.htm">Bethlehem</a>. This opinion rests on the authority of the following witnesses: it is expressed in a writing entitled "De nativ. S. Mariae" [36] inserted after the works of <a href="../cathen/08341a.htm">St. Jerome</a>; it is more or less vaguely supposed by the Pilgrim of <a href="../cathen/12069a.htm">Piacenza</a>, erroneously called Antoninus Martyr, who wrote about A.D. 580 [37]; finally the <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">popes</a> <a href="../cathen/11578a.htm">Paul II</a> (1471), <a href="../cathen/08562a.htm">Julius II</a> (1507), <a href="../cathen/09162a.htm">Leo X</a> (1519), <a href="../cathen/11579a.htm">Paul III</a> (1535), <a href="../cathen/12129a.htm">Pius IV</a> (1565), <a href="../cathen/14033a.htm">Sixtus V</a> (1586), and <a href="../cathen/08022a.htm">Innocent XII</a> (1698) in their <a href="../cathen/03052b.htm">Bulls</a> concerning the <a href="../cathen/13454b.htm">Holy House of Loreto</a> say that the Blessed Virgin was born, <a href="../cathen/05295b.htm">educated</a>, and greeted by the <a href="../cathen/01476d.htm">angel</a> in the <a href="../cathen/13454b.htm">Holy House</a>. But these <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">pontiffs</a> hardly wish to decide an historical question; they merely express the opinion of their respective times.</p> <p>A second <a href="../cathen/15006b.htm">tradition</a> placed the birth of Our Blessed Lady in <a href="../cathen/04798b.htm">Sephoris</a>, about three miles north of <a href="../cathen/02533a.htm">Bethlehem</a>, the Roman <a href="../cathen/04798b.htm">Diocaesarea</a>, and the residence of <a href="../cathen/07289c.htm#III">Herod Antipas</a> till late in the <a href="../cathen/08377a.htm">life of Our Lord</a>. The antiquity of this opinion may be inferred from the fact that under <a href="../cathen/04295c.htm">Constantine</a> a church was erected in <a href="../cathen/04798b.htm">Sephoris</a> to commemorate the residence of <a href="../cathen/08406b.htm">Joachim</a> and <a href="../cathen/01538a.htm">Anna</a> in that place [38]. <a href="../cathen/13393b.htm">St. Epiphanius</a> speaks of this sanctuary [39]. But this merely shows that Our Blessed Lady may have lived in <a href="../cathen/04798b.htm">Sephoris</a> for a time with her <a href="../cathen/11478c.htm">parents</a>, without forcing us to <a href="../cathen/02408b.htm">believe</a> that she had been born there.</p> <p>The third <a href="../cathen/15006b.htm">tradition</a>, that Mary was born in <a href="../cathen/08344a.htm">Jerusalem</a>, is the most probable one. We have seen that it rests upon the testimony of St. Sophronius, <a href="../cathen/08459b.htm">St. John Damascene</a>, and upon the evidence of the recent finds in the Probatica. The <a href="../cathen/10712b.htm">Feast of Our Lady's Nativity</a> was not celebrated in <a href="../cathen/13164a.htm">Rome</a> till toward the end of the seventh century; but two sermons found among the writings of <a href="../cathen/01473b.htm">St. Andrew of Crete</a> (d. 680) suppose the existence of this feast, and lead one to suspect that it was introduced at an earlier date into some other churches [40]. In 799 the 10th <a href="../cathen/03287a.htm">canon</a> of the <a href="../cathen/14388a.htm">Synod</a> of <a href="../cathen/13411b.htm">Salzburg</a> prescribes four <a href="../cathen/06021b.htm">feasts</a> in <a href="../cathen/07462a.htm">honour</a> of the Mother of God: the <a href="../cathen/03245b.htm">Purification</a>, 2 February; the <a href="../cathen/01542a.htm">Annunciation</a>, 25 March; the <a href="../cathen/02006b.htm">Assumption</a>, 15 August; the <a href="../cathen/10712b.htm">Nativity</a>, 8 September.</p> <h3>The Presentation of Mary</h3> <p>According to <a href="../bible/exo013.htm#vrs2">Exodus 13:2 and 13:12</a>, all the <a href="../cathen/08193a.htm">Hebrew</a> <a href="../cathen/06081a.htm">first-born</a> male children had to be presented in the <a href="../cathen/14499a.htm">Temple</a>. Such a <a href="../cathen/10582c.htm">law</a> would lead pious <a href="../cathen/08399a.htm">Jewish</a> <a href="../cathen/11478c.htm">parents</a> to observe the same religious rite with regard to other favourite children. This inclines one to <a href="../cathen/02408b.htm">believe</a> that <a href="../cathen/08406b.htm">Joachim</a> and <a href="../cathen/01538a.htm">Anna</a> presented in the <a href="../cathen/14499a.htm">Temple</a> their child, which they had obtained by their long, fervent <a href="../cathen/12345b.htm">prayers</a>.</p> <p>As to Mary, <a href="../cathen/09420a.htm">St. Luke</a> (<a href="../bible/luk001.htm#vrs34">1:34</a>) tells us that she answered the <a href="../cathen/01476d.htm">angel</a> announcing the birth of <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Jesus Christ</a>: "how shall this be done, because I know not man". These words can hardly be understood, unless we assume that Mary had made a <a href="../cathen/15511a.htm">vow</a> of <a href="../cathen/15458a.htm">virginity</a>; for, when she spoke them, she was <a href="../cathen/02537c.htm">betrothed</a> to <a href="../cathen/08504a.htm">St. Joseph</a>. [41] The most opportune occasion for such a <a href="../cathen/15511a.htm">vow</a> was her <a href="../cathen/12400a.htm">presentation</a> in the <a href="../cathen/14499a.htm">Temple</a>. As some of the <a href="../cathen/06001a.htm">Fathers</a> admit that the faculties of <a href="../cathen/08486b.htm">St. John the Baptist</a> were prematurely developed by a special intervention of <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God's</a> power, we may admit a similar <a href="../cathen/06689a.htm">grace</a> for the child of <a href="../cathen/08406b.htm">Joachim</a> and <a href="../cathen/01538a.htm">Anna</a>. [42]</p> <p>But what has been said does not exceed the certainty of antecedently probable pious conjectures. The consideration that <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Our Lord</a> could not have refused His Blessed Mother any favours which depended merely on His munificence does not exceed the value of an <em>a priori</em> argument. <a href="../cathen/03539b.htm">Certainty</a> in this question must depend on external testimony and the <a href="../cathen/05075b.htm">teaching</a> of the <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a>.</p> <p>Now, the Protoevangelium of James (7-8), and the writing entitled "De nativit. Mariae" (7-8), [43] state that <a href="../cathen/08406b.htm">Joachim</a> and <a href="../cathen/01538a.htm">Anna</a>, faithful to a <a href="../cathen/15511a.htm">vow</a> they had made, <a href="../cathen/12400a.htm">presented</a> the child Mary in the <a href="../cathen/14499a.htm">Temple</a> when she was three years old; that the child herself mounted the <a href="../cathen/14499a.htm">Temple</a> steps, and that she made her <a href="../cathen/15511a.htm">vow</a> of <a href="../cathen/15458a.htm">virginity</a> on this occasion. <a href="../cathen/07016a.htm">St. Gregory of Nyssa</a> [44] and <a href="../cathen/06484a.htm">St. Germanus of Constantinople</a> [45] adopt this report; it is also followed by pseudo-Gregory of Nazianzus in his "Christus patiens". [46] Moreover, the <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a> celebrates the <a href="../cathen/12400a.htm">Feast of the Presentation</a>, though it does not specify at what age the child Mary was presented in the <a href="../cathen/14499a.htm">Temple</a>, when she made her <a href="../cathen/15511a.htm">vow</a> of <a href="../cathen/15458a.htm">virginity</a>, and what were the special natural and <a href="../cathen/06553a.htm">supernatural gifts</a> with which <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a> endowed her. The <a href="../cathen/06021b.htm">feast</a> is mentioned for the first time in a document of Manuel Commenus, in 1166; from <a href="../cathen/04301a.htm">Constantinople</a> the <a href="../cathen/06021b.htm">feast</a> must have been introduced into the <a href="../cathen/09022a.htm">western Church</a>, where we find it at the papal court at <a href="../cathen/02158a.htm">Avignon</a> in 1371; about a century later, <a href="../cathen/14032b.htm">Pope Sixtus IV</a> introduced the <a href="../cathen/11219a.htm">Office</a> of the <a href="../cathen/12400a.htm">Presentation</a>, and in 1585 <a href="../cathen/14033a.htm">Pope Sixtus V</a> extended the <a href="../cathen/12400a.htm">Feast of the Presentation</a> to the whole <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a>.</p> <h3>Her betrothal to Joseph</h3> <p>The <a href="../cathen/01601a.htm">apocryphal writings</a> to which we referred in the last paragraph state that Mary remained in the <a href="../cathen/14499a.htm">Temple</a> after her <a href="../cathen/12400a.htm">presentation</a> in order to be <a href="../cathen/05295b.htm">educated</a> with other <a href="../cathen/08399a.htm">Jewish</a> children. There she enjoyed <a href="../cathen/15477a.htm">ecstatic visions</a> and daily visits of the <a href="../cathen/01476d.htm">holy angels</a>.</p> <p>When she was fourteen, the <a href="../cathen/12407b.htm">high priest</a> wished to send her home for <a href="../cathen/09693a.htm">marriage</a>. Mary reminded him of her <a href="../cathen/15511a.htm">vow</a> of <a href="../cathen/15458a.htm">virginity</a>, and in his embarrassment the <a href="../cathen/12407b.htm">high priest</a> consulted the <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">Lord</a>. Then he called all the young men of the <a href="../cathen/05782a.htm">family</a> of <a href="../cathen/04642b.htm">David</a>, and promised Mary in <a href="../cathen/09693a.htm">marriage</a> to him whose rod should sprout and become the resting place of the <a href="../cathen/07409a.htm">Holy Ghost</a> in form of a dove. It was <a href="../cathen/08504a.htm">Joseph</a> who was privileged in this extraordinary way.</p> <p>We have already seen that <a href="../cathen/07016a.htm">St. Gregory of Nyssa</a>, <a href="../cathen/06484a.htm">St. Germanus of Constantinople</a>, and pseudo-Gregory Nazianzen seem to adopt these legends. Besides, the emperor <a href="../cathen/08578b.htm">Justinian</a> allowed a <a href="../cathen/02325a.htm">basilica</a> to be built on the platform of the former <a href="../cathen/14499a.htm">Temple</a> in memory of Our Lady's stay in the sanctuary; the church was called the New St. Mary's so as to distinguish it from the Church of the Nativity. It seems to be the modern mosque el-Aksa. [47]</p> <p>On the other hand, the <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a> is silent as to Mary's stay in the <a href="../cathen/14499a.htm">Temple</a>. <a href="../cathen/01383c.htm">St. Ambrose</a> [48], describing Mary's life before the <a href="../cathen/01541c.htm">Annunciation</a>, supposes expressly that she lived in the house of her <a href="../cathen/11478c.htm">parents</a>. All the descriptions of the <a href="../cathen/14499a.htm">Jewish Temple</a> which can claim any scientific value leave us in <a href="../cathen/07648a.htm">ignorance</a> as to any localities in which young girls might have been <a href="../cathen/05295b.htm">educated</a>. Joas's stay in the <a href="../cathen/14499a.htm">Temple</a> till the age of seven does not favour the supposition that young girls were <a href="../cathen/05295b.htm">educated</a> within the sacred precincts; for Joas was king, and was forced by circumstances to remain in the <a href="../cathen/14499a.htm">Temple</a> (cf. <a href="../bible/2ki011.htm#vrs3">2 Kings 11:3</a>). What <a href="../bible/2ma003.htm#vrs19">2 Maccabees 3:19</a>, says about "the <a href="../cathen/15458a.htm">virgins</a> also that were shut up" does not show that any of them were kept in the <a href="../cathen/14499a.htm">Temple</a> buildings. If the <a href="../cathen/12477a.htm">prophetess</a> <a href="../cathen/01530c.htm">Anna</a> is said (<a href="../bible/luk002.htm#vrs37">Luke 2:37</a>) not to have "departed from the <a href="../cathen/14499a.htm">temple</a>, by <a href="../cathen/05789c.htm">fastings</a> and <a href="../cathen/12345b.htm">prayer</a> serving night and day", we do not suppose that she actually lived in one of the <a href="../cathen/14499a.htm">temple</a> rooms. [49] As the house of <a href="../cathen/08406b.htm">Joachim</a> and <a href="../cathen/01538a.htm">Anna</a> was not far distant from the <a href="../cathen/14499a.htm">Temple</a>, we may suppose that the <a href="../cathen/07386a.htm">holy</a> child Mary was often allowed to visit the sacred buildings in order to satisfy her devotion.</p> <div class="CMtag_300x250" style="display: flex; height: 300px; align-items: center; justify-content: center; "></div> <p><a href="../cathen/08399a.htm">Jewish</a> maidens were considered <a href="../cathen/09693a.htm">marriageable</a> at the age of twelve years and six months, though the actual age of the bride varied with circumstances. The <a href="../cathen/09693a.htm">marriage</a> was preceded by the <a href="../cathen/02537c.htm">betrothal</a>, after which the bride legally belonged to the bridegroom, though she did not live with him till about a year later, when the <a href="../cathen/09693a.htm">marriage</a> used to be celebrated. All this agrees well with the language of the <a href="../cathen/05645a.htm">Evangelists</a>. <a href="../cathen/09420a.htm">St. Luke</a> (<a href="../bible/luk001.htm#vrs27">1:27</a>) calls Mary "a <a href="../cathen/15458a.htm">virgin</a> <a href="../cathen/05543a.htm">espoused</a> to a man whose name was <a href="../cathen/08504a.htm">Joseph</a>"; <a href="../cathen/10057a.htm">St. Matthew</a> (<a href="../bible/mat001.htm#vrs18">1:18</a>) says, "when as his mother Mary was <a href="../cathen/05543a.htm">espoused</a> to <a href="../cathen/08504a.htm">Joseph</a>, before they came together, she was found with child, of the <a href="../cathen/07409a.htm">Holy Ghost</a>". As we know of no brother of Mary, we must suppose that she was an heiress, and was obliged by the <a href="../cathen/10582c.htm">law</a> of <a href="../bible/num036.htm#vrs6">Numbers 36:6</a> to marry a member of her <a href="../cathen/15039a.htm">tribe</a>. The <a href="../cathen/10582c.htm">Law</a> itself prohibited <a href="../cathen/09693a.htm">marriage</a> within certain <a href="../cathen/04264a.htm">degrees of relationship</a>, so that the <a href="../cathen/09693a.htm">marriage</a> of even an heiress was left more or less to choice.</p> <p>According to <a href="../cathen/08399a.htm">Jewish</a> custom, the union between <a href="../cathen/08504a.htm">Joseph</a> and Mary had to be arranged by the <a href="../cathen/11478c.htm">parents</a> of <a href="../cathen/08504a.htm">St. Joseph</a>. One might ask why Mary consented to her <a href="../cathen/02537c.htm">betrothal</a>, though she was bound by her <a href="../cathen/15511a.htm">vow</a> of <a href="../cathen/15458a.htm">virginity</a>. As she had <a href="../cathen/11181c.htm">obeyed</a> <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God's</a> inspiration in making her <a href="../cathen/15511a.htm">vow</a>, so she <a href="../cathen/11181c.htm">obeyed</a> <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God's</a> inspiration in becoming the affianced bride of <a href="../cathen/08504a.htm">Joseph</a>. Besides, it would have been singular among the <a href="../cathen/08399a.htm">Jews</a> to refuse <a href="../cathen/02537c.htm">betrothal</a> or <a href="../cathen/09693a.htm">marriage</a>; for all the <a href="../cathen/08399a.htm">Jewish</a> maidens aspired after <a href="../cathen/09693a.htm">marriage</a> as the accomplishment of a natural <a href="../cathen/05215a.htm">duty</a>. Mary trusted the Divine guidance implicitly, and thus was certain that her <a href="../cathen/15511a.htm">vow</a> would be kept even in her <a href="../cathen/09693a.htm">married</a> state.</p> <h3>The Annunciation</h3> <p>The <a href="../cathen/01541c.htm">Annunciation</a> has been treated in a <a href="../cathen/01541c.htm">SPECIAL ARTICLE</a>.</p> <h3>The Visitation</h3> <p>According to <a href="../bible/luk001.htm#vrs36">Luke 1:36</a>, the <a href="../cathen/06330a.htm">angel Gabriel</a> told Mary at the time of the <a href="../cathen/01541c.htm">annunciation</a>, "behold, thy cousin <a href="../cathen/05387b.htm">Elizabeth</a>, she also hath conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month with her that was called barren". Without <a href="../cathen/05141a.htm">doubting</a> the <a href="../cathen/15073a.htm">truth</a> of the <a href="../cathen/01476d.htm">angel's</a> words, Mary determined at once to add to the <a href="../cathen/07131b.htm">pleasure</a> of her pious relative. [50] Hence the <a href="../cathen/05645a.htm">Evangelist</a> continues (<a href="../bible/luk001.htm#vrs39">1:39</a>): "And Mary, rising up in those days, went into the hill country with haste into a city of <a href="../cathen/08536a.htm">Juda</a>. And she entered into the house of Zachary, and saluted <a href="../cathen/05387b.htm">Elizabeth</a>." Though Mary must have told <a href="../cathen/08504a.htm">Joseph</a> of her intended visit, it is hard to determine whether he accompanied her; if the time of the journey happened to coincide with one of the festal seasons at which the <a href="../cathen/08193a.htm">Israelites</a> had to go to the <a href="../cathen/14499a.htm">Temple</a>, there would be little difficulty about companionship.</p> <p>The place of <a href="../cathen/05387b.htm">Elizabeth's</a> home has been variously located by different writers: it has been placed in Machaerus, over ten miles east of the <a href="../cathen/04658a.htm">Dead Sea</a>, or in <a href="../cathen/07184a.htm">Hebron</a>, or again in the ancient <a href="../cathen/09206a.htm">sacerdotal</a> city of Jutta, about seven miles south of <a href="../cathen/07184a.htm">Hebron</a>, or finally in Ain-Karim, the traditional St. John-in-the Mountain, nearly four miles west of <a href="../cathen/08344a.htm">Jerusalem</a>. [51] But the first three places possess no <a href="../cathen/15006b.htm">traditional</a> memorial of the birth or life of <a href="../cathen/08492a.htm">St. John</a>; besides, Machaerus was not situated in the mountains of <a href="../cathen/08536a.htm">Juda</a>; <a href="../cathen/07184a.htm">Hebron</a> and Jutta belonged after the <a href="../cathen/03315a.htm">Babylonian captivity</a> to <a href="../cathen/07638a.htm">Idumea</a>, while Ain-Karim lies in the "hill country" [52] mentioned in the <a href="../cathen/08045a.htm">inspired</a> text of <a href="../cathen/09420a.htm">St. Luke</a>.</p> <p>After her journey of about thirty hours, Mary "entered into the house of Zachary, and saluted <a href="../cathen/05387b.htm">Elizabeth</a>" (<a href="../bible/luk001.htm#vrs40">Luke 1:40</a>). According to <a href="../cathen/15006b.htm">tradition</a>, <a href="../cathen/05387b.htm">Elizabeth</a> lived at the time of the <a href="../cathen/15480a.htm">visitation</a> not in her city home, but in her villa, about ten minutes distant from the city; formerly this place was marked by an upper and lower church. In 1861 the present small Church of the Visitation was erected on the ancient foundations.</p> <p>"And it came to pass that, when <a href="../cathen/05387b.htm">Elizabeth</a> heard the salutation of Mary, the <a href="../cathen/08486b.htm">infant</a> leaped in her womb." It was at this moment that <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a> fulfilled the promise made by the <a href="../cathen/01476d.htm">angel</a> to Zachary (<a href="../bible/luk001.htm#vrs15">Luke 1:15</a>), "and he shall be filled with the <a href="../cathen/07409a.htm">Holy Ghost</a>, even from his mother's womb"; in other words, the <a href="../cathen/08486b.htm">infant</a> in <a href="../cathen/05387b.htm">Elizabeth's</a> womb was cleansed from the stain of <a href="../cathen/11312a.htm">original sin</a>. The fullness of the <a href="../cathen/07409a.htm">Holy Ghost</a> in the <a href="../cathen/08486b.htm">infant</a> overflowed, as it were, into the <a href="../cathen/14153a.htm">soul</a> of his mother: "and <a href="../cathen/05387b.htm">Elizabeth</a> was filled with the <a href="../cathen/07409a.htm">Holy Ghost</a>" (<a href="../bible/luk001.htm#vrs41">Luke 1:41</a>). Thus both child and mother were <a href="../cathen/13428b.htm">sanctified</a> by the presence of Mary and the <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Word Incarnate</a> [53]; filled as she was with the <a href="../cathen/07409a.htm">Holy Ghost</a>, <a href="../cathen/05387b.htm">Elizabeth</a> "cried out with a loud voice, and said: Blessed art thou among <a href="../cathen/15687b.htm">women</a>, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">Lord</a> should come to me? For behold, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears, the <a href="../cathen/08486b.htm">infant</a> in my womb leaped for <a href="../cathen/07131b.htm">joy</a>. And blessed art thou that hast <a href="../cathen/02408b.htm">believed</a>, because those things shall be accomplished that were spoken to thee by the <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">Lord</a>" (<a href="../bible/luk001.htm#vrs42">Luke 1:42-45</a>). Leaving to <a href="../cathen/04157a.htm">commentators</a> the full explanation of the preceding passage, we draw attention only to two points:</p> <div class="bulletlist"><ul><li><a href="../cathen/05387b.htm">Elizabeth</a> begins her greeting with the words with which the <a href="../cathen/01476d.htm">angel</a> had finished his salutation, thus showing that both spoke in the same <a href="../cathen/07409a.htm">Holy Spirit</a>;</li><li><a href="../cathen/05387b.htm">Elizabeth</a> is the first to call Mary by her most <a href="../cathen/07462a.htm">honourable</a> title "Mother of God". </li></ul></div> <p>Mary's answer is the canticle of praise commonly called <a href="../cathen/09534a.htm">"Magnificat"</a> from the first word of its <a href="../cathen/15515b.htm">Latin</a> text; the <a href="../cathen/09534a.htm">"Magnificat"</a> has been treated in a <a href="../cathen/09534a.htm">SEPARATE ARTICLE</a>.</p> <p>The <a href="../cathen/05645a.htm">Evangelist</a> closes his account of the <a href="../cathen/15480a.htm">Visitation</a> with the words: "And Mary abode with her about three months; and she returned to her own house" (<a href="../bible/luk001.htm#vrs56">Luke 1:56</a>). Many see in this brief statement of the <a href="../cathen/09420a.htm">third gospel</a> an implied hint that Mary remained in the house of Zachary till the birth of <a href="../cathen/08486b.htm">John the Baptist</a>, while others deny such an implication. As the <a href="../cathen/15480a.htm">Feast of the Visitation</a> was placed by the 43rd <a href="../cathen/03287a.htm">canon</a> of the <a href="../cathen/02334b.htm">Council of Basle</a> (A.D. 1441) on 2 July, the day following the <a href="../cathen/11204a.htm">Octave</a> of the <a href="../cathen/06021b.htm">Feast</a> of <a href="../cathen/08486b.htm">St. John the Baptist</a>, it has been inferred that Mary may have remained with <a href="../cathen/05387b.htm">Elizabeth</a> until after the child's <a href="../cathen/03777a.htm">circumcision</a>; but there is no further <a href="../cathen/12454c.htm">proof</a> for this supposition. Though the <a href="../cathen/15480a.htm">visitation</a> is so accurately described in the <a href="../cathen/09420a.htm">third Gospel</a>, its <a href="../cathen/06021b.htm">feast</a> does not appear to have been kept till the thirteenth century, when it was introduced through the influence of the <a href="../cathen/06217a.htm">Franciscans</a>; in 1389 it was officially instituted by <a href="../cathen/15216a.htm">Urban VI</a>.</p> <h3>Mary's pregnancy becomes known to Joseph</h3> <p>After her return from <a href="../cathen/05387b.htm">Elizabeth</a>, Mary "was found with child, of the <a href="../cathen/07409a.htm">Holy Ghost</a>" (<a href="../bible/mat001.htm#vrs18">Matthew 1:18</a>). As among the <a href="../cathen/08399a.htm">Jews</a>, <a href="../cathen/02537c.htm">betrothal</a> was a real <a href="../cathen/09693a.htm">marriage</a>, the use of <a href="../cathen/09693a.htm">marriage</a> after the time of <a href="../cathen/05542d.htm">espousals</a> presented nothing unusual among them. Hence Mary's pregnancy could not astonish anyone except <a href="../cathen/08504a.htm">St. Joseph</a>. As he did not know the <a href="../cathen/10662a.htm">mystery</a> of the <a href="../cathen/07706b.htm">Incarnation</a>, the situation must have been extremely painful both to him and to Mary. The <a href="../cathen/05645a.htm">Evangelist</a> says: "Whereupon <a href="../cathen/08504a.htm">Joseph</a> her husband being a just man, and not willing publicly to expose her, was minded to <a href="../cathen/05054c.htm">put her away</a> privately" (<a href="../bible/mat001.htm#vrs19">Matthew 1:19</a>). Mary left the solution of the difficulty to <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a>, and <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a> informed the perplexed spouse in His own time of the <a href="../cathen/15073a.htm">true</a> condition of Mary. While <a href="../cathen/08504a.htm">Joseph</a> "thought on these things, behold the <a href="../cathen/01476d.htm">angel of the Lord</a> appeared to him in his sleep, saying: <a href="../cathen/08504a.htm">Joseph</a>, son of <a href="../cathen/04642b.htm">David</a>, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the <a href="../cathen/07409a.htm">Holy Ghost</a>. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Jesus</a>. For He shall <a href="../cathen/13407a.htm">save</a> His people from their <a href="../cathen/14004b.htm">sins</a>" (<a href="../bible/mat001.htm#vrs20">Matthew 1:20-21</a>).</p> <p>Not long after this <a href="../cathen/13005a.htm">revelation</a>, <a href="../cathen/08504a.htm">Joseph</a> concluded the ritual <a href="../cathen/09693a.htm">marriage</a> contract with Mary. The <a href="../cathen/06655b.htm">Gospel</a> simply says: "<a href="../cathen/08504a.htm">Joseph</a> rising up from sleep did as the <a href="../cathen/01476d.htm">angel of the Lord</a> had commanded him, and took unto him his wife" (<a href="../bible/mat001.htm#vrs24">Matthew 1:24</a>). While it is certain that between the <a href="../cathen/02537c.htm">betrothal</a> and the <a href="../cathen/09693a.htm">marriage</a> at least three months must have elapsed, during which Mary stayed with <a href="../cathen/05387b.htm">Elizabeth</a>, it is impossible to determine the exact length of time between the two <a href="../cathen/03538b.htm">ceremonies</a>. We do not know how long after the <a href="../cathen/02537c.htm">betrothal</a> the <a href="../cathen/01476d.htm">angel</a> <a href="../cathen/01541c.htm">announced</a> to Mary the <a href="../cathen/10662a.htm">mystery</a> of the <a href="../cathen/07706b.htm">Incarnation</a>, nor do we know how long the <a href="../cathen/05141a.htm">doubt</a> of <a href="../cathen/08504a.htm">Joseph</a> lasted, before he was enlightened by the visit of the <a href="../cathen/01476d.htm">angel</a>. From the age at which <a href="../cathen/08536a.htm">Hebrew</a> maidens became marriageable, it is possible that Mary gave birth to her <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Son</a> when she was about thirteen or fourteen years of age. No <a href="../cathen/08375a.htm">historical document</a> tells us how old she actually was at the time of the <a href="../cathen/03724b.htm">Nativity</a>.</p> <h3>The journey to Bethlehem</h3> <p><a href="../cathen/09420a.htm">St. Luke</a> (<a href="../bible/luk002.htm#vrs1">2:1-5</a>) explains how <a href="../cathen/08504a.htm">Joseph</a> and Mary journeyed from <a href="../cathen/10725a.htm">Nazareth</a> to <a href="../cathen/02533a.htm">Bethlehem</a> in <a href="../cathen/11181c.htm">obedience</a> to a <a href="../cathen/04670a.htm">decree</a> of <a href="../cathen/02107a.htm">Caesar Augustus</a> which prescribed a general enrolment. The questions connected with this <a href="../cathen/04670a.htm">decree</a> have been considered in the article <a href="../cathen/03731a.htm">BIBLICAL CHRONOLOGY</a>. There are various reasons why Mary should have accompanied <a href="../cathen/08504a.htm">Joseph</a> on this journey; she may not have wished to lose <a href="../cathen/08504a.htm">Joseph's</a> protection during the critical time of her pregnancy, or she may have followed a special Divine inspiration impelling her to go in order to fulfil the <a href="../cathen/12473a.htm">prophecies</a> concerning her <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Divine Son</a>, or again she may have been compelled to go by the civil <a href="../cathen/09053a.htm">law</a> either as an heiress or to settle the personal tax payable by <a href="../cathen/15687b.htm">women</a> over twelve years of age. [54]</p> <p>As the enrolment had brought a multitude of strangers to <a href="../cathen/02533a.htm">Bethlehem</a>, Mary and <a href="../cathen/08504a.htm">Joseph</a> found no room in the caravansary and had to take lodging in a grotto which served as a shelter for animals. [55]</p> <h3>Mary gives birth to Our Lord</h3> <p>"And it came to pass, that when they were there, her days were accomplished, that she should be delivered" (<a href="../bible/luk002.htm#vrs6">Luke 2:6</a>); this language leaves it uncertain whether the birth of <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Our Lord</a> took place immediately after <a href="../cathen/08504a.htm">Joseph</a> and Mary had taken lodging in the grotto, or several days later. What is said about the shepherds "keeping the night watches over their flock" (<a href="../bible/luk002.htm#vrs8">Luke 2:8</a>) shows that <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Christ</a> was born in the night time.</p> <p>After bringing forth her <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Son</a>, Mary "wrapped Him up in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger" (<a href="../bible/luk002.htm#vrs7">Luke 2:7</a>), a sign that she did not suffer from the pain and weakness of childbirth. This inference agrees with the teaching of some of the principal <a href="../cathen/06001a.htm">Fathers</a> and <a href="../cathen/14580x.htm">theologians</a>: <a href="../cathen/01383c.htm">St. Ambrose</a> [56], <a href="../cathen/07016a.htm">St. Gregory of Nyssa</a> [57], <a href="../cathen/08459b.htm">St. John Damascene</a> [58], the author of <em>Christus patiens</em> [59], <a href="../cathen/14663b.htm">St. Thomas</a> [60], etc. It was not becoming that the mother of God should be subject to the punishment pronounced in <a href="../bible/gen003.htm#vrs16">Genesis 3:16</a>, against <a href="../cathen/05646b.htm">Eve</a> and her <a href="../cathen/14004b.htm">sinful</a> daughters.</p> <p>Shortly after the birth of the child, the shepherds, <a href="../cathen/11181c.htm">obedient</a> to the <a href="../cathen/01476d.htm">angelic</a> invitation, arrived in the grotto, "and they found Mary and <a href="../cathen/08504a.htm">Joseph</a>, and the <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">infant</a> lying in the manger" (<a href="../bible/luk002.htm#vrs16">Luke 2:16</a>). We may suppose that the shepherds spread the glad tidings they had received during the night among their friends in <a href="../cathen/02533a.htm">Bethlehem</a>, and that the Holy Family was received by one of its pious inhabitants into more suitable lodgings.</p> <h3>The Circumcision of Our Lord</h3> <p>"And after eight days were accomplished, that the child should be <a href="../cathen/03777a.htm">circumcised</a>, his name was called <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Jesus</a>" (<a href="../bible/luk002.htm#vrs21">Luke 2:21</a>). The rite of <a href="../cathen/03777a.htm">circumcision</a> was performed either in the <a href="../cathen/14379b.htm">synagogue</a> or in the home of the <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Child</a>; it is impossible to determine where <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Our Lord's</a> <a href="../cathen/03777a.htm">Circumcision</a> took place. At any rate, His Blessed Mother must have been present at the <a href="../cathen/03538b.htm">ceremony</a>.</p> <h3>The Presentation</h3> <p>According to the <a href="../cathen/10582c.htm">law</a> of <a href="../bible/lev012.htm#vrs2">Leviticus 12:2-8</a>, the <a href="../cathen/08399a.htm">Jewish</a> mother of a male child had to present herself forty days after his birth for <a href="../cathen/04010c.htm">legal purification</a>; according to <a href="../bible/exo013.htm#vrs2">Exodus 13:2</a>, and <a href="../bible/num018.htm#vrs15">Numbers 18:15</a>, the <a href="../cathen/06081a.htm">first-born son</a> had to be presented on the same occasion. Whatever reasons Mary and the <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Infant</a> might have for claiming an exemption, they complied with the <a href="../cathen/10582c.htm">law</a>. But, instead of <a href="../cathen/11215d.htm">offering</a> a lamb, they presented the <a href="../cathen/13309a.htm">sacrifice</a> of the <a href="../cathen/12324a.htm">poor</a>, consisting of a pair of turtle-doves or two young pigeons. In <a href="../bible/2co008.htm#vrs9">2 Corinthians 8:9</a>, <a href="../cathen/11567b.htm">St. Paul</a> informs the <a href="../cathen/04363b.htm">Corinthians</a> that <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Jesus Christ</a> "being rich. . .became <a href="../cathen/12324a.htm">poor</a>, for your sakes, that through his <a href="../cathen/12327a.htm">poverty</a> you might be rich". Even more acceptable to <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a> than Mary's <a href="../cathen/12327a.htm">poverty</a> was the readiness with which she surrendered her <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Divine Son</a> to the good pleasure of <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">His Heavenly Father</a>.</p> <p>After the <a href="../cathen/03538b.htm">ceremonial rites</a> had been complied with, <a href="../cathen/13794c.htm">holy Simeon</a> took the <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Child</a> in his arms, and thanked <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a> for the fulfilment of his promises; he drew attention to the universality of the <a href="../cathen/13407a.htm">salvation</a> that was to come through <a href="../cathen/10212c.htm">Messianic</a> redemption "prepared before the face of all peoples: a light to the revelation of the <a href="../cathen/06422a.htm">Gentiles</a>, and the glory of thy people <a href="../cathen/08193a.htm">Israel</a>" (<a href="../bible/luk002.htm#vrs31">Luke 2:31 sq.</a>). Mary and <a href="../cathen/08504a.htm">Joseph</a> now began to know their <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Divine Child</a> more fully; they "were wondering at those things which were spoken concerning him" (<a href="../bible/luk002.htm#vrs33">Luke 2:33</a>). As if to prepare Our Blessed Mother for the <a href="../cathen/10662a.htm">mystery</a> of the <a href="../cathen/04517a.htm">cross</a>, <a href="../cathen/13794c.htm">holy Simeon</a> said to her: "Behold this child is set for the fall, and for the resurrection of many in <a href="../cathen/08193a.htm">Israel</a>, and for a sign which shall be contradicted. And thy own <a href="../cathen/14153a.htm">soul</a> a sword shall pierce, that, out of many hearts, thoughts may be revealed" (<a href="../bible/luk002.htm#vrs34">Luke 2:34-35</a>). Mary had suffered her first great sorrow at the time when <a href="../cathen/08504a.htm">Joseph</a> was hesitating about taking her for his wife; she experienced her second great sorrow when she heard the words of <a href="../cathen/13794c.htm">holy Simeon</a>.</p> <p>Though the incident of the <a href="../cathen/12477a.htm">prophetess</a> <a href="../cathen/01530c.htm">Anna</a> had a more general bearing, for she "spoke of him (the <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Child</a>) to all that looked for the redemption of <a href="../cathen/08193a.htm">Israel</a>" (<a href="../bible/luk002.htm#vrs38">Luke 2:38</a>), it must have added greatly to the wonder of <a href="../cathen/08504a.htm">Joseph</a> and Mary. The <a href="../cathen/05645a.htm">Evangelist's</a> concluding remark, "after they had performed all things according to the <a href="../cathen/10582c.htm">law of the Lord</a>, they returned into <a href="../cathen/06341c.htm">Galilee</a>, to their city <a href="../cathen/10725a.htm">Nazareth</a>" (<a href="../bible/luk002.htm#vrs39">Luke 2:39</a>), has been variously interpreted by <a href="../cathen/04157a.htm">commentators</a>; as to the order of events, see the article <a href="../cathen/08377a.htm">CHRONOLOGY OF THE LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST</font></a>.</p> <h3>The visit of the Magi</h3> <p>After the <a href="../cathen/03245b.htm">Presentation</a>, the Holy Family either returned to <a href="../cathen/02533a.htm">Bethlehem</a> directly, or went first to <a href="../cathen/10725a.htm">Nazareth</a>, and then moved into the <a href="../cathen/02533a.htm">city of David</a>. At any rate, after the "<a href="../cathen/09527a.htm">wise men</a> from the east" had followed the Divine guidance to <a href="../cathen/02533a.htm">Bethlehem</a>, "entering into the house, they found the child with Mary his mother, and falling down they <a href="../cathen/01151a.htm">adored</a> him; and opening their treasures, they offered him gifts; gold, frankincense, and myrrh" (<a href="../bible/mat002.htm#vrs11">Matthew 2:11</a>). The <a href="../cathen/05645a.htm">Evangelist</a> does not mention <a href="../cathen/08504a.htm">Joseph</a>; not that he was not present, but because Mary occupies the principal place near the <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Child</a>. How Mary and <a href="../cathen/08504a.htm">Joseph</a> disposed of the presents offered by their <a href="../cathen/15571a.htm">wealthy</a> visitors has not been told us by the <a href="../cathen/05645a.htm">Evangelists</a>.</p> <h3>The flight to Egypt</h3> <p>Soon after the departure of the <a href="../cathen/09527a.htm">wise men</a> <a href="../cathen/08504a.htm">Joseph</a> received the message from the <a href="../cathen/01476d.htm">angel of the Lord</a> to fly into <a href="../cathen/05329b.htm">Egypt</a> with the <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Child</a> and His mother on account of the <a href="../cathen/05649a.htm">evil</a> <a href="../cathen/08069b.htm">designs</a> of <a href="../cathen/07289c.htm">Herod</a>; the <a href="../cathen/07386a.htm">holy</a> man's ready <a href="../cathen/11181c.htm">obedience</a> is briefly described by the <a href="../cathen/05645a.htm">Evangelist</a> in the words: "who arose, and took the child and his mother by night, and retired into <a href="../cathen/05329b.htm">Egypt</a>" (<a href="../bible/mat002.htm#vrs14">Matthew 2:14</a>). <a href="../cathen/11703a.htm">Persecuted</a> <a href="../cathen/08399a.htm">Jews</a> had ever sought a refuge in <a href="../cathen/05329b.htm">Egypt</a> (cf. <a href="../bible/1ki011.htm#vrs40">1 Kings 11:40</a>; <a href="../bible/2ki025.htm#vrs26">2 Kings 25:26</a>); about the time of <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Christ</a> <a href="../cathen/08399a.htm">Jewish</a> colonists were especially numerous in the <a href="../cathen/05329b.htm">land of the Nile</a> [61]; according to Philo [62] they numbered at least a million. In <a href="../cathen/09181a.htm">Leontopolis</a>, in the district of Heliopolis, the <a href="../cathen/08399a.htm">Jews</a> had a <a href="../cathen/14499a.htm">temple</a> (160 B.C.-A.D. 73) which rivalled in splendour the <a href="../cathen/14499a.htm">temple in Jerusalem</a>. [63] The Holy Family might therefore expect to find in <a href="../cathen/05329b.htm">Egypt</a> a certain amount of help and protection.</p> <p>On the other hand, it required a journey of at least ten days from <a href="../cathen/02533a.htm">Bethlehem</a> to reach the nearest habitable districts of <a href="../cathen/05329b.htm">Egypt</a>. We do not know by what road the Holy Family effected its flight; they may have followed the ordinary road through <a href="../cathen/07184a.htm">Hebron</a>; or they may have gone by way of <a href="../cathen/05380a.htm">Eleutheropolis</a> and <a href="../cathen/06399c.htm">Gaza</a>, or again they may have passed west of <a href="../cathen/08344a.htm">Jerusalem</a> towards the great military road of <a href="../cathen/08268a.htm">Joppe</a>.</p> <p>There is hardly any historical document which will assist us in determining where the Holy Family lived in <a href="../cathen/05329b.htm">Egypt</a>, nor do we know how long the enforced exile lasted. [64]</p> <p>When <a href="../cathen/08504a.htm">Joseph</a> received from the <a href="../cathen/01476d.htm">angel</a> the news of <a href="../cathen/07289c.htm">Herod's</a> death and the command to return into the land of <a href="../cathen/08193a.htm">Israel</a>, he "arose, and took the child and his mother, and came into the land of <a href="../cathen/08193a.htm">Israel</a>" (<a href="../bible/mat002.htm#vrs21">Matthew 2:21</a>). The news that Archelaus ruled in <a href="../cathen/08544a.htm">Judea</a> prevented <a href="../cathen/08504a.htm">Joseph</a> from settling in <a href="../cathen/02533a.htm">Bethlehem</a>, as had been his intention; "warned in <a href="../cathen/05154a.htm">sleep</a> [by the <a href="../cathen/01476d.htm">angel</a>, he] retired into the quarters of <a href="../cathen/06341c.htm">Galilee</a>. And coming he dwelt in a city called <a href="../cathen/10725a.htm">Nazareth</a>" (<a href="../bible/mat002.htm#vrs22">Matthew 2:22-23</a>). In all these details Mary simply followed the guidance of <a href="../cathen/08504a.htm">Joseph</a>, who in his turn received the Divine manifestations as head of the Holy Family. There is no need to point out the intense sorrow which Mary suffered on account of the early <a href="../cathen/11703a.htm">persecution</a> of the <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Child</a>.</p> <h3>The Holy Family in Nazareth</h3> <p>The life of the Holy Family in <a href="../cathen/10725a.htm">Nazareth</a> was that of the ordinary <a href="../cathen/12324a.htm">poor</a> tradesman. According to <a href="../bible/mat013.htm#vrs55">Matthew 13:55</a>, the townsfolk asked "Is not this the carpenter's son?"; the question, as expressed in the <a href="../cathen/09674b.htm">second Gospel</a> (<a href="../bible/mar006.htm#vrs3">Mark 6:3</a>), shows a slight variation, "Is not this the carpenter?" While <a href="../cathen/08504a.htm">Joseph</a> gained the livelihood for the Holy Family by his daily work, Mary attended to the various <a href="../cathen/05215a.htm">duties</a> of housekeeper. <a href="../cathen/09420a.htm">St. Luke</a> (<a href="../bible/luk002.htm#vrs40">2:40</a>) briefly says of <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Jesus</a>: "And the child grew, and waxed strong, full of wisdom; and the <a href="../cathen/06701a.htm">grace of God</a> was in him". The weekly <a href="../cathen/13287b.htm">Sabbath</a> and the annual great feasts interrupted the daily routine of life in <a href="../cathen/10725a.htm">Nazareth</a>.</p> <h3>The finding of Our Lord in the Temple</h3> <p>According to the <a href="../cathen/10582c.htm">law</a> of <a href="../bible/exo023.htm#vrs17">Exodus 23:17</a>, only the men were obliged to visit the <a href="../cathen/14499a.htm">Temple</a> on the three solemn feasts of the year; but the <a href="../cathen/15687b.htm">women</a> often joined the men to satisfy their devotion. <a href="../cathen/09420a.htm">St. Luke</a> (<a href="../bible/luk002.htm#vrs41">2:41</a>) informs us that "his [the child's] <a href="../cathen/11478c.htm">parents</a> went every year to <a href="../cathen/08344a.htm">Jerusalem</a>, at the solemn day of the <a href="../cathen/11512b.htm">pasch</a>". Probably the <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Child Jesus</a> was left in the home of friends or relatives during the days of Mary's absence. According to the opinion of some writers, the <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Child</a> did not give any sign of His Divinity during the years of His infancy, so as to increase the <a href="../cathen/10212b.htm">merits</a> of <a href="../cathen/08504a.htm">Joseph's</a> and Mary's <a href="../cathen/05752c.htm">faith</a> based on what they had seen and heard at the time of the <a href="../cathen/07706b.htm">Incarnation</a> and the birth of <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Jesus</a>. <a href="../cathen/08399a.htm">Jewish</a> Doctors of the <a href="../cathen/10582c.htm">Law</a> maintained that a boy became a son of the <a href="../cathen/10582c.htm">law</a> at the age of twelve years and one day; after that he was bound by the <a href="../cathen/10582c.htm">legal precepts</a>.</p> <p>The <a href="../cathen/05645a.htm">evangelist</a> supplies us here with the information that, "when he was twelve years old, they going up into <a href="../cathen/08344a.htm">Jerusalem</a>, according to the custom of the feast, and having fulfilled the days, when they returned, the child <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Jesus</a> remained in <a href="../cathen/08344a.htm">Jerusalem</a>, and his <a href="../cathen/11478c.htm">parents</a> knew it not" (<a href="../bible/luk002.htm#vrs42">Luke 2:42-43</a>). Probably it was after the second festal day that <a href="../cathen/08504a.htm">Joseph</a> and Mary returned with the other <a href="../cathen/06341c.htm">Galilean</a> pilgrims; the <a href="../cathen/10582c.htm">law</a> did not require a longer sojourn in the <a href="../cathen/08344a.htm">Holy City</a>. On the first day the caravan usually made a four hours' journey, and rested for the night in <a href="../cathen/02515a.htm">Beroth</a> on the northern boundary of the former <a href="../cathen/08536a.htm">Kingdom of Juda</a>. The <a href="../cathen/04543c.htm">crusaders</a> built in this place a beautiful <a href="../cathen/06665b.htm">Gothic</a> church to commemorate Our Lady's sorrow when she "sought him [her child] among their kinsfolks and acquaintance, and not finding him, . . .returned into <a href="../cathen/08344a.htm">Jerusalem</a>, seeking him" (<a href="../bible/luk002.htm#vrs44">Luke 2:44-45</a>). The <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Child</a> was not found among the pilgrims who had come to <a href="../cathen/02515a.htm">Beroth</a> on their first day's journey; nor was He found on the second day, when <a href="../cathen/08504a.htm">Joseph</a> and Mary returned to <a href="../cathen/08344a.htm">Jerusalem</a>; it was only on the third day that they "found him [<a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Jesus</a>] in the <a href="../cathen/14499a.htm">temple</a>, sitting in the midst of the <a href="../cathen/05072b.htm">doctors</a>, hearing them, and asking them questions. . .And seeing him, they wondered. And his mother said to him: Son, why hast thou done so to us? behold thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing" (<a href="../bible/luk002.htm#vrs40">Luke 2:40-48</a>). Mary's <a href="../cathen/05752c.htm">faith</a> did not allow her to fear a mere accident for her <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Divine Son</a>; but she felt that His behaviour had changed entirely from His customary exhibition of docility and subjection. The feeling caused the question, why <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Jesus</a> had treated His <a href="../cathen/11478c.htm">parents</a> in such a way. <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Jesus</a> simply answered: "How is it that you sought me? did you not know, that I must be about my father's business?" (<a href="../bible/luk002.htm#vrs49">Luke 2:49</a>). Neither <a href="../cathen/08504a.htm">Joseph</a> nor Mary understood these words as a rebuke; "they understood not the word that he spoke to them" (<a href="../bible/luk002.htm#vrs50">Luke 2:50</a>). It has been suggested by a recent writer that the last clause may be understood as meaning, "they [i.e., the bystanders] understood not the word he spoke unto them [i.e., to Mary and <a href="../cathen/08504a.htm">Joseph</a>]".</p> <h3>The remainder of Our Lord's youth</h3> <p>After this, <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Jesus</a> "went down with them, and came to <a href="../cathen/10725a.htm">Nazareth</a>" where He began a life of work and <a href="../cathen/12327a.htm">poverty</a>, eighteen years of which are summed up by the <a href="../cathen/05645a.htm">Evangelist</a> in the few words, and he "was subject to them, and. . .advanced in wisdom, and age, and <a href="../cathen/06689a.htm">grace</a> with <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a> and <a href="../cathen/09580c.htm">men</a>" (<a href="../bible/luk002.htm#vrs51">Luke 2:51-52</a>). The interior life of Mary is briefly indicated by the <a href="../cathen/08045a.htm">inspired</a> writer in the expression, "and his mother kept all these words in her <a href="../cathen/07168a.htm">heart</a>" (<a href="../bible/luk002.htm#vrs51">Luke 2:51</a>). A similar expression had been used in <a href="../bible/luk002.htm#vrs19">2:19</a>, "Mary kept all these words, pondering them in her <a href="../cathen/07168a.htm">heart</a>". Thus Mary observed the daily life of her <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Divine Son</a>, and grew in His <a href="../cathen/08673a.htm">knowledge</a> and <a href="../cathen/09397a.htm">love</a> by <a href="../cathen/04324b.htm">meditating</a> on what she saw and heard. It has been pointed out by certain writers that the <a href="../cathen/05645a.htm">Evangelist</a> here indicates the last source from which he derived the material contained in his first two chapters.</p> <h3>Mary's perpetual virginity</h3> <p>In connection with the study of Mary during <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Our Lord's</a> hidden life, we meet the questions of her <a href="../cathen/15448a.htm">perpetual virginity</a>, of her Divine motherhood, and of her personal <a href="../cathen/13428b.htm">sanctity</a>. Her spotless <a href="../cathen/15448a.htm">virginity</a> has been sufficiently considered in the article on the <a href="../cathen/15448a.htm">Virgin Birth</a>. The authorities there cited maintain that Mary remained a <a href="../cathen/15448a.htm">virgin</a> when she conceived and gave birth to her <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Divine Son</a>, as well as after the birth of <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Jesus</a>. Mary's question (<a href="../bible/luk001.htm#vrs34">Luke 1:34</a>), the <a href="../cathen/01476d.htm">angel's</a> answer (<a href="../bible/luk001.htm#vrs35">Luke 1:35-37</a>), <a href="../cathen/08504a.htm">Joseph's</a> way of behaving in his <a href="../cathen/05141a.htm">doubt</a> (<a href="../bible/mat001.htm#vrs19">Matthew 1:19-25</a>), <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Christ's</a> words addressed to the <a href="../cathen/08399a.htm">Jews</a> (<a href="../bible/joh008.htm#vrs19">John 8:19</a>) show that Mary retained her <a href="../cathen/15448a.htm">virginity</a> during the conception of her <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Divine Son</a>. [65]</p> <p>As to Mary's <a href="../cathen/15448a.htm">virginity</a> after her childbirth, it is not denied by <a href="../cathen/10057a.htm">St. Matthew's</a> expressions "before they came together" (<a href="../bible/mat001.htm#vrs18">1:18</a>), "her <a href="../cathen/06081a.htm">firstborn son</a>" (<a href="../bible/mat001.htm#vrs25">1:25</a>), nor by the fact that the <a href="../cathen/14530a.htm">New Testament</a> books repeatedly refer to the <a href="../cathen/02767a.htm">"brothers of Jesus"</a>. [66] The words "before they came together" mean probably, "before they lived in the same house", referring to the time when they were merely <a href="../cathen/02537c.htm">betrothed</a>; but even if the words be understood of marital intercourse, they only state that the <a href="../cathen/07706b.htm">Incarnation</a> took place before any such intercourse had intervened, without implying that it did occur after the <a href="../cathen/07706b.htm">Incarnation</a> of the <a href="../cathen/14142b.htm">Son of God</a>. [67]</p> <p>The same must be said of the expression, "and he knew her not till she brought forth her <a href="../cathen/06081a.htm">firstborn son</a>" (<a href="../bible/mat001.htm#vrs25">Matthew 1:25</a>); the <a href="../cathen/05645a.htm">Evangelist</a> tells us what did not happen before the birth of <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Jesus</a>, without suggesting that it happened after his birth. [68] The name <a href="../cathen/06081a.htm">"firstborn"</a> applies to <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Jesus</a> whether his mother remained a <a href="../cathen/15448a.htm">virgin</a> or gave birth to other children after <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Jesus</a>; among the <a href="../cathen/08399a.htm">Jews</a> it was a legal name [69], so that its occurrence in the <a href="../cathen/06655b.htm">Gospel</a> cannot astonish us.</p> <p>Finally, the <a href="../cathen/02767a.htm">"brothers of Jesus"</a> are neither the sons of Mary, nor the <a href="../cathen/02767a.htm">brothers of Our Lord</a> in the proper sense of the word, but they are His cousins or the more or less near relatives. [70] The <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a> insists that in His birth the <a href="../cathen/14142b.htm">Son of God</a> did not lessen but <a href="../cathen/04276a.htm">consecrate</a> the <a href="../cathen/15448a.htm">virginal integrity</a> of His mother (<a href="../cathen/13673b.htm">Secret</a> in <a href="../cathen/03245b.htm">Mass of Purification</a>). The <a href="../cathen/06001a.htm">Fathers</a> express themselves in similar language concerning this privilege of Mary. [71]</p> <h3>Mary's divine motherhood</h3> <p>Mary's Divine motherhood is based on the teaching of the <a href="../cathen/06655b.htm">Gospels</a>, on the writings of the <a href="../cathen/06001a.htm">Fathers</a>, and on the express <a href="../cathen/04675b.htm">definition</a> of the <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a>. <a href="../cathen/10057a.htm">St. Matthew</a> (<a href="../bible/mat001.htm#vrs25">1:25</a>) testifies that Mary "brought forth her <a href="../cathen/06081a.htm">first-born son</a>" and that He was called <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Jesus</a>. According to <a href="../cathen/08438a.htm">St. John</a> (<a href="../bible/joh001.htm#vrs15">1:15</a>) <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Jesus</a> is the <a href="../cathen/09328a.htm">Word</a> made flesh, the <a href="../cathen/09328a.htm">Word</a> Who <a href="../cathen/07706b.htm">assumed human nature</a> in the womb of Mary. As Mary was truly the mother of <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Jesus</a>, and as <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Jesus</a> was truly <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a> from the first moment of His conception, Mary is truly the mother of God. Even the earliest <a href="../cathen/06001a.htm">Fathers</a> did not hesitate to draw this conclusion as may be seen in the writings of <a href="../cathen/07644a.htm">St. Ignatius</a> [72], <a href="../cathen/08130b.htm">St. Irenaeus</a> [73], and <a href="../cathen/14520c.htm">Tertullian</a> [74]. The contention of <a href="../cathen/10755a.htm">Nestorius</a> denying to Mary the title "Mother of God" [75] was followed by the teaching of the <a href="../cathen/05491a.htm">Council of Ephesus</a> proclaiming Mary to be <em>Theotokos</em> in the <a href="../cathen/15073a.htm">true</a> sense of the word. [76]</p> <h3>Mary's perfect sanctity</h3> <p>Some few <a href="../cathen/06001a.htm">patristic writers</a> expressed their <a href="../cathen/05141a.htm">doubts</a> as to the presence of minor <a href="../cathen/14004b.htm">moral defects</a> in Our Blessed Lady. [77] <a href="../cathen/02330b.htm">St. Basil</a>, e.g., suggests that Mary yielded to <a href="../cathen/05141a.htm">doubt</a> on hearing the words of <a href="../cathen/13794c.htm">holy Simeon</a> and on witnessing the <a href="../cathen/11527b.htm">crucifixion</a>. [78] <a href="../cathen/08452b.htm">St. John Chrysostom</a> is of opinion that Mary would have felt fear and trouble, unless the <a href="../cathen/01476d.htm">angel</a> had explained the <a href="../cathen/10662a.htm">mystery</a> of the <a href="../cathen/07706b.htm">Incarnation</a> to her, and that she showed some <a href="../cathen/12405a.htm">vainglory</a> at the <a href="../cathen/09693a.htm">marriage</a> feast in <a href="../cathen/03226a.htm">Cana</a> and on visiting her <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Son</a> during His public life together with the <a href="../cathen/02767a.htm">brothers of the Lord</a>. [79] <a href="../cathen/04592b.htm">St. Cyril of Alexandria</a> [80] speaks of Mary's <a href="../cathen/05141a.htm">doubt</a> and discouragement at the foot of the <a href="../cathen/04517a.htm">cross</a>. But these <a href="../cathen/05230a.htm">Greek</a> writers cannot be said to express an <a href="../cathen/15006b.htm">Apostolic tradition</a>, when they express their private and singular opinions. <a href="../cathen/13635b.htm">Scripture</a> and <a href="../cathen/15006b.htm">tradition</a> agree in ascribing to Mary the greatest personal <a href="../cathen/13428b.htm">sanctity</a>; she is <a href="../cathen/07674d.htm">conceived</a> without the stain of <a href="../cathen/11312a.htm">original sin</a>; she shows the greatest <a href="../cathen/07543b.htm">humility</a> and patience in her daily life (<a href="../bible/luk001.htm#vrs38">Luke 1:38, 48</a>); she exhibits an heroic patience under the most trying circumstances (<a href="../bible/luk002.htm#vrs7">Luke 2:7, 35, 48</a>; <a href="../bible/joh019.htm#vrs25">John 19:25-27</a>). When there is question of <a href="../cathen/14004b.htm">sin</a>, Mary must always be excepted. [81] Mary's complete exemption from actual <a href="../cathen/14004b.htm">sin</a> is confirmed by the <a href="../cathen/15030c.htm">Council of Trent</a> (Session VI, Canon 23): "If any one say that man once <a href="../cathen/08573a.htm">justified</a> can during his whole life avoid all <a href="../cathen/14004b.htm">sins</a>, even venial ones, as the <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a> holds that the Blessed Virgin did by special privilege of <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a>, let him be <a href="../cathen/01455e.htm">anathema</a>." Theologians assert that Mary was impeccable, not by the <a href="../cathen/05543b.htm">essential</a> perfection of her <a href="../cathen/10715a.htm">nature</a>, but by a <a href="../cathen/06553a.htm">special Divine privilege</a>. Moreover, the <a href="../cathen/06001a.htm">Fathers</a>, at least since the fifth century, almost unanimously maintain that the Blessed Virgin never experienced the motions of <a href="../cathen/04208a.htm">concupiscence</a>.</p> <h3>The miracle in Cana</h3> <p>The <a href="../cathen/05645a.htm">evangelists</a> connect Mary's name with three different events in <a href="../cathen/08377a.htm">Our Lord's public life</a>: with the <a href="../cathen/10338a.htm">miracle</a> in <a href="../cathen/03226a.htm">Cana</a>, with His preaching, and with His <a href="../cathen/11527b.htm">passion</a>. The first of these incidents is related in <a href="../bible/joh002.htm#vrs1">John 2:1-10</a>.</p> <blockquote><p>There was a <a href="../cathen/09693a.htm">marriage</a> feast in <a href="../cathen/03226a.htm">Cana</a> of <a href="../cathen/06341c.htm">Galilee</a>. . .and the mother of <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Jesus</a> was there. And <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Jesus</a> also was invited, and his <a href="../cathen/05029a.htm">disciples</a>, to the <a href="../cathen/09693a.htm">marriage</a>. And the wine failing, the mother of <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Jesus</a> saith to him: They have no wine. And <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Jesus</a> saith to her: Woman, what is that to me and to thee? my hour is not yet come.</p></blockquote> <p>One naturally supposes that one of the contracting parties was related to Mary, and that <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Jesus</a> had been invited on account of his mother's relationship. The couple must have been rather <a href="../cathen/12324a.htm">poor</a>, since the wine was actually failing. Mary wishes to save her friends from the shame of not being able to provide properly for the guests, and has recourse to her <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Divine Son</a>. She merely states their need, without adding any further petition. In addressing <a href="../cathen/15687b.htm">women</a>, <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Jesus</a> uniformly employs the word "woman" (<a href="../bible/mat015.htm#vrs28">Matthew 15:28</a>; <a href="../bible/luk013.htm#vrs12">Luke 13:12</a>; <a href="../bible/joh004.htm#vrs21">John 4:21</a>; <a href="../bible/joh008.htm#vrs10">8:10</a>; <a href="../bible/joh019.htm#vrs26">19:26</a>; <a href="../bible/joh020.htm#vrs15">20:15</a>), an expression used by classical writers as a respectful and <a href="../cathen/07462a.htm">honourable</a> address. [82] The above cited passages show that in the language of <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Jesus</a> the address "woman" has a most respectful meaning. The clause "what is that to me and to thee" renders the Greek <em>ti emoi kai soi</em>, which in its turn corresponds to the <a href="../cathen/07176a.htm">Hebrew</a> phrase <em>mah li walakh</em>. This latter occurs in <a href="../bible/jdg011.htm#vrs12">Judges 11:12</a>; <a href="../bible/2sa016.htm#vrs10">2 Samuel 16:10</a>; <a href="../bible/2sa019.htm#vrs23">19:23</a>; <a href="../bible/1ki017.htm#vrs18">1 Kings 17:18</a>; <a href="../bible/2ki003.htm#vrs13">2 Kings 3:13</a>; <a href="../bible/2ki009.htm#vrs18">9:18</a>; <a href="../bible/2ch035.htm#vrs21">2 Chronicles 35:21</a>. The <a href="../cathen/14530a.htm">New Testament</a> shows equivalent expressions in <a href="../bible/mat008.htm#vrs29">Matthew 8:29</a>; <a href="../bible/mar001.htm#vrs24">Mark 1:24</a>; <a href="../bible/mar004.htm#vrs34">Luke 4:34</a>; <a href="../bible/mar008.htm#vrs28">8:28</a>; <a href="../bible/mat027.htm#vrs19">Matthew 27:19</a>. The meaning of the phrase varies according to the character of the speakers, ranging from a most pronounced opposition to a courteous compliance. Such a variable meaning makes it hard for the translator to find an equally variable equivalent. "What have I to do with thee", "this is neither your nor my business", "why art thou troublesome to me", "allow me to attend to this", are some of the renderings suggested. In general, the words seem to refer to well or ill-meant importunity which they endeavour to remove. The last part of <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Our Lord's</a> answer presents less difficulty to the interpreter: "my hour is not yet come", cannot refer to the precise moment at which the need of wine will require the <a href="../cathen/10338a.htm">miraculous</a> intervention of <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Jesus</a>; for in the language of <a href="../cathen/08438a.htm">St. John</a> "my hour" or "the hour" denotes the time preordained for some important event (<a href="../bible/joh004.htm#vrs21">John 4:21-23</a>; <a href="../bible/joh005.htm#vrs25">5:25-28</a>; <a href="../bible/joh007.htm#vrs30">7:30</a>; <a href="../bible/joh008.htm#vrs29">8:29</a>; <a href="../bible/joh012.htm#vrs23">12:23</a>; <a href="../bible/joh013.htm#vrs1">13:1</a>; <a href="../bible/joh016.htm#vrs21">16:21</a>; <a href="../bible/joh017.htm#vrs1">17:1</a>). Hence the meaning of <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Our Lord's</a> answer is: "Why are you troubling me by asking me for such an intervention? The divinely appointed time for such a manifestation has not yet come"; or, "why are you worrying? has not the time of manifesting my power come?" The former of these meanings implies that on account of the intercession of Mary <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Jesus</a> anticipated the time set for the manifestation of His <a href="../cathen/10338a.htm">miraculous</a> power [83]; the second meaning is obtained by understanding the last part of <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Our Lord's</a> words as a question, as was done by <a href="../cathen/07016a.htm">St. Gregory of Nyssa</a> [84], and by the Arabic version of <a href="../cathen/14464b.htm">Tatian's</a> <a href="../fathers/1002.htm">"Diatessaron"</a> (Rome, 1888). [85] Mary understood her <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Son's</a> words in their proper sense; she merely warned the waiters, "Whatsoever he shall say to you, do ye" (<a href="../bible/joh002.htm#vrs5">John 2:5</a>). There can be no question of explaining <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Jesus'</a> answer in the sense of a refusal.</p> <h3>Mary during the apostolic life of Our Lord</h3> <p>During the apostolic life of <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Jesus</a>, Mary effaced herself almost completely. Not being called to aid her Son directly in His ministry, she did not wish to interfere with His work by her untimely presence. In <a href="../cathen/10725a.htm">Nazareth</a> she was regarded as a common <a href="../cathen/08399a.htm">Jewish</a> mother; <a href="../cathen/10057a.htm">St. Matthew</a> (<a href="../bible/mat003.htm#vrs55">3:55-56</a>; cf. <a href="../bible/mar006.htm#vrs3">Mark 6:3</a>) introduces the people of the town as saying: "Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary, and his <a href="../cathen/02767a.htm">brethren</a> <a href="../cathen/08280a.htm">James</a>, and Joseph, and <a href="../cathen/13796b.htm">Simon</a>, and <a href="../cathen/08542b.htm">Jude</a>: and his sisters, are they not all with us?" Since the people wish to lower <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Our Lord's</a> esteem by their language, we must infer that Mary belonged to the lower social order of townspeople. The parallel passage of <a href="../cathen/09674b.htm">St. Mark</a> reads, "Is not this the carpenter?" instead of, "Is not this the carpenter's son?" Since both <a href="../cathen/05645a.htm">evangelists</a> omit the name of <a href="../cathen/08504a.htm">St. Joseph</a>, we may infer that he had died before this episode took place.</p> <p>At first sight, it seems that <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Jesus</a> Himself depreciated the dignity of His Blessed Mother. When He was told: "Behold thy mother and thy <a href="../cathen/02767a.htm">brethren</a> stand without, seeking thee", He answered: "Who is my mother, and who are my <a href="../cathen/02767a.htm">brethren</a>? And stretching forth his hand towards his <a href="../cathen/05029a.htm">disciples</a>, he said: Behold my mother and my brethren. For whosoever shall do the will of my <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">Father</a>, that is in <a href="../cathen/07170a.htm">heaven</a>, he is my brother, and my sister, and my mother" (<a href="../bible/mat012.htm#vrs47">Matthew 12:47-50</a>; cf. <a href="../bible/mar003.htm#vrs31">Mark 3:31-35</a>; <a href="../bible/luk008.htm#vrs19">Luke 8:19-21</a>). On another occasion, "a certain <a href="../cathen/15687b.htm">woman</a> from the crowd, lifting up her voice, said to him: Blessed is the womb that bore thee, and the paps that gave thee suck. But he said: Yea rather, blessed are they who hear the word of <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a>, and keep it" (<a href="../bible/luk011.htm#vrs27">Luke 11:27-28</a>).</p> <p>In reality, <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Jesus</a> in both these passages places the bond that unites the <a href="../cathen/14153a.htm">soul</a> with <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a> above the natural bond of <a href="../cathen/11478c.htm">parentage</a> which unites the Mother of God with her <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Divine Son</a>. The latter dignity is not belittled; as <a href="../cathen/09580c.htm">men</a> naturally appreciate it more easily, it is employed by <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Our Lord</a> as a means to make known the real value of <a href="../cathen/07386a.htm">holiness</a>. <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Jesus</a>, therefore, really, praises His mother in a most emphatic way; for she excelled the rest of <a href="../cathen/09580c.htm">men</a> in <a href="../cathen/07386a.htm">holiness</a> not less than in dignity. [86] Most probably, Mary was found also among the <a href="../cathen/07386a.htm">holy</a> <a href="../cathen/15687b.htm">women</a> who ministered to <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Jesus</a> and His <a href="../cathen/01626c.htm">apostles</a> during their ministry in <a href="../cathen/06341c.htm">Galilee</a> (cf. <a href="../bible/luk008.htm#vrs2">Luke 8:2-3</a>); the <a href="../cathen/05645a.htm">Evangelists</a> do not mention any other public appearance of Mary during the time of <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Jesus's</a> journeys through <a href="../cathen/06341c.htm">Galilee</a> or <a href="../cathen/08544a.htm">Judea</a>. But we must remember that when the sun appears, even the brightest stars become invisible.</p> <h3>Mary during the Passion of Our Lord</h3> <p>Since the <a href="../cathen/11527b.htm">Passion of Jesus Christ</a> occurred during the <a href="../cathen/11512b.htm">paschal</a> week, we naturally expect to find Mary at <a href="../cathen/08344a.htm">Jerusalem</a>. <a href="../cathen/13794c.htm">Simeon's</a> <a href="../cathen/12473a.htm">prophecy</a> found its fulfilment principally during the time of <a href="../cathen/11527b.htm">Our Lord's suffering</a>. According to a <a href="../cathen/15006b.htm">tradition</a>, His Blessed Mother met <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Jesus</a> as He was carrying His <a href="../cathen/04517a.htm">cross</a> to <a href="../cathen/03191a.htm">Golgotha</a>. The <a href="../cathen/08254a.htm">Itinerarium</a> of the Pilgrim of Bordeaux describes the memorable sites which the writer visited A.D. 333, but it does not mention any locality sacred to this meeting of Mary and her <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Divine Son</a>. [87] The same silence prevails in the so-called Peregrinatio Silviae which used to be assigned to A.D. 385, but has lately been placed in A.D. 533-540. [88] But a plan of <a href="../cathen/08344a.htm">Jerusalem</a>, dating from the year 1308, shows a Church of St. John the Baptist with the <a href="../cathen/08042a.htm">inscription</a> "Pasm. Vgis.", Spasmus Virginis, the swoon of the Virgin. During the course of the fourteenth century <a href="../cathen/03712a.htm">Christians</a> began to locate the spots <a href="../cathen/04276a.htm">consecrated</a> by the <a href="../cathen/11527b.htm">Passion of Christ</a>, and among these was the place where Mary is said to have fainted at the sight of her suffering <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Son</a>. [89] Since the fifteenth century one finds always "Sancta Maria de Spasmo" among the <a href="../cathen/15569a.htm">Stations of the Way of the Cross</a>, erected in various parts of <a href="../cathen/05607b.htm">Europe</a> in imitation of the <a href="../cathen/15569a.htm">Via Dolorosa</a> in <a href="../cathen/08344a.htm">Jerusalem</a>. [90] That Our Blessed Lady should have fainted at the sight of her <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Son's</a> sufferings, hardly agrees with her heroic behaviour under the <a href="../cathen/04517a.htm">cross</a>; still, we may consider her <a href="../cathen/15687b.htm">woman</a> and mother in her meeting with her <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Son</a> on the way to <a href="../cathen/03191a.htm">Golgotha</a>, while she is the Mother of God at the foot of the <a href="../cathen/04517a.htm">cross</a>.</p> <h3>Mary's spiritual motherhood</h3> <p>While <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Jesus</a> was hanging on the <a href="../cathen/04517a.htm">cross</a>, "there stood by the <a href="../cathen/04517a.htm">cross</a> of <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Jesus</a>, his mother, and his mother's sister, <a href="../cathen/09748b.htm">Mary Cleophas</a>, and <a href="../cathen/09761a.htm">Mary Magdalen</a>. When <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Jesus</a> therefore had seen his mother and the <a href="../cathen/08492a.htm">disciple</a> standing whom he <a href="../cathen/09397a.htm">loved</a>, he saith to his mother: Woman, behold thy son. After that, he saith to the <a href="../cathen/08492a.htm">disciple</a>: Behold thy mother. And from that hour, the <a href="../cathen/08492a.htm">disciple</a> took her to his own" (<a href="../bible/joh019.htm#vrs25">John 19:25-27</a>). The darkening of the sun and the other <a href="../cathen/10338a.htm">extraordinary phenomena in nature</a> must have frightened the enemies of <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Our Lord</a> sufficiently so as not to interfere with His mother and His few friends standing at the foot of the <a href="../cathen/04517a.htm">cross</a>. In the meantime, <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Jesus</a> had <a href="../cathen/12345b.htm">prayed</a> for His enemies, and had promised pardon to the <a href="../cathen/11618b.htm">penitent</a> thief; now, He took compassion on His desolate mother, and provided for her future. If <a href="../cathen/08504a.htm">St. Joseph</a> had been still alive, or if Mary had been the mother of those who are called <a href="../cathen/02767a.htm">Our Lord's brethren or sisters</a> in the <a href="../cathen/06655b.htm">gospels</a>, such a provision would not have been necessary. <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Jesus</a> uses the same respectful title with which he had addressed his mother at the <a href="../cathen/09693a.htm">marriage</a> feast in <a href="../cathen/03226a.htm">Cana</a>. Then he commits Mary to <a href="../cathen/08492a.htm">John</a> as his mother, and wishes Mary to consider <a href="../cathen/08492a.htm">John</a> as her son.</p> <p>Among the <a href="../cathen/06001a.htm">early writers</a>, <a href="../cathen/11306b.htm">Origen</a> is the only one who considers Mary's motherhood of all the <a href="../cathen/05769a.htm">faithful</a> in this connection. According to him, <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Christ</a> lives in his <a href="../cathen/11665b.htm">perfect</a> followers, and as Mary is the Mother of <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Christ</a>, so she is mother of him in whom <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Christ</a> lives. Hence, according to <a href="../cathen/11306b.htm">Origen</a>, <a href="../cathen/09580c.htm">man</a> has an indirect <a href="../cathen/13055c.htm">right</a> to claim Mary as his mother, in so far as he identifies himself with <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Jesus</a> by the life of <a href="../cathen/06689a.htm">grace</a>. [91] In the ninth century, George of Nicomedia [92] explains <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Our Lord's</a> words on the <a href="../cathen/04517a.htm">cross</a> in such a way as to entrust <a href="../cathen/08492a.htm">John</a> to Mary, and in <a href="../cathen/08492a.htm">John</a> all the <a href="../cathen/05029a.htm">disciples</a>, making her the mother and mistress of all <a href="../cathen/08492a.htm">John's</a> companions. In the twelfth century Rupert of Deutz explained <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Our Lord's</a> words as establishing Mary's spiritual motherhood of <a href="../cathen/09580c.htm">men</a>, though <a href="../cathen/02498d.htm">St. Bernard</a>, Rupert's illustrious contemporary, does not enumerate this privilege among Our Lady's numerous titles. [93] After this time Rupert's explanation of <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Our Lord's</a> words on the <a href="../cathen/04517a.htm">cross</a> became more and more common, so that in our day it has found its way into practically all books of piety. [94]</p> <div class="CMtag_300x250" style="display: flex; height: 300px; align-items: center; justify-content: center; "></div> <p>The <a href="../cathen/05075b.htm">doctrine</a> of Mary's spiritual motherhood of <a href="../cathen/09580c.htm">men</a> is contained in the fact that she is the <a href="../cathen/15107a.htm">antitype</a> of <a href="../cathen/05646b.htm">Eve</a>: <a href="../cathen/05646b.htm">Eve</a> is our natural mother because she is the origin of our natural life; so Mary is our spiritual mother because she is the origin of our spiritual life. Again, Mary's spiritual motherhood rests on the fact that <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Christ</a> is our brother, being "the <a href="../cathen/06081a.htm">firstborn</a> among many brethren" (<a href="../bible/rom008.htm#vrs29">Romans 8:29</a>). She became our mother at the moment she consented to the <a href="../cathen/07706b.htm">Incarnation of the Word</a>, the Head of the <a href="../cathen/10663a.htm">mystical body</a> whose members we are; and she sealed her motherhood by consenting to the bloody <a href="../cathen/13309a.htm">sacrifice</a> on the <a href="../cathen/04517a.htm">cross</a> which is the source of our <a href="../cathen/06701a.htm">supernatural life</a>. Mary and the <a href="../cathen/07386a.htm">holy</a> <a href="../cathen/15687b.htm">women</a> (<a href="../bible/mat017.htm#vrs56">Matthew 17:56</a>; <a href="../bible/mar015.htm#vrs40">Mark 15:40</a>; <a href="../bible/luk023.htm#vrs49">Luke 23:49</a>; <a href="../bible/joh019.htm#vrs25">John 19:25</a>) assisted at the death of <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Jesus</a> on the <a href="../cathen/04517a.htm">cross</a>; she probably remained during the taking down of His sacred body and during His funeral. The following <a href="../cathen/13287b.htm">Sabbath</a> was for her a time of grief and <a href="../cathen/07465b.htm">hope</a>. The eleventh <a href="../cathen/03287a.htm">canon</a> of a <a href="../cathen/14388a.htm">council</a> held in <a href="../cathen/04116a.htm">Cologne</a>, in 1423, instituted against the <a href="../cathen/07585a.htm">Hussites</a> the <a href="../cathen/14151b.htm">feast of the Dolours of Our Blessed Lady</a>, placing it on the Friday following the third <a href="../cathen/14335a.htm">Sunday</a> after <a href="../cathen/05224d.htm">Easter</a>. In 1725 <a href="../cathen/02432a.htm">Benedict XIV</a> extended the <a href="../cathen/06021b.htm">feast</a> to the whole <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a>, and placed it on the Friday in Passion Week. "And from that hour, the <a href="../cathen/08492a.htm">disciple</a> took her to his own" (<a href="../bible/joh019.htm#vrs27">John 19:27</a>). Whether they lived in the city of <a href="../cathen/08344a.htm">Jerusalem</a> or elsewhere, cannot be determined from the <a href="../cathen/06655b.htm">Gospels</a>.</p> <h3>Mary and Our Lord's Resurrection</h3> <p>The <a href="../cathen/08045a.htm">inspired</a> record of the incidents connected with <a href="../cathen/12789a.htm">Christ's Resurrection</a> do not mention Mary; but neither do they pretend to give a complete account of all that <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Jesus</a> did or said. The <a href="../cathen/06001a.htm">Fathers</a> too are silent as to Mary's share in the joys of <a href="../cathen/12789a.htm">her Son's triumph over death</a>. Still, <a href="../cathen/01383c.htm">St. Ambrose</a> [95] states expressly: "Mary therefore saw the <a href="../cathen/12789a.htm">Resurrection of the Lord</a>; she was the first who saw it and <a href="../cathen/02408b.htm">believed</a>. <a href="../cathen/09761a.htm">Mary Magdalen</a> too saw it, though she still wavered". George of Nicomedia [96] infers from Mary's share in <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Our Lord's sufferings</a> that before all others and more than all she must have shared in the <a href="../cathen/12789a.htm">triumph of her Son</a>. In the twelfth century, an <a href="../cathen/15477a.htm">apparition</a> of the <a href="../cathen/12789a.htm">risen</a> <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Saviour</a> to His Blessed Mother is admitted by Rupert of Deutz [97], and also by <a href="../cathen/05224a.htm">Eadmer</a> [98], <a href="../cathen/02505b.htm">St. Bernardin of Siena</a> [99], <a href="../cathen/07639c.htm">St. Ignatius of Loyola</a> [100], <a href="../cathen/14319a.htm">Suarez</a> [101], <a href="../cathen/09567a.htm">Maldonado</a> [102], etc. [103] That the <a href="../cathen/12789a.htm">risen</a> <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Christ</a> should have appeared first to His Blessed Mother, agrees at least with our pious expectations.</p> <p>Though the <a href="../cathen/06655b.htm">Gospels</a> do not expressly tell us so, we may suppose that Mary was present when <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Jesus</a> showed himself to a number of <a href="../cathen/05029a.htm">disciples</a> in <a href="../cathen/06341c.htm">Galilee</a> and at the time of His <a href="../cathen/01767a.htm">Ascension</a> (cf. <a href="../bible/mat028.htm#vrs7">Matthew 28:7, 10, 16</a>; <a href="../bible/mar016.htm#vrs7">Mark 16:7</a>). Moreover, it is not improbable that <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Jesus</a> visited His Blessed Mother repeatedly during the forty days after His <a href="../cathen/12789a.htm">Resurrection</a>.</p> <h2 id="section4">Mary in other books of the New Testament</h2> <h3>Acts 1:14-2:4</h3> <p>According to the <a href="../bible/act001.htm#vrs14">Book of Acts (1:14)</a>, after <a href="../cathen/01767a.htm">Christ's Ascension into Heaven</a> the <a href="../cathen/01626c.htm">apostles</a> "went up into an upper room", and: "all these were persevering with one mind in <a href="../cathen/12345b.htm">prayer</a> with the <a href="../cathen/15687b.htm">women</a>, and Mary the mother of <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Jesus</a>, and with his <a href="../cathen/02767a.htm">brethren</a>". In spite of her exalted dignity it was not Mary, but <a href="../cathen/11744a.htm">Peter</a> who acted as head of the assembly (<a href="../bible/act001.htm#vrs15">1:15</a>). Mary behaved in the upper room in <a href="../cathen/08344a.htm">Jerusalem</a> as she had behaved in the grotto at <a href="../cathen/02533a.htm">Bethlehem</a>; in <a href="../cathen/02533a.htm">Bethlehem</a> she had carried for the <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Infant Jesus</a>, in <a href="../cathen/08344a.htm">Jerusalem</a> she nurtured the infant <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a>. The friends of <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Jesus</a> remained in the upper room till "the days of the <a href="../cathen/11661a.htm">Pentecost</a>", when with "a sound from <a href="../cathen/07170a.htm">heaven</a>, as of a mighty wind coming. . .there appeared to them parted tongues as it were of fire, and it sat upon every one of them, and they were all filled with the <a href="../cathen/07409a.htm">Holy Ghost</a>" (<a href="../bible/act002.htm#vrs1">Acts 2:1-4</a>). Though the <a href="../cathen/07409a.htm">Holy Ghost</a> had descended upon Mary in a special way at the time of the <a href="../cathen/07706b.htm">Incarnation</a>, He now communicated to her a new degree of <a href="../cathen/06689a.htm">grace</a>. Perhaps, this <a href="../cathen/11661a.htm">Pentecostal</a> grace gave to Mary the strength of properly fulfilling her <a href="../cathen/05215a.htm">duties</a> to the nascent <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a> and to her spiritual children.</p> <h3>Galatians 4:4</h3> <p>As to the <a href="../cathen/05509a.htm">Epistles</a>, the only direct reference to Mary is found in <a href="../bible/gal004.htm#vrs4">Galatians 4:4</a>: "But when the fulness of time was come, <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a> sent his <a href="../cathen/14142b.htm">Son</a>, made of a <a href="../cathen/15687b.htm">woman</a>, made under the <a href="../cathen/10582c.htm">law</a>". Some Greek and <a href="../cathen/09019a.htm">Latin</a> <a href="../cathen/09614b.htm">manuscripts</a>, followed by several <a href="../cathen/06001a.htm">Fathers</a>, read <em>gennomenon ek gynaikos</em> instead of <em>genomenon ek gynaikos</em>, "born of a <a href="../cathen/15687b.htm">woman</a>" instead of "made of a <a href="../cathen/15687b.htm">woman</a>". But this variant reading cannot be accepted. For</p> <div class="bulletlist"><ul><li><em>gennomenon</em> is the present participle, and must be rendered, "being born of a <a href="../cathen/15687b.htm">woman</a>", so that it does not fit into the context. [104]</li><li>though the <a href="../cathen/09019a.htm">Latin</a> variant rendering "natum" is the perfect participle, and does not imply the inconveniences of its Greek original, <a href="../cathen/02384a.htm">St. Bede</a> [105] rejects it, on account of its less appropriate sense.</li><li>In <a href="../bible/rom001.htm#vrs3">Romans 1:3</a>, which is to a certain extent a parallel of <a href="../bible/gal004.htm#vrs4">Galatians 4:4</a>, <a href="../cathen/11567b.htm">St. Paul</a> writes <em>genomenos ek stermatos Daveid kata sarka</em>, i.e. "made of the seed of <a href="../cathen/04642b.htm">David</a>, according to the flesh".</li><li><a href="../cathen/14520c.htm">Tertullian</a> [106] points out that the word "made" implies more than the word "born"; for it calls to mind the "<a href="../cathen/09328a.htm">Word</a> made flesh", and establishes the reality of the flesh made of the Virgin. </li></ul></div> <p>Furthermore, the <a href="../cathen/11567b.htm">Apostle</a> employs the word "woman" in the phrase under consideration, because he wishes to indicate merely the sex, without any ulterior connotation. In reality, however, the <a href="../cathen/07630a.htm">idea</a> of a <a href="../cathen/09580c.htm">man</a> made of a <a href="../cathen/15687b.htm">woman</a> alone, suggests the <a href="../cathen/15448a.htm">virginal conception</a> of the <a href="../cathen/14142b.htm">Son of God</a>. <a href="../cathen/11567b.htm">St. Paul</a> seems to emphasize the <a href="../cathen/15073a.htm">true</a> <a href="../cathen/07630a.htm">idea</a> of the <a href="../cathen/07706b.htm">Incarnation of the Word</a>; a <a href="../cathen/15073a.htm">true</a> understanding of this <a href="../cathen/10662a.htm">mystery</a> safeguards both the Divinity and the real <a href="../cathen/09580c.htm">humanity</a> of <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Jesus Christ</a>. [107]</p> <p>The <a href="../cathen/08492a.htm">Apostle St. John</a> never uses the <a href="../cathen/09753a.htm">name Mary</a> when speaking of Our Blessed Lady; he always refers to her as Mother of Jesus (<a href="../bible/joh002.htm#vrs1">John 2:1-3</a>; <a href="../bible/joh019.htm#vrs25">19:25-26</a>). In his last hour, <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Jesus</a> had established the relation of mother and son between Mary and <a href="../cathen/08492a.htm">John</a>, and a child does not usually address his mother by her first name.</p> <h3>Apocalypse 12:1-6</h3> <p>In the <a href="../bible/rev012.htm#vrs1">Apocalypse (12:1-16)</a> occurs a passage singularly applicable to Our Blessed Mother:</p> <blockquote><p>And a great sign appeared in <a href="../cathen/07170a.htm">heaven</a>: A <a href="../cathen/15687b.htm">woman</a> clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; and being with child, she cried travailing in birth, and was in pain to be delivered. And there was seen another sign in <a href="../cathen/07170a.htm">heaven</a>: and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads, and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems; and his tail drew the third part of the stars of <a href="../cathen/07170a.htm">heaven</a>; and cast them to the earth; and the dragon stood before the <a href="../cathen/15687b.htm">woman</a> who was ready to be delivered; that when she should be delivered, he might devour her son. And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with an iron rod; and her son was taken up to <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a>, and to his throne. And the <a href="../cathen/15687b.htm">woman</a> fled into the wilderness, where she had a place prepared by <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a>, that there they should feed her a thousand two hundred sixty days.</p></blockquote> <p>The applicability of this passage to Mary is based on the following considerations:</p> <div class="bulletlist"><ul><li>At least part of the verses refer to the mother whose son is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron; according to <a href="../bible/psa002.htm#vrs9">Psalm 2:9</a>, this is the <a href="../cathen/14142b.htm">Son of God</a>, <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Jesus Christ</a>, Whose mother is Mary.</li><li>It was <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Mary's son</a> that "was <a href="../cathen/01767a.htm">taken up</a> to <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a>, and to his throne" at the time of His <a href="../cathen/01767a.htm">Ascension into heaven</a>.</li><li>The dragon, or the <a href="../cathen/04764a.htm">devil</a> of the <a href="../cathen/14519a.htm">earthly paradise</a> (cf. <a href="../bible/rev012.htm#vrs9">Apocalypse 12:9</a>; <a href="../bible/rev020.htm#vrs2">20:2</a>), endeavoured to devour <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Mary's Son</a> from the first moments of His birth, by stirring up the <a href="../cathen/08326b.htm">jealousy</a> of <a href="../cathen/07289c.htm">Herod</a> and, later on, the <a href="../cathen/07149b.htm">enmities</a> of the <a href="../cathen/08399a.htm">Jews</a>.</li><li>Owing to her unspeakable privileges, Mary may well be described as "clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars".</li><li>It is <a href="../cathen/15073a.htm">true</a> that <a href="../cathen/04157a.htm">commentators</a> generally understand the whole passage as applying literally to the <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a>, and that part of the verses is better suited to the <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a> than to Mary. But it must be kept in mind that Mary is both a <a href="../cathen/15107a.htm">figure</a> of the <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a>, and its most prominent member. What is said of the <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a>, is in its own way <a href="../cathen/15073a.htm">true</a> of Mary. Hence the passage of the <a href="../bible/rev012.htm#vrs5">Apocalypse (12:5-6)</a> does not refer to Mary merely by way of <a href="../cathen/01099b.htm">accommodation</a> [108], but applies to her in a truly literal sense which appears to be partly limited to her, and partly extended to the whole <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a>. Mary's relation to the <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a> is well summed up in the expression "collum corporis mystici" applied to Our Lady by <a href="../cathen/02505b.htm">St. Bernardin of Siena</a>. [109] </li></ul></div> <p><a href="../cathen/10794a.htm">Cardinal Newman</a> [110] considers two difficulties against the foregoing interpretation of the vision of the <a href="../cathen/15687b.htm">woman</a> and child: first, it is said to be poorly supported by the <a href="../cathen/06001a.htm">Fathers</a>; secondly, it is an anachronism to ascribe such a <a href="../cathen/11395a.htm">picture</a> of the Madonna to the <a href="../cathen/01626c.htm">apostolic</a> age. As to the first exception, the eminent writer says:</p> <blockquote><p><a href="../cathen/03712a.htm">Christians</a> have never gone to <a href="../cathen/13635b.htm">Scripture</a> for <a href="../cathen/12454c.htm">proof</a> of their <a href="../cathen/05075b.htm">doctrines</a>, till there was actual need, from the pressure of controversy; if in those times the Blessed Virgin's dignity was unchallenged on all hands, as a matter of <a href="../cathen/05075b.htm">doctrine</a>, <a href="../cathen/13635b.htm">Scripture</a>, as far as its argumentative matter was concerned, was likely to remain a sealed book to them.</p></blockquote> <p>After developing this answer at length, the <a href="../cathen/10794a.htm">cardinal</a> continues:</p> <blockquote><p>As to the second objection which I have supposed, so far from allowing it, I consider that it is built upon a mere <a href="../cathen/07672a.htm">imaginary</a> fact, and that the <a href="../cathen/15073a.htm">truth</a> of the matter lies in the very contrary direction. The Virgin and <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Child</a> is not a mere modern <a href="../cathen/07630a.htm">idea</a>; on the contrary, it is represented again and again, as every visitor to <a href="../cathen/13164a.htm">Rome</a> is aware, in the <a href="../cathen/11395a.htm">paintings</a> of the <a href="../cathen/03417b.htm">Catacombs</a>. Mary is there drawn with the <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Divine Infant</a> in her lap, she with <a href="../cathen/11269a.htm">hands extended in prayer</a>, he with his hand in the attitude of <a href="../cathen/02599b.htm">blessing</a>.</p></blockquote> <h2 id="section5">Mary in the early Christian documents</h2> <p>Thus far we have appealed to the writings or the remains of the early <a href="../cathen/03712a.htm">Christian</a> era in as far as they explain or illustrate the teaching of the <a href="../cathen/14526a.htm">Old Testament</a> or the <a href="../cathen/14530a.htm">New</a>, concerning the Blessed Virgin. In the few following paragraphs we shall have to draw attention to the fact that these same sources, to a certain extent, supplement the <a href="../cathen/13635b.htm">Scriptural</a> <a href="../cathen/05075b.htm">doctrine</a>. In this respect they are the basis of <a href="../cathen/15006b.htm">tradition</a>; whether the evidence they supply suffices, in any given case, to guarantee their contents as a genuine part of <a href="../cathen/13001a.htm">Divine revelation</a>, must be determined according to the ordinary scientific criteria followed by <a href="../cathen/14580x.htm">theologians</a>. Without entering on these purely <a href="../cathen/14580x.htm">theological</a> questions, we shall present this <a href="../cathen/15006b.htm">traditional</a> material, first, in as far as it throws light on the life of Mary after the day of <a href="../cathen/11661a.htm">Pentecost</a>; secondly, in as far as it gives evidence of the early <a href="../cathen/03712a.htm">Christian</a> attitude to the Mother of God.</p> <h2 id="section6">Post-pentecostal life of Mary</h2> <p>On the day of <a href="../cathen/11661a.htm">Pentecost</a>, the <a href="../cathen/07409a.htm">Holy Ghost</a> had descended on Mary as He came on the <a href="../cathen/01626c.htm">Apostles</a> and <a href="../cathen/05029a.htm">Disciples</a> gathered together in the upper room at <a href="../cathen/08344a.htm">Jerusalem</a>. No doubt, the words of <a href="../bible/joh019.htm#vrs27">St. John (19:27)</a>, "and from that hour the <a href="../cathen/08492a.htm">disciple</a> took her to his own", refer not merely to the time between <a href="../cathen/05224d.htm">Easter</a> and <a href="../cathen/11661a.htm">Pentecost</a>, but they extend to the whole of Mary's later life. Still, the care of Mary did not interfere with <a href="../cathen/08492a.htm">John's</a> <a href="../cathen/01626c.htm">Apostolic</a> ministry. Even the <a href="../cathen/08045a.htm">inspired</a> records (<a href="../bible/act008.htm#vrs14">Acts 8:14-17</a>; <a href="../bible/gal001.htm#vrs18">Galatians 1:18-19</a>; <a href="../bible/act021.htm#vrs18">Acts 21:18</a>) show that the <a href="../cathen/08438a.htm">apostle</a> was absent from <a href="../cathen/08344a.htm">Jerusalem</a> on several occasions, though he must have taken part in the Council of Jerusalem, A.D. 51 or 52. We may also suppose that in Mary especially were verified the words of <a href="../bible/act002.htm#vrs42">Acts 2:42</a>: "And they were persevering in the <a href="../cathen/05075b.htm">doctrine</a> of the <a href="../cathen/01626c.htm">apostles</a>, and in the communication of the <a href="../cathen/10006a.htm">breaking of bread</a>, and in <a href="../cathen/12345b.htm">prayers</a>". Thus Mary was an example and a source of encouragement to the early <a href="../cathen/03712a.htm">Christian</a> community. At the same time, it must be confessed that we do not possess any <a href="../cathen/02137a.htm">authentic</a> documents bearing directly on Mary's post-Pentecostal life.</p> <h3>Place of her life, death, and burial</h3> <p>As to <a href="../cathen/15006b.htm">tradition</a>, there is some testimony for Mary's temporary residence in or near Ephesus, but the evidence for her permanent home in <a href="../cathen/08344a.htm">Jerusalem</a> is much stronger.</p> <p><em>Arguments for Ephesus</em></p> <p>Mary's Ephesian residence rests on the following evidence:</p> <p>(1) A passage in the synodal letter of the <a href="../cathen/05491a.htm">Council of Ephesus</a> [111] reads: "Wherefore also <a href="../cathen/10755a.htm">Nestorius</a>, the instigator of the impious <a href="../cathen/07256b.htm">heresy</a>, when he had come to the city of the Ephesians, where <a href="../cathen/08492a.htm">John the Theologian</a> and the Virgin Mother of God St. Mary, estranging himself of his own accord from the gathering of the <a href="../cathen/07386a.htm">holy</a> <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">Fathers and Bishops</a>. . ." Since <a href="../cathen/08492a.htm">St. John</a> had lived in Ephesus and had been <a href="../cathen/03071a.htm">buried</a> there [112], it has been inferred that the ellipsis of the synodal letter means either, "where <a href="../cathen/08492a.htm">John</a>. . .and the Virgin. . .Mary lived", or, "where <a href="../cathen/08492a.htm">John</a>. . .and the Virgin. . .Mary lived and are <a href="../cathen/03071a.htm">buried</a>".</p> <p>(2) <a href="../cathen/02294a.htm">Bar-Hebraeus</a> or Abulpharagius, a <a href="../cathen/14417a.htm">Jacobite</a> <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">bishop</a> of the thirteenth century, relates that <a href="../cathen/08492a.htm">St. John</a> took the Blessed Virgin with him to <a href="../cathen/11547a.htm">Patmos</a>, then founded the <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a> of Ephesus, and <a href="../cathen/03071a.htm">buried</a> Mary no one knows where. [113]</p> <p>(3) <a href="../cathen/02432a.htm">Benedict XIV</a> [114] states that Mary followed <a href="../cathen/08492a.htm">St. John</a> to Ephesus and died there. He intended also to remove from the <a href="../cathen/02768b.htm">Breviary</a> those lessons which mention Mary's death in <a href="../cathen/08344a.htm">Jerusalem</a>, but died before carrying out his intention. [115]</p> <p>(4) Mary's temporary residence and death in Ephesus are upheld by such writers as <a href="../cathen/14724b.htm">Tillemont</a> [116], <a href="../cathen/03189a.htm">Calmet</a> [117], etc.</p> <p>(5) In Panaghia Kapoli, on a hill about nine or ten miles distant from Ephesus, was discovered a house, or rather its remains, in which Mary is supposed to have lived. The house was found, as it had been sought, according to the indications given by <a href="../cathen/05406b.htm">Catherine Emmerich</a> in her life of the Blessed Virgin.</p> <p><em>Arguments against Ephesus</em></p> <p>On closer inspection these arguments for Mary's residence or <a href="../cathen/03071a.htm">burial</a> in Ephesus are not unanswerable.</p> <p>(1) The ellipsis in the synodal letter of the <a href="../cathen/05491a.htm">Council of Ephesus</a> may be filled out in such a way as not to imply the assumption that Our Blessed Lady either lived or died in Ephesus. As there was in the city a double church dedicated to the Virgin Mary and to <a href="../cathen/08492a.htm">St. John</a>, the incomplete clause of the synodal letter may be completed so as to read, "where <a href="../cathen/08492a.htm">John the Theologian</a> and the Virgin. . .Mary have a sanctuary". This explanation of the ambiguous phrase is one of the two suggested in the margin in <a href="../cathen/08718b.htm">Labbe's</a> <em>Collect. Concil.</em> (l.c.) [118]</p> <p>(2) The words of <a href="../cathen/02294a.htm">Bar-Hebraeus</a> contain two inaccurate statements; for <a href="../cathen/08492a.htm">St. John</a> did not found the <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a> of Ephesus, nor did he take Mary with him to <a href="../cathen/11547a.htm">Patmos</a>. <a href="../cathen/11567b.htm">St. Paul</a> founded the Ephesian <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a>, and Mary was dead before <a href="../cathen/08492a.htm">John's</a> exile in <a href="../cathen/11547a.htm">Patmos</a>. It would not be surprising, therefore, if the writer were wrong in what he says about Mary's <a href="../cathen/03071a.htm">burial</a>. Besides, <a href="../cathen/02294a.htm">Bar-Hebraeus</a> belongs to the thirteenth century; the earlier writers had been most anxious about the sacred places in Ephesus; they mention the <a href="../cathen/14773b.htm">tomb</a> of <a href="../cathen/08492a.htm">St. John</a> and of a daughter of <a href="../cathen/11799a.htm">Philip</a> [119], but they say nothing about Mary's <a href="../cathen/14773b.htm">burying place</a>.</p> <p>(3) As to <a href="../cathen/02432a.htm">Benedict XIV</a>, this great <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">pontiff</a> is not so emphatic about Mary's death and <a href="../cathen/03071a.htm">burial</a> in Ephesus, when he speaks about her <a href="../cathen/02006b.htm">Assumption in heaven</a>.</p> <p>(4) Neither <a href="../cathen/02432a.htm">Benedict XIV</a> nor the other authorities who uphold the Ephesian claims, advance any argument that has not been found inconclusive by other scientific students of this question.</p> <p>(5) The house found in Panaghia-Kapouli is of any weight only in so far as it is connected with the <a href="../cathen/15477a.htm">visions</a> of <a href="../cathen/05406b.htm">Catherine Emmerich</a>. Its distance from the city of Ephesus creates a presumption against its being the home of the <a href="../cathen/08492a.htm">Apostle St. John</a>. The historical value of <a href="../cathen/05406b.htm">Catherine's</a> <a href="../cathen/15477a.htm">visions</a> is not universally admitted. Mgr. Timoni, <a href="../cathen/01691a.htm">Archbishop</a> of <a href="../cathen/14060b.htm">Smyrna</a>, writes concerning Panaghia-Kapouli: "Every one is entire free to keep his personal opinion". Finally the agreement of the condition of the ruined house in Panaghia-Kapouli with <a href="../cathen/05406b.htm">Catherine's</a> description does not necessarily prove the <a href="../cathen/15073a.htm">truth</a> of her statement as to the history of the building. [120]</p> <p><em>Arguments against Jerusalem</em></p> <p>Two considerations militate against a permanent residence of Our Lady in <a href="../cathen/08344a.htm">Jerusalem</a>: first, it has already been pointed out that <a href="../cathen/08492a.htm">St. John</a> did not permanently remain in the <a href="../cathen/08344a.htm">Holy City</a>; secondly, the <a href="../cathen/08399a.htm">Jewish</a> <a href="../cathen/03712a.htm">Christians</a> are said to have left <a href="../cathen/08344a.htm">Jerusalem</a> during the periods of <a href="../cathen/08399a.htm">Jewish</a> <a href="../cathen/11703a.htm">persecution</a> (cf. <a href="../bible/act008.htm#vrs1">Acts 8:1</a>; <a href="../bible/act012.htm#vrs1">12:1</a>). But as <a href="../cathen/08492a.htm">St. John</a> cannot be supposed to have taken Our Lady with him on his <a href="../cathen/01626c.htm">apostolic</a> expeditions, we may suppose that he left her in the care of his friends or relatives during the periods of his absence. And there is little <a href="../cathen/05141a.htm">doubt</a> that many of the <a href="../cathen/03712a.htm">Christians</a> returned to <a href="../cathen/08344a.htm">Jerusalem</a>, after the storms of <a href="../cathen/11703a.htm">persecution</a> had abated.</p> <p><em>Arguments for Jerusalem</em></p> <p>Independently of these considerations, we may appeal to the following reasons in favour of Mary's death and <a href="../cathen/03071a.htm">burial</a> in <a href="../cathen/08344a.htm">Jerusalem</a>:</p> <p>(1) In 451 Juvenal, <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">Bishop</a> of <a href="../cathen/08344a.htm">Jerusalem</a>, testified to the presence of <a href="../cathen/14774a.htm">Mary's tomb</a> in <a href="../cathen/08344a.htm">Jerusalem</a>. It is strange that neither <a href="../cathen/08341a.htm">St. Jerome</a>, nor the Pilgrim of Bordeaux, nor again pseudo-Silvia give any evidence of such a sacred place. But when the Emperor Marcion and the Empress Pulcheria asked Juvenal to send the <a href="../cathen/12734a.htm">sacred remains</a> of the Virgin Mary from their <a href="../cathen/14774a.htm">tomb in Gethsemani</a> to <a href="../cathen/04301a.htm">Constantinople</a>, where they intended to dedicate a new church to Our Lady, the <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">bishop</a> cited an ancient <a href="../cathen/15006b.htm">tradition</a> saying that the sacred body had been <a href="../cathen/02006b.htm">assumed into heaven</a>, and sent to <a href="../cathen/04301a.htm">Constantinople</a> only the coffin and the winding sheet. This narrative rests on the authority of a certain Euthymius whose report was inserted into a <a href="../cathen/07448a.htm">homily</a> of <a href="../cathen/08459b.htm">St. John Damascene</a> [121] now read in the second <a href="../cathen/11087b.htm">Nocturn</a> of the fourth day within the <a href="../cathen/11204a.htm">octave</a> of the <a href="../cathen/02006b.htm">Assumption</a>. <a href="../cathen/13525b.htm">Scheeben</a> [122] is of opinion that Euthymius's words are a later interpolation: they do not fit into the context; they contain an appeal to <a href="../cathen/05013a.htm">pseudo-Dionysius</a> [123] which are not otherwise cited before the sixth century; and they are suspicious in their connection with the name of Bishop Juvenal, who was charged with <a href="../cathen/06135b.htm">forging</a> documents by <a href="../cathen/09154b.htm">Pope St. Leo</a>. [124] In his letter the <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">pontiff</a> reminds the <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">bishop</a> of the holy places which he has under his very eyes, but does not mention the <a href="../cathen/14774a.htm">tomb of Mary</a>. [125] Allowing that this silence is purely incidental, the main question remains, how much historic <a href="../cathen/15073a.htm">truth</a> underlies the Euthymian account of the words of Juvenal?</p> <p>(2) Here must be mentioned too the <a href="../cathen/01601a.htm">apocryphal</a> "Historia dormitionis et assumptionis B.M.V.", which claims <a href="../cathen/08492a.htm">St. John</a> for its author. [126] Tischendorf believes that the substantial parts of the work go back to the fourth, perhaps even to the second, century. [127] Variations of the original text appeared in Arabic and <a href="../cathen/14408a.htm">Syriac</a>, and in other languages; among these must be noted a work called "De transitu Mariae Virg.", which appeared under the name of <a href="../cathen/10166b.htm">St. Melito of Sardes</a>. [128] <a href="../cathen/06406a.htm">Pope Gelasius</a> enumerates this work among the forbidden books. [129] The extraordinary incidents which these works connect with the death of Mary do not concern us here; but they place her last moments and her <a href="../cathen/03071a.htm">burial</a> in or near <a href="../cathen/08344a.htm">Jerusalem</a>.</p> <p>(3) Another witness for the existence of a <a href="../cathen/15006b.htm">tradition</a> placing the <a href="../cathen/14774a.htm">tomb of Mary</a> in <a href="../cathen/06540a.htm">Gethsemani</a> is the <a href="../cathen/02325a.htm">basilica</a> erected above the sacred spot, about the end of the fourth or the beginning of the fifth century. The present church was built by the <a href="../cathen/09022a.htm">Latins</a> in the same place in which the old edifice had stood. [130]</p> <p>(4) In the early part of the seventh century, Modestus, <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">Bishop</a> of <a href="../cathen/08344a.htm">Jerusalem</a>, located the passing of Our Lady on Mount Sion, in the house which contained the Cenacle and the upper room of <a href="../cathen/11661a.htm">Pentecost</a>. [131] At that time, a single <a href="../cathen/03041a.htm">church</a> covered the localities <a href="../cathen/04276a.htm">consecrated</a> by these various mysteries. One must wonder at the late evidence for a <a href="../cathen/15006b.htm">tradition</a> which became so general since the seventh century.</p> <p>(5) Another <a href="../cathen/15006b.htm">tradition</a> is preserved in the "Commemoratorium de Casis Dei" addressed to <a href="../cathen/03610c.htm">Charlemagne</a>. [132] It places the death of Mary on <a href="../cathen/11244b.htm">Mt. Olivet</a> where a church is said to commemorate this event. Perhaps the writer tried to connect Mary's passing with the Church of the Assumption as the sister <a href="../cathen/15006b.htm">tradition</a> connected it with the cenacle. At any rate, we may conclude that about the beginning of the fifth century there existed a fairly general <a href="../cathen/15006b.htm">tradition</a> that Mary had died in <a href="../cathen/08344a.htm">Jerusalem</a>, and had been <a href="../cathen/03071a.htm">buried</a> in <a href="../cathen/06540a.htm">Gethsemani</a>. This <a href="../cathen/15006b.htm">tradition</a> appears to rest on a more solid basis than the report that Our Lady died and was <a href="../cathen/03071a.htm">buried</a> in or near Ephesus. As thus far historical documents are wanting, it would be hard to establish the connection of either <a href="../cathen/15006b.htm">tradition</a> with <a href="../cathen/01626c.htm">apostolic</a> times. [133]</p> <p><em>Conclusion</em></p> <p>It has been seen that we have no absolute certainty as to the place in which Mary lived after the day of <a href="../cathen/11661a.htm">Pentecost</a>. Though it is more probable that she remained uninterruptedly in or near <a href="../cathen/08344a.htm">Jerusalem</a>, she may have resided for a while in the vicinity of Ephesus, and this may have given rise to the <a href="../cathen/15006b.htm">tradition</a> of her Ephesian death and <a href="../cathen/03071a.htm">burial</a>. There is still less historical information concerning the particular incidents of her life. <a href="../cathen/13393b.htm">St. Epiphanius</a> [134] <a href="../cathen/05141a.htm">doubts</a> even the reality of Mary's death; but the universal <a href="../cathen/02408b.htm">belief</a> of the <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a> does not agree with the private opinion of <a href="../cathen/13393b.htm">St. Epiphanius</a>. Mary's death was not necessarily the effect of <a href="../cathen/15446a.htm">violence</a>; it was undergone neither as an expiation or penalty, nor as the effect of disease from which, like her <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Divine Son</a>, she was exempt. Since the <a href="../cathen/10285c.htm">Middle Ages</a> the view prevails that she died of <a href="../cathen/09397a.htm">love</a>, her great desire to be united to her <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Son</a> either dissolving the ties of body and <a href="../cathen/14153a.htm">soul</a>, or prevailing on <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a> to dissolve them. Her passing away is a <a href="../cathen/13309a.htm">sacrifice</a> of <a href="../cathen/09397a.htm">love</a> completing the dolorous <a href="../cathen/13309a.htm">sacrifice</a> of her life. It is the death in the kiss of the <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Lord</a> (<em>in osculo Domini</em>), of which the <a href="../cathen/08573a.htm">just</a> die. There is no certain <a href="../cathen/15006b.htm">tradition</a> as to the year of Mary's death. <a href="../cathen/02304b.htm">Baronius</a> in his Annals relies on a passage in the <a href="../cathen/05616a.htm">Chronicon of Eusebius</a> for his assumption that Mary died A.D. 48. It is now believed that the passage of the <a href="../cathen/05616a.htm">Chronicon</a> is a later interpolation. [135] <a href="../cathen/11084b.htm">Nirschl</a> relies on a <a href="../cathen/15006b.htm">tradition</a> found in <a href="../cathen/04045a.htm">Clement of Alexandria</a> [136] and <a href="../cathen/01617d.htm">Apollonius</a> [137] which refers to a command of <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Our Lord</a> that the <a href="../cathen/01626c.htm">Apostles</a> were to preach twelve years in <a href="../cathen/08344a.htm">Jerusalem</a> and Palestine before going among the nations of the world; hence he too arrives at the conclusion that Mary died A.D. 48.</p> <h3>Her assumption into heaven</h3> <p>The <a href="../cathen/02006b.htm">Assumption</a> of Our Lady into <a href="../cathen/07170a.htm">heaven</a> has been treated in a <a href="../cathen/02006b.htm">SPECIAL ARTICLE</a>. [138] The <a href="../cathen/02006b.htm">feast of the Assumption</a> is most probably the oldest among all the <a href="../cathen/06021b.htm">feasts</a> of Mary properly so called. [139] As to <a href="../cathen/03710a.htm">art</a>, the <a href="../cathen/02006b.htm">assumption</a> was a favourite subject of the school of <a href="../cathen/13779a.htm">Siena</a> which generally represents Mary as being carried to <a href="../cathen/07170a.htm">heaven</a> in a mandorla.</p> <h2 id="section7">Early Christian attitude to the Mother of God</h2> <h3>Her image and her name</h3> <p><em>Depictions of her image</em></p> <p>No <a href="../cathen/11395a.htm">picture</a> has preserved for us the <a href="../cathen/15073a.htm">true</a> likeness of Mary. The <a href="../cathen/03095a.htm">Byzantine</a> representations, said to be <a href="../cathen/11395a.htm">painted</a> by <a href="../cathen/09420a.htm">St. Luke</a>, belong only to the sixth century, and reproduce a conventional <a href="../cathen/15107a.htm">type</a>. There are twenty-seven copies in existence, ten of which are in <a href="../cathen/13164a.htm">Rome</a>. [140] Even <a href="../cathen/02084a.htm">St. Augustine</a> expresses the opinion that the real external appearance of Mary is unknown to us, and that in this regard we <a href="../cathen/08673a.htm">know</a> and <a href="../cathen/02408b.htm">believe</a> nothing. [141] The earliest <a href="../cathen/11395a.htm">picture</a> of Mary is that found in the <a href="../cathen/03510a.htm">cemetery</a> of Priscilla; it represents the Virgin as if about to nurse the <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Infant Jesus</a>, and near her is the image of a <a href="../cathen/12477a.htm">prophet</a>, <a href="../cathen/08179b.htm">Isaias</a> or perhaps <a href="../cathen/10278a.htm">Micheas</a>. The <a href="../cathen/11395a.htm">picture</a> belongs to the beginning of the second century, and compares favourably with the works of <a href="../cathen/03710a.htm">art</a> found in Pompeii. From the third century we possess <a href="../cathen/11395a.htm">pictures</a> of Our Lady present at the <a href="../cathen/01151a.htm">adoration</a> of the <a href="../cathen/09527a.htm">Magi</a>; they are found in the <a href="../cathen/03510a.htm">cemeteries</a> of <a href="../cathen/06098b.htm">Domitilla</a> and Calixtus. Pictures belonging to the fourth century are found in the <a href="../cathen/03510a.htm">cemetery</a> of Saints Peter and Marcellinus; in one of these she appears with her head uncovered, in another with her <a href="../cathen/11269a.htm">arms half extended</a> as if in supplication, and with the <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Infant</a> standing before her. On the <a href="../cathen/14773b.htm">graves</a> of the early <a href="../cathen/03712a.htm">Christians</a>, the <a href="../cathen/04171a.htm">saints</a> figured as <a href="../cathen/08070a.htm">intercessors</a> for their <a href="../cathen/14153a.htm">souls</a>, and among these <a href="../cathen/04171a.htm">saints</a> Mary always held the place of <a href="../cathen/07462a.htm">honour</a>. Besides the <a href="../cathen/11395a.htm">paintings</a> on the walls and on the sarcophagi, the <a href="../cathen/03417b.htm">Catacombs</a> furnish also <a href="../cathen/11395a.htm">pictures</a> of Mary painted on gilt glass disks and sealed up by means of another glass disk welded to the former. [142] Generally these <a href="../cathen/11395a.htm">pictures</a> belong to the third or fourth century. Quite frequently the legend M<font size=-2>ARIA</font> or M<font size=-2>ARA</font> accompanies these <a href="../cathen/11395a.htm">pictures</a>.</p> <p><em>Use of her name</em></p> <p>Towards the end of the fourth century, the name Mary becomes rather frequent among <a href="../cathen/03712a.htm">Christians</a>; this serves as another sign of the <a href="../cathen/05188b.htm">veneration</a> they had for the Mother of God. [143]</p> <p><em>Conclusion</em></p> <p>No one will suspect the early <a href="../cathen/03712a.htm">Christians</a> of <a href="../cathen/07636a.htm">idolatry</a>, as if they had paid <a href="../cathen/09036a.htm">supreme worship</a> to Mary's <a href="../cathen/11395a.htm">pictures</a> or <a href="../cathen/09753a.htm">name</a>; but how are we to explain the phenomena enumerated, unless we suppose that the early <a href="../cathen/03712a.htm">Christians</a> <a href="../cathen/05188b.htm">venerated</a> Mary in a special way? [144]</p> <p>Nor can this <a href="../cathen/05188b.htm">veneration</a> be said to be a corruption introduced in later times. It has been seen that the earliest <a href="../cathen/11395a.htm">picture</a> dates from the beginning of the second century, so that within the first fifty years after the death of <a href="../cathen/08492a.htm">St. John</a> the <a href="../cathen/05188b.htm">veneration</a> of Mary is proved to have flourished in the <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a> of <a href="../cathen/13164a.htm">Rome</a>.</p> <h3>Early writings</h3> <p>For the attitude of the <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Churches</a> of <a href="../cathen/01782a.htm">Asia Minor</a> and of <a href="../cathen/09472a.htm">Lyons</a> we may appeal to the words of <a href="../cathen/08130b.htm">St. Irenaeus</a>, a pupil of <a href="../cathen/08492a.htm">St. John's</a> <a href="../cathen/05029a.htm">disciple</a> <a href="../cathen/12219b.htm">Polycarp</a> [145]; he calls Mary our most eminent advocate. <a href="../cathen/07644a.htm">St. Ignatius of Antioch</a>, part of whose life reached back into <a href="../cathen/01626c.htm">apostolic</a> times, wrote to the <a href="../fathers/0104.htm#chapter18">Ephesians (c. 18-19)</a> in such a way as to connect the mysteries of <a href="../cathen/08377a.htm">Our Lord's life</a> more closely with those of the Virgin Mary. For instance, the <a href="../cathen/15448a.htm">virginity</a> of Mary, and her childbirth, are enumerated with <a href="../cathen/11527b.htm">Christ's death</a>, as forming three mysteries unknown to the <a href="../cathen/04764a.htm">devil</a>. The sub-apostolic author of the <a href="../cathen/05008b.htm">Epistle to Diognetus</a>, writing to a <a href="../cathen/11388a.htm">pagan</a> inquirer concerning the <a href="../cathen/03712a.htm">Christian</a> <a href="../cathen/10662a.htm">mysteries</a>, describes Mary as the great antithesis of <a href="../cathen/05646b.htm">Eve</a>, and this <a href="../cathen/07630a.htm">idea</a> of Our Lady occurs repeatedly in other writers even before the <a href="../cathen/05491a.htm">Council of Ephesus</a>. We have repeatedly appealed to the words of <a href="../cathen/08580c.htm">St. Justin</a> and <a href="../cathen/14520c.htm">Tertullian</a>, both of whom wrote before the end of the second century.</p> <p>As it is admitted that the praises of Mary grow with the growth of the <a href="../cathen/03712a.htm">Christian</a> community, we may conclude in brief that the <a href="../cathen/05188b.htm">veneration</a> of and <a href="../cathen/15459a.htm">devotion</a> to Mary began even in the time of the <a href="../cathen/01626c.htm">Apostles</a>.</p> <div class='catholicadnet-728x90' id='cathen-728x90-bottom' style='display: flex; height: 100px; align-items: center; justify-content: center; '></div> <div class="cenotes"><h2>Sources</h2><p class="cenotes">[1] Quaest. hebr. in Gen., P.L., XXIII, col. 943 <br>[2] cf. Wis., ii, 25; Matt., iii, 7; xxiii, 33; John, viii, 44; I, John, iii, 8-12. <br>[3] Hebräische Grammatik, 26th edit., 402 <br>[4] Der alte Orient und die Geschichtsforschung, 30 <br>[5] cf. Jeremias, Das Alte Testament im Lichte des alten Orients, 2nd ed., Leipzig, 1906, 216; Himpel, Messianische Weissagungen im Pentateuch, Tubinger theologische Quartalschrift, 1859; Maas, Christ in Type and Prophecy, I, 199 sqq., New York, 1893; Flunck, Zeitschrift für katholische Theologie, 1904, 641 sqq.; St. Justin, dial. c. Tryph., 100 (P.G., VI, 712); St. Iren., adv. haer., III, 23 (P.G., VII, 964); St. Cypr., test. c. Jud., II, 9 (P.L., IV, 704); St. Epiph., haer., III, ii, 18 (P.G., XLII, 729). <br>[6] Lagarde, Guthe, Giesebrecht, Cheyne, Wilke. <br>[7] cf. Knabenbauer, Comment. in Isaiam, Paris, 1887; Schegg, Der Prophet Isaias, Munchen, 1850; Rohling, Der Prophet Isaia, Munster, 1872; Neteler, Das Bush Isaias, Munster, 1876; Condamin, Le livre d'Isaie, Paris, 1905; Maas, Christ in Type and Prophecy, New York, 1893, I, 333 sqq.; Lagrange, La Vierge et Emmaneul, in Revue biblique, Paris, 1892, pp. 481-497; Lémann, La Vierge et l'Emmanuel, Paris, 1904; St. Ignat., ad Eph., cc. 7, 19, 19; St. Justin, <a href="../fathers/0128.htm"><em>Dialogue with Trypho</em></a>; St. Iren., adv. haer., IV, xxxiii, 11. <br>[8] Cf. the principal Catholic commentaries on Micheas; also Maas, "Christ in Type and Prophecy, New York, 1893, I, pp. 271 sqq. <br>[9] P.G., XXV, col. 205; XXVI, 12 76 <br>[10] In Jer., P.L., XXIV, 880 <br>[11] cf. Scholz, Kommentar zum Propheten Jeremias, Würzburg, 1880; Knabenbauer, Das Buch Jeremias, des Propheten Klagelieder, und das Buch Baruch, Vienna, 1903; Conamin, Le texte de Jeremie, xxxi, 22, est-il messianique? in Revue biblique, 1897, 393-404; Maas, Christ in Type and Prophecy, New York, 1893, I, 378 sqq. <br>[12] cf. St. Ambrose, de Spirit. Sanct., I, 8-9, P.L., XVI, 705; St. Jerome, Epist., cviii, 10; P.L., XXII, 886. <br>[13] cf. Gietmann, In Eccles. et Cant. cant., Paris, 1890, 417 sq. <br>[14] cf. Bull "Ineffabilis", fourth Lesson of the Office for 10 Dec. <br>[15] Response of seventh Nocturn in the Office of the Immaculate Conception. <br>[16] cf. St. Justin, dial. c. Tryph., 100; P.G., VI, 709-711; St. Iren., adv. haer., III, 22; V, 19; P.G., VII, 958, 1175; Tert., de carne Christi, 17; P.L., II, 782; St. Cyril., catech., XII, 15; P.G., XXXIII, 741; St. Jerome, ep. XXII ad Eustoch., 21; P.L., XXII, 408; St. Augustine, de agone Christi, 22; P.L., XL, 303; Terrien, La Mère de Dien et la mère des hommes, Paris, 1902, I, 120-121; II, 117-118; III, pp. 8-13; Newman, Anglican Difficulties, London, 1885, II, pp. 26 sqq.; Lecanu, Histoire de la Sainte Vierge, Paris, 1860, pp. 51-82. <br>[17] de B. Virg., l. IV, c. 24 <br>[18] <em>La Vierge Marie d'apres l'Evangile et dans l'Église</em> <br>[19] <em>Letter to Dr. Pusey</em> <br>[20] <em>Mary in the Gospels</em>, London and New York, 1885, Lecture I. <br>[21] cf. Tertullian, de carne Christi, 22; P.L., II, 789; St. Aug., de cons. Evang., II, 2, 4; P.L., XXXIV, 1072. <br>[22] Cf. St. Ignat., ad Ephes, 187; St. Justin, c. Taryph., 100; St. Aug., c. Faust, xxiii, 5-9; Bardenhewer, Maria Verkundigung, Freiburg, 1896, 74-82; Friedrich, Die Mariologie des hl. Augustinus, Cöln, 1907, 19 sqq. <br>[23] Jans., Hardin., etc. <br>[24] hom. I. de nativ. B.V., 2, P.G., XCVI, 664 <br>[25] P.G., XLVII, 1137 <br>[26] de praesent., 2, P.G., XCVIII, 313 <br>[27] de laud. Deipar., P.G., XLIII, 488 <br>[28] P.L., XCVI, 278 <br>[29] in Nativit. Deipar., P.L., CLI, 324 <br>[30] cf. Aug., Consens. Evang., l. II, c. 2 <br>[31] Schuster and Holzammer, Handbuch zur biblischen Geschichte, Freiburg, 1910, II, 87, note 6 <br>[32] Anacreont., XX, 81-94, P.G., LXXXVII, 3822 <br>[33] hom. I in Nativ. B.M.V., 6, II, P.G., CCXVI, 670, 678 <br>[34] cf. Guérin, Jérusalem, Paris, 1889, pp. 284, 351-357, 430; Socin-Benzinger, Palästina und Syrien, Leipzig, 1891, p. 80; Revue biblique, 1893, pp. 245 sqq.; 1904, pp. 228 sqq.; Gariador, Les Bénédictins, I, Abbaye de Ste-Anne, V, 1908, 49 sq. <br>[35] cf. de Vogue, Les églises de la Terre-Sainte, Paris, 1850, p. 310 <br>[36] 2, 4, P.L., XXX, 298, 301 <br>[37] Itiner., 5, P.L., LXXII, 901 <br>[38] cf. Lievin de Hamme, Guide de la Terre-Sainte, Jerusalem, 1887, III, 183 <br>[39] haer., XXX, iv, II, P.G., XLI, 410, 426 <br>[40] P.G., XCVII, 806 <br>[41] cf. Aug., de santa virginit., I, 4, P.L., XL, 398 <br>[42] cf. Luke, i, 41; Tertullian, de carne Christi, 21, P.L., II, 788; St. Ambr., de fide, IV, 9, 113, P.L., XVI, 639; St. Cyril of Jerus., Catech., III, 6, P.G., XXXIII, 436 <br>[43] Tischendorf, Evangelia apocraphya, 2nd ed., Leipzig, 1876, pp. 14-17, 117-179 <br>[44] P.G., XLVII, 1137 <br>[45] P.G., XCVIII, 313 <br>[46] P.G., XXXVCIII, 244 <br>[47] cf. Guérin, Jerusalem, 362; Liévin, Guide de la Terre-Sainte, I, 447 <br>[48] de virgin., II, ii, 9, 10, P.L., XVI, 209 sq. <br>[49] cf. Corn. Jans., Tetrateuch. in Evang., Louvain, 1699, p. 484; Knabenbauer, Evang. sec. Luc., Paris, 1896, p. 138 <br>[50] cf. St. Ambrose, Expos. Evang. sec. Luc., II, 19, P.L., XV, 1560 <br>[51] cf. Schick, Der Geburtsort Johannes' des Täufers, Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins, 1809, 81; Barnabé Meistermann, La patrie de saint Jean-Baptiste, Paris, 1904; Idem, Noveau Guide de Terre-Sainte, Paris, 1907, 294 sqq. <br>[52] cf. Plinius, Histor. natural., V, 14, 70 <br>[53] cf. Aug., ep. XLCCCVII, ad Dardan., VII, 23 sq., P.L., XXXIII, 840; Ambr. Expos. Evang. sec. Luc., II, 23, P.L., XV, 1561 <br>[54] cf. Knabenbauer, Evang. sec. Luc., Paris, 1896, 104-114; Schürer, Geschichte des Jüdischen Volkes im Zeitalter Jesu Christi, 4th edit., I, 508 sqq.; Pfaffrath, Theologie und Glaube, 1905, 119 <br>[55] cf. St. Justin, dial. c. Tryph., 78, P.G., VI, 657; Orig., c. Cels., I, 51, P.G., XI, 756; Euseb., vita Constant., III, 43; Demonstr. evang., VII, 2, P.G., XX, 1101; St. Jerome, ep. ad Marcell., XLVI [al. XVII]. 12; ad Eustoch., XVCIII [al. XXVII], 10, P.L., XXII, 490, 884 <br>[56] in Ps. XLVII, II, P.L., XIV, 1150; <br>[57] orat. I, de resurrect., P.G., XLVI, 604; <br>[58] de fide orth., IV, 14, P.G., XLIV, 1160; Fortun., VIII, 7, P.L., LXXXVIII, 282; <br>[59] 63, 64, 70, P.L., XXXVIII, 142; <br>[60] Summa theol., III, q. 35, a. 6; <br>[61] cf. Joseph., Bell. Jud., II, xviii, 8 <br>[62] In Flaccum, 6, Mangey's edit., II, p. 523 <br>[63] cf. Schurer, Geschichte des Judischen Volkes im Zeitalter Jesu Christi, Leipzig, 1898, III, 19-25, 99 <br>[64] The legends and traditions concerning these points may be found in Jullien's "L'Egypte" (Lille, 1891), pp. 241-251, and in the same author's work entitled "L'arbre de la Vierge a Matarich", 4th edit. (Cairo, 1904). <br>[65] As to Mary's virginity in her childbirth we may consult St. Iren., haer. IV, 33, P.G., VII, 1080; St. Ambr., ep. XLII, 5, P.L., XVI, 1125; St. Aug., ep CXXXVII, 8, P.L., XXXIII, 519; serm. LI, 18, P.L., XXXVIII, 343; Enchir. 34, P.L., XL, 249; St. Leo, serm., XXI, 2, P.L., LIV, 192; St. Fulgent., de fide ad Petr., 17, P.L., XL, 758; Gennad., de eccl. dogm., 36, P.G., XLII, 1219; St. Cyril of Alex., hom. XI, P.G., LXXVII, 1021; St. John Damasc., de fide orthod., IV, 14, P.G., XCIV, 1161; Pasch. Radb., de partu Virg., P.L., CXX, 1367; etc. As to the passing doubts concerning Mary's virginity during her childbirth, see Orig., in Luc., hom. XIV, P.G., XIII, 1834; Tertullian, adv. Marc., III, 11, P.L., IV, 21; de carne Christi, 23, P.L., II, 336, 411, 412, 790. <br>[66] Matt., xii, 46-47; xiii, 55-56; Mark, iii, 31-32; iii, 3; Luke, viii, 19-20; John, ii, 12; vii, 3, 5, 10; Acts, i, 14; I Cor., ix, 5; <a href="../bible/gal001.htm">Galatians 1:19</a>; Jude, 1 <br>[67] cf. St. Jerome, in Matt., i, 2 (P.L., XXVI, 24-25) <br>[68] cf. St. John Chrys., in Matt., v, 3, P.G., LVII, 58; St. Jerome, de perpetua virgin. B.M., 6, P.L., XXIII, 183-206; St. Ambrose, de institut. virgin., 38, 43, P.L., XVI, 315, 317; St. Thomas, Summa theol., III, q. 28, a. 3; Petav., de incarn., XIC, iii, 11; etc. <br>[69] cf. <a href="../bible/exo034.htm#vrs19">Exodus 34:19</a>; <a href="../bible/num018.htm#vrs15">Numbers 18:15</a>; St. Epiphan., haer. lxxcviii, 17, P.G., XLII, 728 <br>[70] cf. Revue biblique, 1895, pp. 173-183 <br>[71] St. Peter Chrysol., serm., CXLII, in Annunt. B.M. V., P.G., LII, 581; Hesych., hom. V de S. M. Deip., P.G., XCIII, 1461; St. Ildeph., de virgin. perpet. S.M., P.L., XCVI, 95; St. Bernard, de XII praer. B.V.M., 9, P.L., CLXXXIII, 434, etc. <br>[72] ad Ephes., 7, P.G., V, 652 <br>[73] adv. haer., III, 19, P.G., VIII, 940, 941 <br>[74] <a href="../fathers/0317.htm"><em>Against Praxeas</em> 27</a><br>[75] Serm. I, 6, 7, P.G., XLVIII, 760-761 <br>[76] Cf. Ambr., in Luc. II, 25, P.L., XV, 1521; St. Cyril of Alex., Apol. pro XII cap.; c. Julian., VIII; ep. ad Acac., 14; P.G., LXXVI, 320, 901; LXXVII, 97; John of Antioch, ep. ad Nestor., 4, P.G., LXXVII, 1456; Theodoret, haer. fab., IV, 2, P.G., LXXXIII, 436; St. Gregory Nazianzen, ep. ad Cledon., I, P.G., XXXVII, 177; Proclus, hom. de Matre Dei, P.G., LXV, 680; etc. Among recent writers must be noticed Terrien, La mère de Dieu et la mere des hommes, Paris, 1902, I, 3-14; Turnel, Histoire de la théologie positive, Paris, 1904, 210-211. <br>[77] cf. Petav., de incarnat., XIV, i, 3-7 <br>[78] ep. CCLX, P.G., XXXII, 965-968 <br>[79] hom. IV, in Matt., P.G., LVII, 45; hom. XLIV, in Matt. P.G., XLVII, 464 sq.; hom. XXI, in Jo., P.G., LIX, 130 <br>[80] in Jo., P.G., LXXIV, 661-664 <br>[81] St. Ambrose, in Luc. II, 16-22; P.L., XV, 1558-1560; de virgin. I, 15; ep. LXIII, 110; de obit. Val., 39, P.L., XVI, 210, 1218, 1371; St. Augustin, de nat. et grat., XXXVI, 42, P.L., XLIV, 267; St. Bede, in Luc. II, 35, P.L., XCII, 346; St. Thomas, Summa theol., III. Q. XXVII, a. 4; Terrien, La mere de Dieu et la mere des hommes, Paris, 1902, I, 3-14; II, 67-84; Turmel, Histoire de la théologie positive, Paris, 1904, 72-77; Newman, Anglican Difficulties, II, 128-152, London, 1885 <br>[82] cf. Iliad, III, 204; Xenoph., Cyrop., V, I, 6; Dio Cassius, Hist., LI, 12; etc. <br>[83] cf. St. Irenaeus, c. haer., III, xvi, 7, P.G., VII, 926 <br>[84] P.G., XLIV, 1308 <br>[85] See Knabenbauer, Evang. sec. Joan., Paris, 1898, pp. 118-122; Hoberg, Jesus Christus. Vorträge, Freiburg, 1908, 31, Anm. 2; Theologie und Glaube, 1909, 564, 808. <br>[86] cf. St. Augustin, de virgin., 3, P.L., XL, 398; pseudo-Justin, quaest. et respons. ad orthod., I, q. 136, P.G., VI, 1389 <br>[87] cf. Geyer, Itinera Hiersolymitana saeculi IV-VIII, Vienna, 1898, 1-33; Mommert, Das Jerusalem des Pilgers von Bordeaux, Leipzig, 1907 <br>[88] Meister, Rhein. Mus., 1909, LXIV, 337-392; Bludau, Katholik, 1904, 61 sqq., 81 sqq., 164 sqq.; Revue Bénédictine, 1908, 458; Geyer, l. c.; Cabrol, Etude sur la Peregrinatio Silviae, Paris, 1895 <br>[89] cf. de Vogüé, Les Eglises de la Terre-Sainte, Paris, 1869, p. 438; Liévin, Guide de la Terre-Sainte, Jerusalem, 1887, I, 175 <br>[90] cf. Thurston, in The Month for 1900, July-September, pp. 1-12; 153-166; 282-293; Boudinhon in Revue du clergé français, Nov. 1, 1901, 449-463 <br>[91] Praef. in Jo., 6, P.G., XIV, 32 <br>[92] Orat. VIII in Mar. assist. cruci, P.G., C, 1476 <br>[93] cf. Sermo dom. infr. oct. Assumpt., 15, P.L., XLXXXIII, 438 <br>[94] cf. Terrien, La mere de Dieu et la mere des hommes, Paris, 1902, III, 247-274; Knabenbauer, Evang. sec. Joan., Paris, 1898, 544-547; Bellarmin, de sept. verb. Christi, I, 12, Cologne, 1618, 105-113 <br>[95] de Virginit., III, 14, P.L., XVI, 283 <br>[96] Or. IX, P.G., C, 1500 <br>[97] de div. offic., VII, 25, P.L., CLIX, 306 <br>[98] de excell. V.M., 6, P.L., CLIX, 568 <br>[99] Quadrages. I, in Resurrect., serm. LII, 3 <br>[100] Exercit. spirit. de resurrect., I apparit. <br>[101] de myster. vit. Christi, XLIX, I <br>[102] In IV Evang., ad XXVIII Matth. <br>[103] See Terrien, La mere de Dieu et la mere des hommes, Paris, 1902, I, 322-325. <br>[104] cf. Photius, ad Amphiloch., q. 228, P.G., CI, 1024 <br>[105] in Luc. XI, 27, P.L., XCII, 408 <br>[106] de carne Christi, 20, P.L., II, 786 <br>[107] Cf. Tertullian, de virgin. vel., 6, P.L., II, 897; St. Cyril of Jerus., Catech., XII, 31, P.G., XXXIII, 766; St. Jerome, in ep. ad Gal. II, 4, P.L., XXVI, 372. <br>[108] cf. Drach, Apcal., Pris, 1873, 114 <br>[109] Cf. pseudo-Augustin, serm. IV de symbol. ad catechum., I, P.L., XL, 661; pseudo-Ambrose, expos, in Apoc., P.L., XVII, 876; Haymo of Halberstadt, in Apoc. III, 12, P.L., CXVII, 1080; Alcuin, Comment. in Apoc., V, 12, P.L., C, 1152; Cassiodor., Complexion. in Apoc., ad XII, 7, P.L., LXX, 1411; Richard of St. Victor, Explic. in Cant., 39, P.L., VII, 12, P.L., CLXIX, 1039; St. Bernard, serm. de XII praerog. B.V.M., 3, P.L., CLXXXIII, 430; de la Broise, Mulier amicta sole, in Etudes, April-June, 1897; Terrien, La mère de Dieu et la mere des hommes, Paris, 1902, IV, 59-84. <br>[110] Anglican Difficulties, London, 1885, II, 54 sqq. <br>[111] Labbe, Collect. Concilior., III, 573 <br>[112] Eusebius, <a href="../fathers/250103.htm"><em>Church History</em> III.31</a> and <a href="../fathers/250105.htm">V.24</a>, P.G., XX, 280, 493 <br>[113] cf. Assemani, Biblioth. orient., Rome, 1719-1728, III, 318 <br>[114] de fest. D.N.J.X., I, vii, 101 <br>[115] cf. Arnaldi, super transitu B.M.V., Genes 1879, I, c. I <br>[116] Mém. pour servir à l'histoire ecclés., I, 467-471 <br>[117] Dict. de la Bible, art. Jean, Marie, Paris, 1846, II, 902; III, 975-976 <br>[118] cf. Le Camus, Les sept Eglises de l'Apocalypse, Paris, 1896, 131-133. <br>[119] cf. Polycrates, in Eusebius's <a href="../fathers/250103.htm"><em>Church History</em> III.31</a>, P.G., XX, 280 <br>[120] In connection with this controversy, see Le Camus, Les sept Eglises de l'Apocalypse, Paris, 1896, pp. 133-135; Nirschl, Das Grab der hl. Jungfrau, Mainz, 1900; P. Barnabé, Le tombeau de la Sainte Vierge a Jérusalem, Jerusalem, 1903; Gabriélovich, Le tombeau de la Sainte Vierge à Ephése, réponse au P. Barnabé, Paris, 1905. <br>[121] hom. II in dormit. B.V.M., 18 P.G., XCVI, 748 <br>[122] Handb. der Kath. Dogmat., Freiburg, 1875, III, 572 <br>[123] de divinis Nomin., III, 2, P.G., III, 690 <br>[124] et. XXIX, 4, P.L., LIV, 1044 <br>[125] ep. CXXXIX, 1, 2, P.L., LIV, 1103, 1105 <br>[126] cf. Assemani, Biblioth. orient., III, 287 <br>[127] Apoc. apocr., Mariae dormitio, Leipzig, 1856, p. XXXIV <br>[128] P.G., V, 1231-1240; cf. Le Hir, Etudes bibliques, Paris, 1869, LI, 131-185 <br>[129] P.L., LIX, 152 <br>[130] Guerin, Jerusalem, Paris, 1889, 346-350; Socin-Benzinger, Palastina und Syrien, Leipzig, 1891, pp. 90-91; Le Camus, Notre voyage aux pays bibliqes, Paris, 1894, I, 253 <br>[131] P.G., LXXXVI, 3288-3300 <br>[132] Tobler, Itiner, Terr. sanct., Leipzig, 1867, I, 302 <br>[133] Cf. Zahn, Die Dormitio Sanctae Virginis und das Haus des Johannes Marcus, in Neue Kirchl. Zeitschr., Leipzig, 1898, X, 5; Mommert, Die Dormitio, Leipzig, 1899; Séjourné, Le lieu de la dormition de la T.S. Vierge, in Revue biblique, 1899, pp.141-144; Lagrange, La dormition de la Sainte Vierge et la maison de Jean Marc, ibid., pp. 589, 600. <br>[134] haer. LXXVIII, 11, P.G., XL, 716 <br>[135] cf. Nirschl, Das Grab der hl. Jungfrau Maria, Mainz, 1896, 48 <br>[136] Stromat. vi, 5 <br>[137] in Eusebius, <a href="../fathers/250101.htm"><em>Church History</em> I.21</a><br>[138] The reader may consult also an article in the "Zeitschrift fur katholische Theologie", 1906, pp. 201 sqq. <br>[139]; cf. "Zeitschrift fur katholische Theologie", 1878, 213. <br>[140] cf. Martigny, Dict. des antiq. chrét., Paris, 1877, p. 792 <br>[141] de Trinit. VIII, 5, P.L., XLII, 952 <br>[142] cf. Garucci, Vetri ornati di figure in oro, Rome, 1858 <br>[143] cf. Martigny, Dict. das antiq. chret., Paris, 1877, p. 515 <br>[144] cf. Marucchi, Elem. d'archaeol. chret., Paris and Rome, 1899, I, 321; De Rossi, Imagini scelte della B.V. Maria, tratte dalle Catacombe Romane, Rome, 1863 <br>[145] adv. haer., V, 17, P.G. VIII, 1175</p><p class="cenotes">The works treating the various questions concerning the name, the birth, the life, and the death of Mary, have been cited in the corresponding parts of this article. We add here only a few names of writers, or of collectors of works of a more general character: BOURASSE, Summa aurea de laudibus B. Mariae Virginis, omnia complectens quae de gloriosa Virgine Deipara reperiuntur (13 vols., Paris, 1866); KURZ, Mariologie oder Lehre der katholischen Kirche uber die allerseligste Jungfrau Maria (Ratisbon, 1881); MARACCI, Bibliotheca Mariana (Rome, 1648); IDEM, Polyanthea Mariana, republished in Summa Aurea, vols IX and X; LEHNER, Die Marienerehrung in den ersten Jahrhunderten (2nd ed., Stuttgart, 1886).</p></div> <div class="pub"><h2>About this page</h2><p id="apa"><strong>APA citation.</strong> <span id="apaauthor">Maas, A.</span> <span id="apayear">(1912).</span> <span id="apaarticle">The Blessed Virgin Mary.</span> In <span id="apawork">The Catholic Encyclopedia.</span> <span id="apapublisher">New York: Robert Appleton Company.</span> <span id="apaurl">http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15464b.htm</span></p><p id="mla"><strong>MLA citation.</strong> <span id="mlaauthor">Maas, Anthony.</span> <span id="mlaarticle">"The Blessed Virgin Mary."</span> <span id="mlawork">The Catholic Encyclopedia.</span> <span id="mlavolume">Vol. 15.</span> <span id="mlapublisher">New York: Robert Appleton Company,</span> <span id="mlayear">1912.</span> <span id="mlaurl"><http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15464b.htm>.</span></p><p id="transcription"><strong>Transcription.</strong> <span id="transcriber">This article was transcribed for New Advent by Michael T. Barrett.</span> <span id="dedication">Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.</span></p><p id="approbation"><strong>Ecclesiastical approbation.</strong> <span id="nihil"><em>Nihil Obstat.</em> October 1, 1912. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor.</span> <span id="imprimatur"><em>Imprimatur.</em> +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.</span></p><p id="contactus"><strong>Contact information.</strong> The editor of New Advent is Kevin Knight. My email address is webmaster <em>at</em> newadvent.org. Regrettably, I can't reply to every letter, but I greatly appreciate your feedback — especially notifications about typographical errors and inappropriate ads.</p></div> </div> <div id="ogdenville"><table summary="Bottom bar" width="100%" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr><td class="bar_white_on_color"><center><strong>Copyright © 2023 by <a href="../utility/contactus.htm">New Advent LLC</a>. 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