~*~Hail Mary~*~Blessed Virgin, Mother, Queen
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Mary, the Mother of Jesus
Her name was Mary, a form of the name Miriam, the famous sister of Moses. The name was common among Jewish women in those days.
A well-known tradition says she was born in Jerusalem, the daughter of Joachim and Ann. Other early sources say Mary was born in Nazareth. There is even an ancient record that points to Sepphoris, a town a few miles from Nazareth, as her birthplace.
Wherever she was born, Mary's life most likely unfolded in the staunch Jewish settlement of Nazareth in the hills of Galilee, not far from the important caravan routes linking Egypt and Mesopotamia.
The Jews there were a strong, robust people. The hill climate was dry and healthful. And though the land often lacked water and no one knew from one year to the next if enough rain would fall or if invading locusts or field mice would spoil the crops -- still, facing uncertainty only made the people of Galilee more hard-working and close-knit. Struggling for a living deepened their religious spirit. They learned you must depend on God always.
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Her Daily Life
Mary was a woman of rural Galilee. She lived as they did, in a small family house of stone and mud-brick. She worked like any young girl, grinding wheat and barley into flour, preparing dishes of beans, vegetables, eggs, fruits, nuts, and occasional chunks of mutton. Wool had to be made into clothing. Bread had to be baked. A few chickens and a donkey had to be fed. And in the village, small as it was, there were always little children to care for.
Almost daily she carried a large jar of water from the town well for washing and cooking ( the well still supplies modern Nazareth today and is called "Mary's Well" ). Early on, the Jews found that cleanliness prevented disease, so frequent washing -- an important chore of women -- became part of their religious practice. The well also was a favorite spot where women talked and traded bits of everyday news.
Just as for the other women of Nazareth, the seasons and times of harvest determined what Mary had to do. With the first downpour of rain in October, the vital wheat crop was sown on the mountain fields, to be gathered -- if all went well -- in May. Small dark olives, knocked from dull green trees in September, had to be pressed into oil for lamps and food. In May or June, early figs were picked; in July, the softer juicy fruit. Grapes and pomegranates ripened in September and October. God blessed the hills of Galilee with his bounty, but it could never be taken for granted. The unpredictable land could just as well give nothing to those working it.
From the people of Nazareth Mary learned about life. Few strangers visited the town. It had little wealth, culture or learning. But just as a tiny drop of water contains a wealth of living organisms, so the small town of Nazareth had a rich life of its own. Children were born, young people married, someone died and was buried. Mary felt these joys and sorrows. A sheep was lost, a family quarreled, a son left home. From such small things, life's deepest lessons could be learned.
Her Rich Faith
The people of Nazareth had a strong Jewish faith. As God's chosen people, descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the Jews believed this land was theirs, given to their ancestors whom Moses led out of Egypt. They knew by heart the deeds of kings like David and Solomon and the words of prophets like Isaiah and Elijah. Even though the Romans, with Herod's family as their puppets, now occupied Palestine, the Jews of Galilee believed God would someday send a Messiah who would free Israel from her enemies.
They lived in a war-torn land. For centuries before the Roman occupation, conquering armies of Babylonians, Assyrians, Persians and Greeks fought over Palestine. Despite their wars, revolts and riots, the Jews remained a subject people -- taxed, bullied and despised by succeeding rulers. Like their compatriots, the Jews of Nazareth were never far from the dangers of political violence. During the Jewish uprisings in Galilee around 6 A.D. -- when Jesus was a child -- Roman legions captured the city of Sepphoris, sold all its inhabitants into slavery and burned the city to the ground.
For some Jews, foreign domination only fanned the fires of revolution more brightly in their hearts. Others, like the Pharisees, became more strictly conservative and exclusive in their religious practices. Still others, like Mary and many ordinary people of the land, became more and more aware that they were powerless themselves, but God, the all powerful, could raise up the lowly. Their faith was of the deepest kind:
"The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
Blessed be the Lord.
The Lord our God, the Lord alone!
Therefore you shall love the Lord, your God,
with all your heart, and with all your soul
and with all your strength." (Deut. 6:4-5)
Mary's faith was strong. Yet, in fervently religious Nazareth with its high moral standards, she hardly stood out at all, even in the eyes of those who knew her best. Besides, as a woman living in a society where men counted most, she would be little noticed except as a mother and a wife.
When she was 15 or so, Mary's parents made plans for her to be married, as was customary in those days. They chose Joseph of Nazareth, a carpenter, for her husband. The engagement took place and Mary returned home to wait about a year before she would go to live with her husband as his wife. But then, something happened.
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The Annunciation
"The angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. He went in and said to her, 'Rejoice, so highly favored! The Lord is with you.'
"She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean, but the angel said to her, 'Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God's favor. Listen! You are to conceive and bear a Son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the House of Jacob forever and his reign will have no end.'
"Mary said to the angel, 'How can this come about, since I am a virgin?'
"'The Holy Spirit will come upon you,' the angel answered, 'and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God. Know this too: your kinswoman Elizabeth has, in her old age, herself conceived a son, and she whom people called barren is now in her sixth month, for nothing is impossible to God.'
"'I am the handmaid of the Lord,' said Mary. 'Let what you have said be done to me.'
"And the angel left her." ( Luke 1:26-38 )
The Gospels, compiled years after these events at Nazareth, tell the story of Jesus and recall Mary only incidentally. True, St. Luke's account sees Mary favored by God, the Lord's handmaid, a model believer. His story describes her fear and perplexity, her faith and acceptance during the angel's visit. But still, we are left to ourselves to imagine Mary's life and her experience when the angel left her.
The angel's message struck like lightning, changing everthing for her. Immense joy filled the young girl's soul when she conceived the child by the power of the Holy Spirit. But when the angel left, Mary was alone.
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Living With Mystery
Nazareth certainly was unaware of the angel's visit. That day and the days afterward, men tended the fields, the aroma of fresh bread filled the village air, women talked around the well. The Word of God was made flesh, but the people of Nazareth saw nothing changed. In their eyes, Mary was still a young girl of 16, espoused to Joseph the carpenter.
Once the angel left, Mary faced some troubling questions with only faith to guide her. What about her marriage to Joseph? Since she was bearing a child that was not his, Mary had to face the anguishing prospect of divorce and the shame it could bring down upon her in a small town that frowned on an unfaithful wife. Even though he had a high regard for her, how could she explain to Joseph the mysterious act of God and an angel no one else saw?
The threat was removed when the angel appeared to Joseph in a dream and said: "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because she has conceived by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a Son and you must name him Jesus."
When Joseph woke, he took Mary as his wife to his home. Together they would do what God would have them do.
Mary Visits Her Cousin
Three months after the angel's annunciation, Mary visited her relative Elizabeth, the elderly wife of Zachary who served as a priest in the temple at Jerusalem. Mary had been told that this couple advanced in age was to have a child, too, "for nothing is impossible with God."
"Mary set out and went as quickly as she could to a town in the hill country of Judah. She went into Zachary's house and greeted Elizabeth.
"Now when Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the child leaped in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. She gave a loud cry and said,
'Of all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why should I be honored with a visit from the mother of my Lord? For the moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leaped for joy. Yes, blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled.'" (Luke 1:39-45)
Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then went back home. Finally, six months later, her own Son was born.
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Her Child is Born
"Now at that time Caesar Augustus issued a decree for a census of the whole world to be taken. This census -- the first -- took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria, and everyone went to his own town to be registered. So Joseph set out from the town of Nazareth in Galilee and traveled up to Judea, to the town of David called Bethlehem, since he was of David's House and line, in order to be registered together with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. While they were there, the time came for her to have her child, and she gave birth to a Son, her first-born. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them at the inn.
"In the countryside close by, there were shepherds who lived in the fields and took it in turns to watch their flocks during the night. The angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them. They were terrified, but the angel said, 'Do not be afraid. Listen! I bring you news of great joy, a joy to be shared by the whole people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. And here is a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.'
"And suddenly with the angel there was a great throng of the heavenly host, praising God and singing:
Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and peace to all who enjoy his favor.
"Now when the angels had gone from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, 'Let us go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.'
"So they hurried away and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. When they saw the child they repeated what they had been told about him, and everyone who heard it was astonished at what the shepherds had to say. As for Mary, she treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart." (Luke 2:1-20)
Prophecies in the Temple
After the birth of Jesus, according to St. Luke's Gospel, Mary and Joseph fulfilled what Jewish law customarily required when a child was born. Eight days later, they had the child circumcised and gave him the name Jesus.
After forty days, they took him to the temple at Jerusalem to consecrate him to God. There, the old man Simeon and the old woman Anna recognized the child's extraordinary mission. Taking him into his arms, Simeon said to Mary his mother: "You see this child: he is destined for the fall and for the rising of many in Israel, destined to be a sign that is rejected -- and a sword shall pierce your own soul, too -- so that the secrets of many hearts may be laid bare."
Then they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth.
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Visit of the Magi
Saint Matthew, however, describes less tranquil circumstances following the birth of Christ. When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, Magi from the east arrived to pay him homage, guided by a star. Seeking information of the child's whereabouts from King Herod, they were directed to Bethlehem, where they found Jesus with Mary his mother. They offered gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Then, warned of Herod's purpose to kill the child, they departed quickly for their own country by another way.
The Escape to Egypt
"Rise, take the child and his mother," the angel says to Joseph. "Flee to Egypt and stay there till I tell you."
Safe in Mary's arms, Jesus is taken into Egypt where he escapes Herod's massacre of the innocent children of Bethlehem. When, at the angel's command, the child returns to his own land, he has relived the ancient journey of Israel -- the Exodus.
Both Matthew and Luke suddenly end their accounts of Jesus' early days when he settles with his family at Nazareth. Except for St. Luke's story of the pilgrimage of the boy Jesus to Jerusalem, the Gospels are silent about Jesus and Mary until his public life begins.
Jesus Missing for Three Days
Saint Luke relates the story of one pilgrimage the holy family took to Jerusalem:
Every year his parents used to go to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover. When he was twelve years old, they went up for the feast as usual.
When they were on their way home after the feast, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem without his parents knowing it. They assumed he was with the caravan, and it was only after a day's jouney that they went to look for him among their relations and acquaintances. When they failed to find him, they went back to Jerusalem, looking for him everywhere.
Three days later, they found him in the temple, sitting among the doctors, listening to them and asking them questions; and all those who heard him were astounded at his intelligence and his replies.
They were overcome when they saw him, and his mother said to him, "My child, why have you done this to us? See how worried your father and I have been, looking for you."
"Why were you looking for me?" he replied. "Did you not know that I must be busy with my Father's affairs?" But they did not understand what he meant.
He then went down with them and came to Nazareth and lived under their authority. His mother stored up all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom, in stature, and in favor with God and men.
The Silent Years
His long years at Nazareth are called his "hidden life," the years he grew in "wisdom and age and grace," his years with Mary and Joseph. Nazareth was his first and only school; Mary and Joseph his principal teachers. From them, the Son of God made-man learned to speak his first words, in the accent of Galilee. They acquainted him with the ways of the village and the ways of the human heart. Before anyone else, he listened to and learned from Joseph and Mary.
They taught him to appreciate familiar things from the Galilean hills -- the sower, the shepherd and his sheep, the vineyard, the fig tree. These images later conveyed his deepest thoughts. Ordinary experiences, like watching Mary place a small measure of yeast into flour before baking and seeing it rise, gave him earthy images to describe the remarkable ways the kingdom of God touches all things. He learned the skills of carpentry and the discipline of hard work at Joseph's side.
Joseph, Mary and Jesus seldom went beyond their village and the neighboring fields. Their home was one simple room, used for work by day and as a bedroom by night. In the limestone floor were small openings into grain silos, carved for storage out the rock below floor level. On the wall, a niche for an oil lamp, the only light in the windowless room. On summer days, a shelter of branches shaded the flat roof above.
Though Jerusalem was the center of Jewish worship, the Jews of Galilee made the 80-mile journey to the Temple only for the great pilgrimage feasts of Passover, Pentecost and the Tabernacles. Their faith was nourished in their home and in the local synagogue. There at Nazareth, Jesus grew to know his own Jewish traditions.
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After the Death of Joseph
Joseph's death, some years before Jesus' public ministry, left Mary a widow, depending more than ever on her Son for support. Devoted to him, she knew he had a mysterious, divine role. Yet, in those long years at Nazareth she had no heavenly signs to go by. No angel spoke to her; no witnesses came forward to explain anything more of the child's destiny. At Nazareth Jesus was her faithful Son, working at his trade, following the seasons and the harvests, hardly noticed by his neighbors and relatives. And Mary was his mother.
Mary's Imprint on Jesus
It would be natural that Mary's imprint appear in Jesus' later teachings. The way he valued childhood and family life surely came from rich memories of homelife at Nazareth and its simplicity, trust and love. "Unless you become like little children, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven."
His later parables and teachings show his esteem for the faith and patience of women and condemn the injustices done to them in the male-dominated society of his time. His advocacy and appreciation for women surely followed his love and respect for the woman who was his mother. He was sensitive to the plight of widows. Surely he was influenced by Mary's situation after the death of Joseph?
Can we go further? Was Jesus' love for his own religious tradition and his ability to be critical of that tradition fostered by the honest sense and devotion of a woman like Mary and a man like Joseph? One thing is certain: Nazareth left an imprint on his experience.
Her Son Leaves Home
When he was about thirty, Jesus left Nazareth to stay for awhile in the desert of Judea near the River Jordan where John the Baptist was preaching and baptizing. People said that a prophet had arisen in Israel and that God was speaking in that lonely place. As she watched her Son go, Mary sensed that the long years of silence were coming to an end.
"Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan by John...After John had been arrested, Jesus went into Galilee. There he proclaimed the good news from God. 'The time has come,' he said, 'and the kingdom of God is close at hand. Repent, and believe the good news.'" (Mk 1:9, 14-15)
He preached in the synagogues around Capernaum on the Lake of Galilee, healing the sick and driving out evil spirits from those who were afflicted. Great crowds flocked to him. But when he went up to Nazareth, he was rejected.
"Where did this man get all this?" they said when he spoke in their synagogue. "Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary...?"
"A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and among his own relations and in his own house," Jesus replied, amazed at their lack of faith. He left Nazareth and never returned there again.
Sees Her Son Rejected
His rejection by his own people undoubtedly caused Mary deep sorrow. She sided with her Son when even some of his own relations thought he had gone mad and wanted to seize him. The old man Simeon had predicted in the temple when Mary presented her infant that a sword would pierce her heart because of the child. At Nazareth, she felt that sword as he was rejected by his own.
We don't know where Mary lived during the time of Jesus' public ministry. At Nazareth with some relatives? Or did she move to Capernaum to live among his disciples? Wherever she was, she did not have him as close to her as before. His eyes now turned to a larger family. "Who are my mother and my brothers?" he said one day to the crowd when Mary and some of his relatives came to see him. Looking at those seated around him, he said, "here are my mother and my brothers. Anyone who does the will of God, that person is my brother and sister and mother." (Mk 3:33-35)
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Quietly Following Her Son
Mary had no prominent place in the ministry of Jesus. She was rarely with him. True, according to John's Gospel, she prompted his first miracle at a wedding feast in Cana of Galilee when he turned water into wine. "Do whatever he tells you," she said to the stewards at the banquet. But mostly Mary remained at a distance while others told her what he said or did. If she had a role during his ministry, it was that of a believer, treasuring in her heart what she heard and trying to understand the meaning of it all. Later, a more active part would be hers.
She followed her Son from afar as he traveled through Galilee to Jerusalem. "Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breas+s that nursed you," some shouted as he passed. And Mary rejoiced at their praise. But she also knew he had powerful enemies whose threats and plots to destroy him increased every day. When Jesus and his disciples went up to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, Mary followed him too, with some relatives and friends. She knew danger awaited them there.
With Her Son as He Dies
"Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother and his mother's sister, Mary, wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala." (Jn 19:25)
We can hardly guess how Mary experienced the tragic days when they arrested and crucified her Son. Tradition says she stood on the road as Jesus passed by carrying his cross. When all his disciples fled, she remained with him. Helpless to do anything else, she watched her dying Son and offered her love. When he died, they took him down from the cross and placed him in her arms. She held him gently, her child of long ago.
Her Joy
She was one of those who saw him risen from the dead.
Her cries of grief turned into cries of joy as she waited in prayer with the apostles for the Holy Spirit that Jesus promised to send them.
As the mother of Jesus, Mary had a special place among his followers, strengthening their faith through her own. From his cross, Jesus gave her to his church as a mother for all ages.
We do not know for sure the place or circumstances of Mary's death. One strong tradition attests that she died in Jerusalem. Another tradition points to the city of Ephesus, where she is said to have lived for awhile with the apostle John.
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Other Perspectives of Blessed Mother Mary
Roman and Eastern Orthodox traditions
Christian theologies hold that Jesus was the result of a virgin birth; denial of this by Liberal Theology is considered apostasy by Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox (and Evangelicals) alike. She is often called the Blessed Virgin Mary or Our Lady (this latter, in French, Spanish, and Italian, is rendered Notre Dame, Nuestra Señora, and Madonna respectively). Among Roman Catholics and the Eastern Orthodox she is called Theotokos (Greek for God-bearer) and St. Mary. Roman Catholics also refer to her as Mother of the Church, Queen of All Saints, Queen of Angels, and Queen of Heaven; other Roman Catholic names for Mary can be found in the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
According to the Gospel of James, which, though not part of the New Testament, contains biographical material about Mary considered plausible by some Orthodox and Catholic Christians, she was the daughter of Joachim and Anna. Before Mary's conception, Anna had been barren, and her parents were quite old when she was conceived. They took her to live in the Temple in Jerusalem when she was three years old, much like Hanna took Samuel to the Temple as recorded in the Old Testament (Tanakh, Hebrew Bible).
According to Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox tradition, between three and fifteen years after Christ's Ascension, in either Jerusalem or Ephesus, she died while surrounded by the apostles. Later when the apostles opened her tomb, they found it empty and concluded that she had been bodily assumed into Heaven. (A tomb in Jerusalem is attributed to Mary, but it was unknown until the 6th century.)
Islamic tradition
Islamic theology also posits that Jesus was the result of a virgin birth. The Quran tells the story of Maryam (Mary) in two places, 3:35-47 and 19:16-34, but goes into much less detail than the Bible. It says that Maryam (Mary) was dedicated to God's service by her mother while still in the womb (Quran 3:35), that she was cared for by Zakariya (Zecharias) (3:36), and that in her childhood God provided for her to help her grow strong and pious (3:37). He then sent an angel to announce that she could shortly expect to bear a son, specifying that "O Mary! Allah hath chosen thee and purified thee - chosen thee above the women of all nations." (Qur'an 3:42). It specifies that she conceived Jesus despite being a virgin: "She said: "O my Lord! How shall I have a son when no man hath touched me?" He said: "Even so: Allah createth what He willeth: When He hath decreed a plan, He but saith to it, 'Be,' and it is!" (3:47).
Dormition and Assumption
For Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholics alike, Mary's assumption, i.e., the lifting up of her body into Heaven after her death, is seen as a concrete and present instance of the resurrection of the body, a belief integral to Christian theology and found in the creeds.
= The doctrine in Roman Catholicism
= The belief in the corporeal assumption of Mary was formally declared to be dogma by Pope Pius XII in 1950; Roman Catholics must therefore hold the doctrine as being necessary to salvation. Pope Pius XII states in Munificentissimus Deus "[We pronounce, declare, and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma: that the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory. Hence if anyone, which God forbid, should dare willfully to deny or to call into doubt that which we have defined, let him know that he has fallen away completely from the divine and Catholic Faith." This is an example of an invocation of papal infallibility. The Feast of the Assumption is celebrated on August 15.
The promulgated dogma is not worded so as to force the issue as to whether she experienced death prior to her Assumption, as there is no theological basis for doing so. Ludwig Ott (Bk. III, Pt. 3, Ch. 2, 6) states that "the fact of her death is almost generally accepted by the Fathers and Theologians, and is expressly affirmed in the Liturgy of the Church," to which he adduces a number of helpful citations, and concludes that "for Mary, death, in consequence of her freedom from original sin and from personal sin, was not a consequence of punishment of sin. However, it seems fitting that Mary's body, which was by nature mortal, should be, in conformity with that of her Divine Son, subject to the general law of death." In keeping with the historical consensus of the Church, Pius XII himself almost certainly rejected the notion of Mary's "immortality" (the idea that she never suffered death) in favor of the more widely accepted understanding that her assumption took place after her physical death.
= The doctrine in Eastern and Oriental Orthodoxy
= The tradition of the Eastern Orthodox Church holds that Mary died, and that after her death and burial, she was resurrected and taken up bodily into heaven. This two-fold event is celebrated as the Dormition ( "falling asleep" ) of the Theotokos. The Feast of the Dormition is celebrated on August 15, and is preceded by a fourteen day fast from meat and dairy products, the third longest fast of the liturgical year after Great Lent and Winter Lent. Despite the great importance of this feast in the Orthodox liturgical calendar, it is not considered a matter of dogma as in the Catholic Church (dogmatization of the Dormition for the Roman Catholic Church was formalized by a Roman Catholic pope after the Great Schism, whose authority Eastern Orthodox did not recognize).
Theotokos
At the Third Ecumenical council, the Council of Ephesus (against the Nestorians), A.D. 431, it was decided that it was entirely appropriate to refer to Mary as the Theotokos, to emphasize that Mary's child, Jesus Christ, was in fact God (Denziger 111a). That Council clarified that the Church Fathers "did not hesitate to speak of the holy Virgin as the Mother of God" (ibid.), thus affirming what had always been held as true: e.g. St. Ignatius of Antioch, ca. A.D. 110 (Jurgens 42); Alexander of Alexandria, A.D. 328 (Jurgens 680); among other references from similar sources. She is often referred to as "Theotokos" in Eastern Orthodox hymns.
Non-Christian worship of Mary
Some non-Christians, particularly followers of Wicca, link Mary to the Earth Mother of various Neo-pagan traditions. Some Buddhists have even been known to link Mary to Kwan-Yin of various Chinese Buddhist faiths. Christians and Muslims regard these as misguided; in fact, the Quran explicitly states that she is not to be worshipped (5:116) while the Scriptures indicate, in her own words, "for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed" ( Luke 1:48 ); see again the distinction, above, between latria and dulia.
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Mary As Goddess: Blessed Virgin, Mother, Queen
God as Mother is the earliest known concept of the divine. The Great Mother was worshiped as early as 30,000 B.C.E., dating from The Earth Mother of Willendorf . Later she was known as “Inanna in ancient Sumeria, Ishtar in Babylon, Anat in Canaan, Isis in Egypt and Aphrodite in Greece, and remarkably similar stories were devised to express her role in the spiritual lives of the people”. When monotheism was on the rise, “goddesses like Ashera, Ishtar or Anat . . . still had a great following among the Israelites, particularly among the women”. This is evident in this Old Testament passage:
...we shall burn incense to the Queen of Heaven, and shall pour her libations as we used to do, we, our fathers, our kings and our princes, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. For then we had plenty of food, and we all were well and saw no evil. But since we ceased burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and to pour libations, we have wanted everything and have been consumed by sword and famine.
Jeremiah 44:15-19
Later, in The Coronation of the Virgin, Mary would come to share the title Queen of Heaven with Inanna, Isis, and other goddesses who were worshiped before her. “In the earliest recorded act of homage paid to Mary, she was honored with customary offerings to the Goddess.” Women offered the Virgin “cakes and wine at the shrine where their ancestors had worshiped the Goddess Ashtoreth.” “Epiphanius, the late fourth-century patriarch of Constantinople, ‘noted with outrage’ ” that the women “wishing to exalt the Ever-Blessed Virgin, have put her in the place of God.”
Similarly, when Christianity was brought to the British Isles, “peasants saw in the story of Christ only a new version of their own ancient tales of the Mother Goddess and her Divine Child who is sacrificed and reborn,” a tale which had “held sway for 30,000 years”
“In habits of devotion, especially those of women, there may have been no great discontinuity between the worship of the Virgin and that of the Goddess.” Many shrines, statues and festivals, originally belonging to other Goddesses “were rededicated to the Virgin”.
Throughout the ages, many leaders in Christianity have attempted to de-emphasize the role of Mary and (at times violently) suppress her worship, yet devotion to the Holy Mother has only increased. Apparitions and “attendance at her pilgrimage centers” are on the rise. Many Christians envision her as Co-Redemtrix. She has a dedicated following of millions, within and outside of the Catholic Church, around the world. Mary is a real, vital, dynamic force in the personal lives of everyday people.
Hail Mary, Full of Grace!
Blessed Art Thou Among Women!
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In the early days of Atlantis, Mary, the embodiment of the Mother Ray, served in the Temple of Truth where, as priestess of the Most High God, she tended the emerald fires of the fifth ray.
Serving under the Masters of Truth, Mary, together with other temple virgins, studied the healing arts and submitted to the disciplines required of every soul who desires to magnify the Consciousness of the Lord.
Working with the laws governing the flow of God's energy from the planes of Spirit to the planes of Matter, she learned that all disease, decay, and death are caused by an arresting of the flow of Light at some point in the four lower bodies of man and that this clogging of energy results from his misuse of the Sacred Fire with its attendant karma.
She learned that the cure for disease is the harmonization of the flow through the Light-centers in the lower bodies, whereas the reversal of the processes of death and decay is effected by the initiation of spirals of the resurrection flame within the chalice of the heart.
Her mentors showed her how, once ignited, these spirals are expanded to include the entire being and consciousness until man becomes a pulsating sphere of white fire, the victor over hell and death, the Incorruptible One.
Thus long ago in the Temple of Truth, where religion and science stood as pillars of Alpha and Omega, Mary experimented with the laws of flow that also govern the science of precipitation.
Did she then know that in another life she would be chosen to bear the Son of God who would demonstrate these laws in the changing of the water into wine, the healing of the withered hand, the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, and many other so-called miracles by which he would introduce to the world the supreme methodology of the Sacred Science?
In all of her incarnations Mary worked closely with her twin flame, the Archangel Raphael. He remained in heaven (the plane of Spirit) to focus the energies of Alpha while she made her abode on earth (the plane of Matter), there to focus the energies of Omega.
Thus together they fulfilled the law of their God-identity, their Sphere of Being, proving that As Is Above, So IS Below God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent.
With each life opportunity Mary developed greater concentration upon the Image Most Holy of the Father who appeared to her as the I AM Presence.
Her consecration to the immaculate concept of the Son became intensified with each passing day while she perfected her four lower bodies as vehicles for her soul's expression of the Holy Spirit. Her face shone with its inner Light and her garments flowed to the rhythm of the Flame.
It was her magnification of the Christ Light and of the Mother Flame that actually sustained the healing focus in the Temple of Truth, and it was through her daily devotions that its emanations were expanded throughout Atlantis.
One with the Cosmic Virgin, she remained a temple virgin during her entire embodiment and left a focus and a flame that shall rise again in the New Atlantis to enshrine the fundamentals of healing mastery in the hearts of those who under the aegis of the Law would be the true healers of the race.
In the days of the prophet Samuel, Mary was called of the Lord to be the wife of Jesse and the mother of his eight sons. Ever fulfilling her role as the Mother Ray, Mary, in this incarnation of her soul on earth, magnified the Light of the seven rays of the Christ in the first seven sons of Jesse.
But in the youngest, David, she glorified not only the full complement of virtues from the prism of the Lord, but also the majesty and mastery of the eighth ray, which David exemplified in his reign and extolled in his psalms.
* The above Excerpts are taken from the Internet without any edits mainly for informational purposes only. ~*~ LIGHT OF ATLANTIS ~*~ will not be responsible for any of its contents, misuses or abuses using the information presented. -
actually it's kinda sad for Joseph.. the "Father".. not much is said abt him..
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St. Joseph: Perpetual Adorer
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Excerpts from the writings of St. Peter Julian Eymard
In profound adoration he [St. Joseph] united himself to the special grace of each one of the events in the life of Jesus. He adored our Lord in His hidden life and in His Passion and Death; he adored in advance the Eucharistic Christ in His tabernacles: there was nothing that our Lord could hide from Saint Joseph. Aside from the Blessed Virgin, Saint Joseph was the first and most perfect adorer of our Lord.
How greatly the Word Incarnate was glorified by the adoration of Mary and Joseph as they atoned for the indifference and ingratitude of His creatures!
Saint Joseph joined with Mary in adoration and united himself to Christ, Whose heart surged with sentiments of adoration, love and praise for the Father and of charity for men.
Saint Joseph’s adoration kept pace with every stage of our Lord’s life, drawing upon the grace, the spirit, and the virtue of each mystery. In the Incarnation he adored the self-annihilation of the Son of God; at Bethlehem, the poverty; at Nazareth, the silence, the apparent weakness, the obedience, and all the other virtues of Christ. He knew them well and he grasped clearly the reason why Christ practiced them—for the love and glory of His Heavenly Father.
Faith, humility, purity, and love—these were the keynotes of his adoration. No saint ever vibrated with a more ardent faith or bowed down in deeper humility; no angel ever glistened with brighter purity; and as for his love, neither saint nor angel ever has or ever will come within range of his burning charity which expressed itself so fully in devotedness.
Because his faith was so strong, Joseph's mind and heart bowed in perfect adoration. Imitate his faith as you kneel before the humble Christ annihilated in the Eucharist. Pierce the veil which covers this furnace of love and adore the hidden God. At the same time respect the veil of love and make the immolation of your mind and heart your most beautiful homage of faith.
Among the graces which Jesus gave to His foster-father—and He flooded him with the graces attached to every one of His mysteries—is that special to an adorer of the Blessed Sacrament. That is the one we must ask of St. Joseph. Have confidence, strong confidence in him. Take him as the patron and the model of your life of adoration.
From close union with this holy adorer I shall learn to adore our Lord and to live in intimacy with Him. I shall then be the Joseph of the Eucharist as he was the Joseph of Nazareth.
* The above Excerpts are taken from the Internet without any edits mainly for informational purposes only. ~*~ LIGHT OF ATLANTIS ~*~ will not be responsible for any of its contents, misuses or abuses using the information presented. -
And this is in the forum because...?
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Merry Meet Again 6White_Pawn9,Originally posted by 6White_Pawn9:And this is in the forum because...?
My ~*~ LIGHT OF ATLANTIS ~*~ is a Haven & Retreat for all those who are interested in Metaphysics! Lightworkers, Healers, Spiritualists, Pagans, Psychics, Wiccans or Seekers, All are Welcome! Its a place to gather the Like-minded, curious or serious practicioner of any Kind. Personally i am a believer of Mother Mary. I am paying a tribute to Blessed Mother Mary while sharing various aspects about her, The Goddess, Virgin, Queen & Mother.
Blessed Be,
Oceanos -
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I see...yeah I knew that but I thought a forum is more of a discussing thing...but it's ok
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Merry Meet Again 6White_Pawn9,Originally posted by 6White_Pawn9:I see...yeah I knew that but I thought a forum is more of a discussing thing...but it's ok
Well My Haven is probably more than a discussing group... Its an Active Actually Working Group... Hope you enjoy your stay in here... Feel free to browse around or post any appropriate Topics... Thanks for your reply...Have a Great Holiday...
Blessed Be,
Oceanos