Author’s Note
“Piazzas, churches named for a teenager who
gave life to the Christ. Sculptures, paintings, frescoes devoted to her
holiness. But the only thing about her we remember, she was a virgin.”
-Joy McCullough
Reflections
Next
to Jesus, Mary may be one of the most revered people in the history of
Christianity. If you rely on the accounts of her in the New Testament, you may
be hard pressed to know who she is. Paul in his epistles, only mentions her
when he refers to Christ as having been born of a woman, but he doesn’t say
anything else about her and does not talk about Jesus’ birth. When reading the
Gospel accounts, you can sense some tension between Jesus and his family, some
estrangement between Jesus and his family. In the gospel of Mark, little is
said about Mary. In the gospel of John her name is never mentioned, she is
mentioned only as the mother of Jesus. She is clearly described in the gospels
of Matthew and Luke as Mary, who was betrothed to Joseph, was a virgin, and
gave birth to Jesus in Bethlehem, although the accounts differ significantly in
details about Jesus’ birth.
So
how did Mary become the leader of the saints in the Catholic Church, and
beloved by many who call themselves Christian? The serious gaps in the amazing
story of Mary are filled by the apocryphal texts. As David Bakker tells us in
his course entitled, The Apocryphal Jesus, these texts provide the
reader with insights into “her purity and holiness, her access to divine
knowledge, her ability to intercede with God on behalf of others, and the
unusual circumstances of her death.”
In
the middle of the second century CE, the Proto-Gospel of James was written.
This apocryphal text deals with Mary, giving the reader more information about
Mary’s life. This text tells the reader Mary’s birth was miraculous, because
her father and mother, Joachim, a rabbinic priest, and Anna, were unable to
have a child, but through prayer, God intervened and gave them Mary. From an
early age Anna believed Mary was special and she dedicated Mary to God. The
text goes on to say because Anna thought Mary should only walk on sacred
ground, Mary grew up secluded in the Temple. While in the temple, Mary spent
her time weaving, praying, and receiving food from an angel. At the age of
twelve, Mary left the Temple, under the guardianship of Joseph, chosen by the
family. Joseph was an elderly man, who had sons from a prior marriage, and
agreed to marry her and not to have sex with her. The text goes on to strongly
emphasize Mary’s virginity before and after the birth of Jesus. After Jesus’
birth, Joseph has Salome examine Mary, who confirms Mary remained a virgin.
This account of Mary became and remains authoritative for the Catholic Church.
Other
apocryphal literature from the second and third centuries CE, speak of a Mary.
Historians generally believe the Mary spoke of in the Gospel of Thomas and the
Gospel of Mary is actually Mary Magdalene, but some scholars suggest this Mary
could be Mary, the mother of Jesus.
These
last days of Mary’s life have been detailed in stories, hymns, and sermons from
late antiquity and the early Middle Ages. These sources differ in some details,
but generally advocate that because of her status as the mother of Jesus, her
body was not left in the ground to suffer decay and corruption. A delightful
account of this can be found in the Six Books of Dormition where Christ,
Michael, and the other angels take Mary’s soul and body out of the tomb, to
paradise.
Some
of these apocryphal texts also emphasize Mary’s special relationship with God.
Because of this special relationship, she is given special knowledge of
mysteries, allowing her to intercede with Jesus on behalf of other human beings.
The
ascendancy of Mary to sainthood and worship is not without controversy. Jewish
writings from the second and third centuries refer to Mary by her Jewish name,
Miriam, and say that she's a hairdresser and that Jesus is the illegitimate son
of a Roman soldier called Panthera.
In the
early fifth century CE, the bishop of Constantinople, Nestorius, denied Mary
should be called the mother of God. His view was condemned at a major church
council at Ephesus in 431. At that council meeting, Mary was declared the
mother of God. Today many people, including some Protestants, object to the
figure that Mary has become, a goddess-like figure, like the Pagan goddesses of
Aphrodite or Artemis. In the 1950’s, Pope Pius XII, defined as official
Catholic doctrine, the assumption of the Virgin’s body and soul into heavenly
glory.
So, just who was this person called
Mary and who are those who belong to the Cult of Mary?
Silent Prayer
Creator God, thank you for the beauty of Your
creation!
Music
Mary
Did You Know? – Pentatonix
Barry
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