Mary, the Mother of Jesus

No Biblical figure attract the kind of devotion that the Virgin Mary attains and her image flourishes among many of the Catholic faithful. Mary's virginity stems from the belief that she had no children after Jesus and remained a virgin throughout her life. The follower of Christanity appreciate the blessed Virgin Mary and her role in the history of salvation. Mary was a disciple of Christ before she was his mother, for had she not believed, she would not have conceived.

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. 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.

Mary was not merely the point of Christ's entrance into the world but also acted as the channel through which he tried to revolutionized the world with his message. She was the mother who cared for the physical needs of Jesus the boy, nursed him, nurtured and taught him the ways of the Lord. Doubtless she was the one who taught him to pray, as he grew in wisdom and stature.

People have invoked her, trusted in her mercy and sought to appease Christ through her.

She deserves to be called blessed, for God has accorded her a singular distinction, to prepare his son for the world, in whom she was spiritually reborn. She is called blessed not because of her virginity or even her humility, but because she was chosen as the person and place where God's glory would enter most deeply into the human story.