MARY(AT)

(NT Greek: “Mary” or “Mariam”, derived from the Heb. “Miryam”; in lat. “Maria”).

(a) MARY, SISTER OF MOSES AND AARON.

It is likely that she was the one who watched over the ark containing little Moses (Ex. 2:4-8). She stood at the head of the women who celebrated the crossing of the Red Sea, dancing to the sound of tambourines. Mary sang: “Sing to Jehovah, for he has become exceedingly great; “He has thrown the horse and the rider into the sea” (Ex. 15:20, 21).

Mary was a prophetess, and God had given her a place after her brothers, in charge of leading the people of Israel (Mi. 6: 4; Ex. 4:15, 29, 30). Alleging Moses’ marriage to an Ethiopian woman, Miriam incited Aaron to rebel against him.

She was then attacked by leprosy, in punishment for her resistance to divine will. Moses interceded for his sister; God healed her, but the people were delayed in her march until she re-entered the camp (Num. 12:1-16; Deut. 24:9). Mary died and was buried at Kadesh (Num. 20:1).

(b) Mary, whose father was Ezra (1 Chron. 4:17), not the scribe of the post-exilic era.

(c) MARY, the mother of the Lord Jesus.

The only authentic data comes to us from the Holy Scriptures. Six months after the conception of John the Baptist, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a virgin named Mary. She lived in Nazareth, a town in Galilee, and was engaged to a carpenter, Joseph (Lk. 1:26, 27).

The texts state that Joseph was descended from David. They do not say this explicitly about Mary, but there are numerous commentators who believe that she was of Davidic descent. In fact, it was announced to her that her son would receive the throne “from her father David” (Lk. 1:32). Furthermore, in several passages (Rom. 1:3, 2 Tim. 2:8; and cf. Acts 2:30) it is stated that He is, according to the flesh, of the lineage of David.

On the other hand, there are a large number of exegetes who believe that in Lk. 3: 23-28 the genealogy of Christ is given through his mother, in which case Mary’s father would be Eli. Be that as it may, the angel announced to Mary that she was the object of divine favor, that she would have a son whom he would name Jesus.

He continued to affirm that he would be great and would be called the Son of the Most High, and that the Lord God would give him the throne of David his father. He will reign eternally over the house of Jacob, and his kingdom will have no end (cf. Luke 1:32, 33). Mary asked how such a thing could be, since she was a virgin. The angel responded that she would conceive by the power of the Holy Spirit.

“Therefore also the Holy One who will be born will be called the Son of God” (Lk. 1:35). These words revealed to Mary that she had been chosen to be the mother of the Messiah; She accepted with faith and humility the honor that God conferred on her in such a mysterious way.

The angel informed her that Elizabeth, her cousin, was also going to have a son. Mary then went to the town in the mountains of Judah where Zechariah and Elizabeth lived. Upon her arrival Elisabet, instructed about the honor done to Mary, pronounced, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, a song of praise. And Mary glorified God with a hymn that began: “My soul magnifies the Lord” (Lk. 1:46-55).

The title “Magnificat”, given to this song, is the first word in its Latin version. These songs of Elizabeth and Mary reveal the deep piety and tempered joy of these holy women, as they meditate on the power and grace of God who, through their children, would fulfill the ancient promises made to Israel and bring salvation. to the world.

María stayed three months in Elisabet’s house and under her protection; she did not return to Nazareth until shortly before John’s birth. Joseph, who intended to divorce Mary in secret, learned, through a vision, the cause of her pregnancy (Mt. 1: 18-21); He was ordered to take his wife with him and to give the child the name Jesus: “For he will save his people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21).

Joseph remembered Isaiah’s prophecy: the Messiah was to be born of a virgin. He then obeyed God’s command, and took her wife to him, “but he did not know her until she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she called him JESUS” (Mt. 1:24, 25). This marriage protected Mary and safeguarded her secret. The child had Joseph as his legal father, and thus became also David’s heir.

The birth of the child took place in Bethlehem. Emperor Augustus had ordered a census of the entire Empire, so all the inhabitants of Palestine had to be registered. Joseph had to go to Bethlehem, because he was descended from David, and Mary accompanied him.

Not finding room in the inn, they were forced to stay in a stable, possibly devoid of animals in order to accommodate the people who came. Jesus was born there. His mother “wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger” (Luke 2:7). Mary, full of wonder and faith, heard the shepherds speak of her night vision, of the proclamation of the angels, announcing the birth of the Savior.

She did not know that her son was the same God manifested in the flesh; She only discerned that he would be the Messiah, and she waited for God to reveal the mission of her son. Forty days after his birth, Mary and Joseph went to Jerusalem to present the child to the Lord and to offer in the Temple the sacrifice demanded by the Law (Lev. 12: 2, 6, 8).

Mary offered the sacrifice of the poor (a pair of pigeons or two turtledoves). The old Simeon took the child in his arms, praising the Lord who had allowed him to see the Messiah, and then announced Mary’s future sufferings (Luke 2:35). Joseph and Mary immediately returned to Bethlehem (Mt. 2:11).

It was already in a house that they received the wise men from the East, who had come to worship Jesus (Mt. 2:1-11). The entire family, by God’s instructions, took refuge in Egypt to escape the murderous intentions of Herod the Great, and then, upon the latter’s death, they headed to Nazareth.

Maria dedicated herself to the education of the child, whose future mission must be constantly on her mind. The episode of Jesus in the Temple at the age of twelve reveals something about the character of his mother. She went to Jerusalem every year, like Joseph, for the Passover festival (Lk. 2:41), although the Law did not require it of Jewish women (Ex. 23:17).

Joseph and Mary, pious people, took Jesus to Jerusalem when he was of age, so that he too could participate in the Passover. His conversation with the doctors of the Law, in the Temple, left his parents stunned. “His mother kept all these things in her heart” (Lk. 2:51).

Mary did not understand the full magnitude of the greatness of her Son, nor the true nature of her mission (Lk. 2:50), but she raised him, nevertheless, with a view to the service of God.

Since the “brothers of the Lord” (see BROTHERS OF JESUS) were evidently children of Joseph and Mary born after Jesus, Mary had a large family. Sisters are also mentioned (Mark 6:3). However, nothing is heard from Mary again until the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry.

We meet her again at the wedding in Cana (Jn. 2: 1-10), she contemplates with joy how Jesus manifests himself as the Messiah, and she believes in her mission. Christ, however, opposes, respectfully, but also firmly, the untimely intervention of his mother (for the meaning of the response in v. 4, cf. Mr. 5: 7).

She has to understand that she cannot interfere in her ministry. As her son, she testifies to him of her deference; as Messiah and Savior, he places her in the category of her disciples, because Mary also needs, like everyone else, the salvation that Christ offers.

In another circumstance, Jesus will make another similar observation to Mary (Mt. 12:46-50; Mark 3:31-35; Luke 8:19-21). While the Master was teaching through parables, her mother and her brothers wanted to talk to him. It is possible that they wanted to advise him to desist from the dangerous course of it.

He repeated to them that the spiritual bond that united him to the disciples was more valuable than any human relationship. “For whoever does the will of my father who is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother” (Mt. 12:50). It appears that Mary and Jesus’ brothers continued to live in Nazareth during the Lord’s ministry.

Because Joseph is not mentioned, it is assumed that he had already died. Unlike Jesus’ brothers, Mary never stopped believing that her son was the Messiah. This is why she followed him on her last trip to Jerusalem. Suffering both as a mother and as a disciple, she contemplated the horrible spectacle of the crucifixion. Jesus, in the midst of her sufferings, turned to her, and entrusted her to John, her beloved disciple. “And from that hour the disciple received her into her house” (John 19: 25-27).

After her Ascension, she was with the apostles in the upper room (Acts 1:14); Since then, she is no longer mentioned in the Scriptures. We do not know the date or circumstances of her death. What is claimed to be her tomb is shown in the Kidron Valley, but there is no basis to accept its authenticity.

The late legends about Mary do not contain any stories worth believing. In the Scriptures she is presented simply as a magnificent figure of a devout and pious woman. She occupies a unique place, as mother of the Messiah, and will be called “blessed all generations” (Lk. 1:48).

But it is evident that she cannot be called “Immaculate Conception”, since she herself recognizes God as “her Savior”, and it is seen that in her own spirit she was subject to ignorance and incomprehension (Lk. 1:47; 2 :50; Mr. 3:21). Nor did she remain a virgin perpetually, for she became truly Joseph’s wife (Mt. 1:25).

Regarding this verse, Lacueva states: «The imperfect tense (from the Greek verb “to know”) indicates, here, with complete precision the period of time during which José did not have marital relations with her» (F. Lacueva: «New Interlinear Testament Greek-Spanish”, Clíe, 1984, loc. cit., note). Generally, Catholic versions “soften” the translation of Mt. 1:25 so that the obvious implication of its text is not obvious. The correct translation reads: “But he did not know her until she gave birth to her firstborn son.”

Nor is it true what is so commonly stated that she was “full of grace” (see GRACE). What the text gr. It says it is: “gracious” or “received in grace” (Lk. 1:28). It is about God’s attitude toward her, that she had been favored (Lk. 1:28). The angel further adds: “you have found favor with God” (Lk. 1:30).

Thus, it is an error to claim that Mary is “the mediator of all graces”, as the Church of Rome affirms, or that at Pentecost she was the one who received the Holy Spirit and distributed it to her disciples. Jesus is the only Mediator, and his untransmissible priesthood is fully sufficient for us (1 Tim. 2:5; Heb. 9:24-25).

Mary is certainly not “the Mother of God”, since she was his mother as a man: no human creature can be the mother of the Eternal Word. Someone has rightly said: “Mary was the mother of Him who is God, but not the mother of God.”

The texts cited above show that the Lord always ensured that neither Mary herself, nor men, gave her mother a place above others, nor a part of her ministry. Finally, the “dogma of the Assumption of Mary”, promulgated in 1950, has no biblical basis.

According to this doctrine, having died in the year 54 AD, she would have been resurrected instantly, and she would have been taken to heaven in her glorified body. However, Paul clearly indicates the order of the resurrections: “Christ, the firstfruits; then those who are Christ’s (which must include Mary) at his coming” (1 Cor. 15:23).

(d) MARY, the wife of Cleopas (John 19:25).

The term “woman” is not found in the Greek text, according to custom. Cleopas is called Alphaeus (Mt. 10:3; Mr. 3:18; Luke 6:15), both names being variations of the same original Aramaic name. Cleopas and Mary are thus the father and mother of the apostle James the Less, and of Joseph, his brother (Mt. 27:56; Mark 15:40; Luke 24:10).

Those who claim that the Lord’s “brothers” were her maternal cousins allege that this Mary was the sister of Mary the mother of Jesus, and that Jn. 19:25 does not mention three women next to the cross of Jesus.

Apart from the implausibility of two sisters having the same name, there are other arguments to refute the “cousins” theory (see BROTHERS OF Jesus). It is admitted that in this case John is talking about four women attending the crucifixion, and that one of them was precisely Mary, the wife of Cleopas.

Little else is known about her personally, except that she saw how the Lord was placed in the tomb (Mt. 27:61); On the third day, she was one of those who carried aromatic spices and to whom the risen Lord appeared (Mt. 28:1; Mark 15:47; 16:1; Luke 24:10).

(e) MARY MAGDALENE

“Magdalene” indicates her place of origin (Mt.27:56, 61; 28:1; Mr.15:40, 47; 16:1, 9; Lk.8:2; 24:10; Jn.19:25 ; 20:1, 18), Magdala, on the southwestern coast of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus freed her from seven demons (Mark 16:9; Luke 8:2); she thereafter took her place among the most devoted disciples.

The first mention of this Mary (Luke 8:2) follows shortly after the account of the Lord’s anointing of the feet of a sinner in a city of Galilee (Luke 7:36-50). This is the reason why these two passages have been believed to refer to the same person, which is very unlikely. This assumption has made Mary Magdalene look like a woman of bad life.

Thus her good name has suffered, even though the arbitrary connection between the two passages cannot be justified. We do not know what form she had of the terrible possession from which she had been freed. At the beginning of Jesus’ ministry in Galilee she began to accompany the twelve and the women who helped the Lord and his disciples with his money (Lk. 8: 1-3).

She was before the cross (Mt. 27:56; Mr. 15:40; Jn. 19:25) and was sitting before the tomb when the body of Jesus was deposited in it (Mt. 27:61). At dawn on the third day, she arrived there accompanied by “the other Mary.” Seeing that the stone had been rolled away from in front of the entrance to the tomb, she ran to Jerusalem to warn Peter and John about it (John 20:1, 2).

Mary Magdalene followed the apostles, returned to the garden, and stayed after they had left. It is to her that the resurrected Jesus first appeared (Mk. 16:9; Jn. 20:11-17); She hastened to make this known to the disciples (John 20:18). Nothing else is known about her.

(f) MARY OF BETHANY

Mary of Bethany lived with Martha, her sister (Lk. 10:38) in the town of Bethany (Jn. 11:1; 12:1). The summit of the Mount of Olives is about 1.5 km from this place. The first time a visit from the Lord to this family is mentioned (Lk. 10:38-42), Mary seemed eager to hear it.

Martha complained to Jesus that her sister was neglecting her service, and the Lord answered her: “Only one thing is necessary; and Mary has chosen the good part of it, which will not be taken from her »(Lk 10:42). The cap. John 11 recounts the resurrection of Lazarus, Mary’s brother. When Jesus arrived near Bethany, four days after the death of Lazarus, “Mary stayed at home” (John 11:20).

Martha gave her the message that Jesus wanted to see her (John 11:28). Seeing him, Mary cried out, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” The sisters’ pain deeply moved the Savior, who worked on their behalf one of the greatest miracles recorded in the Gospels. Later, Jesus went to Bethany, six days before his last Passover (John 12:1).

In the house of Simon the leper they offered him a dinner (Mark 14:3). During the meal, Mary brought an alabaster vessel full of pure nard and, breaking the vessel, poured this expensive perfume on the head of Jesus (Mark 14:3) and on his feet, which she then rinsed with her hair (John 12:3).

This was a gesture of adoration, of gratitude, of testimony given to the greatness of Christ. Judas and some of the disciples reproached this gesture, calling it a waste, but Jesus declared: “Truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.” (Mt. 26:6-13; Mr. 14:3-9). The Lord saw in this anointing, of which Mary herself undoubtedly did not fully understand the true meaning of it, the seal of her upcoming sacrifice (John 12: 7, 8).

(g) MARY (Mother of Juan-Marcos)

The disciples gathered at the home of this Christian lady to pray for the release of Peter, imprisoned by Herod Agrippa. The apostle, freed by an angel, immediately went to her house (Acts 12:12). This Mary’s son was the author of the second Gospel (see MARK).

He must have been of good standing, and it is assumed that his house was one of the main meeting places for the Christians of Jerusalem. According to Col. 4:10, Mark was Barnabas’ nephew. It is unknown whether this relationship was paternal or maternal. It is also unknown who this Mary’s husband was.

(h) MARY OF ROME
Christian to whom the apostle Paul sends greetings when writing to the believers in Rome (Rom. 16:6). She had fought for the cause of Christ in Rome. This is the only passage where she is mentioned.