Difference between revisions of "Saint Mary"

Revision as of 18:10, 11 August 2010

There have been several Christian saints called Mary, notably the mother of Jesus after whom other, later, Marys are largely named.

The Virgin Mary

In European and Christian culture, the female forename Mary is first and foremost the name of the 'Blessed Virgin Mary', the mother of Jesus - sometimes even more honoured by the simpler the Virgin. In those churches that worship her (in Britain, this is mostly the Roman Catholic church, including churches taken from the Roman Catholics as a result of the Reformation), she has many titles and honorifics, includng 'mother of God'. In contradistinction to human Queen Marys (below), she is sometimes called Mary Queen of Heaven (Latin Maria regina coelorum). She is also Our Lady. Certain cults have formed in places here she is believed t.o have appeared; some of these have a widespread appeal, such as Our Lady of Lourdes (in France), patron of a famous healing grotto credited with miraculous powers. (The Roman Catholic church on Cottingham Road in Hull, near the University, is dedicated to 'Our Lady of Lourdes and St Peter Chanel'.) Lourdes, like Walsingham in England, where the Virgin is also believed to have appeared, is a prime destination for pilgrims.

In Semitic languages (such as her own) she is Maryam or Miriam. A Sura (or chapter) in the Qur'an, the 19th, is about her, and called by her name, the Sura Maryam.

Mary Magdalen

The saint called Mary Magdalene (i.e. 'Mary from the settlemet called Magdala'), is important in the Christian Bible twice, and is sometimes conflated with other women not given her name. She is first mentioned as being healed of what we might now recogniae as a mental health issue in Luke 8 1-2: "And it came to pass afterward, that he went throughout every city and village, preaching and shewing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God: and the twelve were with him, And certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities [including] Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils.

"And many women were there beholding afar off, which followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto him: Among which was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's children." (Matt, 27 55-6)

"In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. ... And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. ... ... And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him. (Matt, 28 1-9)

John.11

[3] Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. [4] When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.

Mary 'of Magdala' may be the same as Mary of Bethany.

Mary of Bethany

Mary of Bethany is the sister of Martha and Lazarus, who was raised from the dead by Jesus: "Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus (John 11, whicxh contains the story of the whole miracle.) It begins: "Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. (It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.)" (vv. 1-2). Luke 7 [37] And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, [38] And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.