Virgin Mary, Mother of Jesus

Mother of Jesus

According to religious tradition, Mary (Aramaic: Maryām) was an Israelite Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee and the mother of Jesus. 

Among her many other names and titles are the Virgin Mary or Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, and Saint Mary in Western churches, Theotokos in Orthodox Christianity, and Maryam, mother of Isa in Islam. 

Christians of the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, and Lutheran churches believe that Mary, as mother of Jesus, is the Mother of God (Μήτηρ Θεοῦ) and the Theotokos, literally "Bearer of God". 

She is identified in the New Testament and in the Qur'an as the mother of Jesus through divine intervention. 

Christians hold her son Jesus to be Christ (i.e., the messiah) and God the Son Incarnate (see Trinitarian monotheism), whereas Muslims regard Jesus as the messiah and one of the most important prophets of God sent to mankind.

The English name "Mary" comes from the Greek Μαρία, which is a shortened form of Μαριάμ. The New Testament name was based on her original Hebrew name מִרְיָם or Miryam. [12] Both Μαρία and Μαριάμ appear in the New Testament.

There is significant diversity in the Marian beliefs and devotional practices of major Christian traditions. The Catholic Church has a number of Marian dogmas, such as the Immaculate Conception of Mary, the Perpetual Virginity of Mary, and the Assumption of Mary into Heaven. Catholics refer to her as Our Lady and venerate her as the Queen of Heaven and Mother of the Church.

Most Protestants do not share these beliefs. Many Protestants see a minimal role for Mary within Christianity, based on the brevity of biblical references.

Mary has been venerated since Early Christianity.

Titles of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Among the most prominent Roman Catholic Marian titles are: 

• Mary, Mother of God (Mater Dei)

• Mary, the Immaculate Conception

• Mary, Queen of Heaven

• Queen of the Angels

• Queen of Peace

• Star of the Sea (Stella Maris)

• Mother of All Sorrows

Specific Bible References

Luke's gospel mentions Mary most often, identifying her by name twelve times, all of these in the infancy narrative (1:27,30,34,38,39,41,46,56; 2:5,16,19,34).

Matthew's gospel mentions her by name five times, four of these (1:16,18,20; 2:11) in the infancy narrative and only once (13:55) outside the infancy narrative.

Mark's gospel names her only once (6:3) and mentions her as Jesus' mother without naming her in 3:31.

John's gospel refers to her twice but never mentions her by name. Described as Jesus' mother, she makes two appearances in John's gospel. She is first seen at the wedding at Cana of Galilee[Jn 2:1-12] which is mentioned only in the fourth gospel. The second reference in John, also exclusively listed this gospel, has the mother of Jesus standing near the cross of her son together with the (also unnamed) "disciple whom Jesus loved".[Jn 19:25-26] John 2:1-12 is the only text in the canonical gospels in which Mary speaks to (and about) the adult Jesus.

In the Book of Acts, Luke's second writing, Mary and the "brothers of Jesus" are mentioned in the company of the eleven who are gathered in the upper room after the ascension.[Acts 1:14]

In the Book of Revelation,[12:1,5-6] John's apocalypse never explicitly identifies the "woman clothed with the sun" as Mary of Nazareth, the mother of Jesus. However, some interpreters have made that connection.

Virgin

The canonical gospels of Matthew and Luke describe Mary as a virgin (Greek παρθένος, parthénos). Traditionally, Christians believe that she conceived her son miraculously by the agency of the Holy Spirit. 

Muslims believe that she conceived by the command of God. This took place when she was already betrothed to Saint Joseph and was awaiting the concluding rite of marriage, the formal home-taking ceremony. She married Joseph and accompanied him to Bethlehem, where Jesus was born. In keeping with Jewish custom, the betrothal would have taken place when she was around 12-14, and the birth of Jesus about a year later.

Some apocryphal accounts state that Joseph was ninety years old at the time of the betrothal , but such accounts are unreliable.

Church tradition and the Gospel of James (AD 145) state that her parents were an elderly couple, Saint Joachim and Saint Anne. Before Mary's conception Anna had been barren. Mary was given to service as a consecrated virgin in the Temple in Jerusalem when she was three years old, much like Hannah took Samuel to the Tabernacle as recorded in the Old Testament. 

According to Luke, Mary was a cousin of Elizabeth, wife of the priest Zechariah of the priestly division of Abijah, who was herself part of the lineage of Aaron and so of the tribe of Levi.[Luke 1:5;1:36] 

Some of those who consider that the relationship with Elizabeth was on the maternal side, consider that Mary, like Joseph, to whom she was betrothed, was of the House of David and so of the tribe of Judah, and that the genealogy of Jesus presented in Luke 3 from Nathan, third son of David and Bathsheba, is in fact the genealogy of Mary, while the genealogy from Solomon given in Matthew 1 is that of Joseph. (Aaron's wife Elisheba was of the tribe of Judah, so all his descendents are from both Levi and Judah.)

The Annunciation & Birth of Jesus

The New Testament begins its account of Mary's life with the Annunciation, when the angel Gabriel appeared to her and announced her divine selection to be the mother of Jesus. 

Mary resided in "her own house"[Lk.1:56] in Nazareth in Galilee, possibly with her parents, and during her betrothal—the first stage of a Jewish marriage—the angel Gabriel announced to her that she was to be the mother of the promised Messiah by conceiving him through the Holy Spirit. 

After a number of months, when Joseph was told of her conception in a dream by "an angel of the Lord", he was surprised; but the angel told him to be unafraid and take her as his wife, which Joseph did, thereby formally completing the wedding rites.[Mt 1:18-25]

Since the angel Gabriel had told Mary (according to Luke 1:19) that Elizabeth (having previously been barren) was then miraculously pregnant, Mary hurried to see Elizabeth, who was living with her husband Zechariah in "Hebron, in the hill country of Judah". 

Mary arrived at the house and greeted Elizabeth who called Mary "the mother of my Lord", and Mary spoke the words of praise that later became known as the Magnificat from her first word in the Latin version.[Luke 1:46-55] After about three months, Mary returned to her own house.[Lk 1:56-57]

According to the Gospel of Luke, a decree of the Roman emperor Augustus required that Joseph return to his hometown of Bethlehem to be taxed. While he was there with Mary, she gave birth to Jesus; but because there was no place for them in the inn, she used a manger as a cradle. 

After eight days, he was circumcised according to Jewish law, and named "JESUS"[Luke 2:21] in accordance with the instructions that the angel had given to Mary in Luke 1:31, and Joseph was likewise told to call him Jesus in Matthew 1:21.

After Mary continued in the "blood of her purifying" another 33 days for a total of 40 days, she brought her burnt offering and sin offering to the temple, so the priest could make atonement for her sins, being cleansed from her blood.[Leviticus 12:1-8] 

They also presented Jesus, "As it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord" (Luke 2:23, other verses). After the prophecies of Simeon and the prophetess Anna in Luke 2:25-38 concluded, Joseph and Mary took Jesus and "returned into Galilee, to their own city Nazareth".[Luke 2:39]

Sometime later, the "wise men" showed up at the "house" where Jesus and his family were staying, and they fled by night and stayed in Egypt for awhile, and returned after Herod died in 4 BC and took up residence in Nazareth.[Mat.2]

Mary in the Life of Jesus

In the New Testament, Mary is involved in only one recorded event in Jesus' adolescent life. At the age of twelve Jesus, having become separated from his parents on their return journey from the Passover celebration in Jerusalem, was found among the teachers in the temple. [Lk 2:41-52]

After Jesus' baptism by John the Baptist and his temptations by the devil in the desert, Mary was present when, at her suggestion, Jesus worked his first Cana miracle during a marriage they attended, by turning water into wine.[Jn 2:1-11] 

Subsequently there are events when Mary is present along with James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas, called Jesus' brothers, and unnamed "sisters". [Mt 1:24-25] [12:46] [13:54-56] [27:56] [Mk 3:31] [6:3] [15:40] [16:1] [Jn 2:12] [7:3-5] [Gal 1:19] [Ac 1:14] 

Mary is also depicted as being present among the women at the crucifixion during the crucifixion standing near "the disciple whom Jesus loved" along with Mary of Clopas and Mary Magdalene,[Jn 19:25-26] to which list Matthew 27:56 adds "the mother of the sons of Zebedee", presumably the Salome mentioned in Mark 15:40.

Mary, cradling the dead body of her Son, while not recorded in the Gospel accounts, is a common motif in art, called a "pietà" or "pity".

After the Ascension of Jesus, in Acts 1:26, especially v. 14, Mary is the only one to be mentioned by name other than the eleven apostles, who abode in the upper room, when they returned from mount Olivet. 

It is not stated where the later gathering of about one hundred and twenty disciples was located, when they elected Matthias to fill the office of Judas Iscariot who perished. Some speculate that the "elect lady" mentioned in 2 John 1:1 may be Mary. 

From this time, she disappears from the biblical accounts, although it is held by Catholics that she is again portrayed as the heavenly woman of Revelation.[Rev 12:1]

Did Jesus have Brothers & Sisters?

Following Jerome, the Church Fathers interpreted the words translated as "brother" and "sister" as referring to close relatives.

There is also an incident in which Jesus is sometimes interpreted as rejecting his family. "And his mother and his brothers arrived, and standing outside, they sent in a message asking for him[Mk 3:21] ... And looking at those who sat in a circle around him, Jesus said, 'These are my mother and my brothers. Whoever does the will of God is my brother, and sister, and mother.'" [Mk 3:31-35]

Death of Mary

Her death is not recorded in the scripture. However, Catholic and Orthodox tradition and doctrine have her assumed (taken bodily) into Heaven. Belief in the corporeal assumption of Mary is universal to Catholicism, in both Eastern and Western Catholic Churches, as well as the Eastern Orthodox Church, Coptic Churches, and parts of the Anglican Communion and Continuing Anglican Churches.

According to Sacred Tradition, Mary died surrounded by the apostles (in either Jerusalem or Ephesus) between three days and 24 years after Christ's ascension. When the apostles later opened her tomb, they found it to be empty and they concluded that she had been assumed into Heaven.

Mary's Tomb, an empty tomb in Jerusalem, is attributed to Mary. The Roman Catholic Church teaches Mary's assumption, but does not teach that she necessarily died.

Hyppolitus of Thebes claims that Mary lived for 11 years after the death of her Son, dying in 41 AD.

In the 19th century, a house near Ephesus in Turkey was found, based on the visions of Anne Catherine Emmerich, an Augustinian nun in Germany. It has since been visited as the House of the Virgin Mary by Roman Catholic pilgrims who consider it the place where Mary lived until her assumption.


The Gospel of John states that Mary went to live with the Disciple whom Jesus loved,[Jn 19:27] identified as John the Evangelist. Irenaeus and Eusebius of Caesarea wrote in their histories that John later went to Ephesus, which may provide the basis for the early belief that Mary also lived in Ephesus with John.

Anglican View on Mary

The multiple churches that form the Anglican Communion and the Continuing Anglican movement have different views on Marian doctrines and venerative practices given that there is no single church with universal authority within the Communion and that the mother church (the Church of England) understands itself to be both "catholic" and "Reformed". Thus unlike the Protestant churches at large, the Anglican Communion (which includes the Episcopal Church in the United States) includes segments which still retain some veneration of Mary.

Mary's special position within God's purpose of salvation as "God-bearer" (Theotokos) is recognised in a number of ways by some Anglican Christians. All the member churches of the Anglican Communion affirm in the historic creeds that Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary, and celebrates the feast days of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple. This feast is called in older prayer books the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary on 2 February. The Annunciation of our Lord to the Blessed Virgin on March 25 was from before the time of Bede until the 18th century New Year's Day in England. 

The Annunciation is called the "Annunciation of our Lady" in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer. Anglicans also celebrate in the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin on May 31, though in some provinces the traditional date of July 2 is kept. The feast of the St. Mary the Virgin is observed on the traditional day of the Assumption, August 15. The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin is kept on September 8.

The Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary is kept in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, on December 8. In certain Anglo-Catholic parishes this feast is called the Immaculate Conception. Again, the Assumption of Mary is believed in by most Anglo-Catholics, but is considered a pious opinion by moderate Anglicans. Protestant minded Anglicans reject the celebration of these feasts.

Historically, there has been enough common ground between Roman Catholics and Anglicans on Marian issues that in 2005 a joint statement called Mary: grace and hope in Christ was produced through ecumenical meetings of Anglicans and Roman Catholic theologians. This document, informally known as the "Seattle Statement", is not formally endorsed by either the Catholic Church or the Anglican Communion, but is viewed by its authors as the beginning of a joint understanding of Mary.

Orthodox View on Mary

Orthodox Christianity includes a large number of traditions regarding the Ever Virgin Mary, the Theotokos. The Orthodox believe that she was and remained a virgin before and after Christ's birth. The Theotokia (i.e., hymns to the Theotokos) are an essential part of the Divine Services in the Eastern Church and their positioning within the liturgical sequence effectively places the Theotokos in the most prominent place after Christ.
Within the Orthodox tradition, the order of the saints begins with: The Theotokos, Angels, Prophets, Apostles, Fathers, Martyres, etc. giving the Virgin Mary precedence over the angels. She is also proclaimed as the "Lady of the Angels".

The views of the Church Fathers still play an important role in the shaping of Orthodox Marian perspective. However, the Orthodox views on Mary are mostly doxological, rather than academic: they are expressed in hymns, praise, liturgical poetry and the veneration of icons. One of the most loved Orthodox Akathists (i.e., standing hymns) is devoted to Mary and it is often simply called the Akathist Hymn. 

Five of the twelve Great Feasts in Orthodoxy are dedicated to Mary. The Sunday of Orthodoxy directly links the Virgin Mary's identity as Mother of God with icon veneration. A number of Orthodox feasts are connected with the miraculous icons of the Theotokos.

The Orthodox view Mary as "superior to all created beings", although not divine. The Orthodox venerate Mary as conceived immaculate and assumed into heaven, but they do not accept the Roman Catholic dogmas on these doctrines. The Orthodox celebrate the Dormition of the Theotokos, rather than Assumption.

The Orthodox believe that Mary was instrumental in the growth of Christianity during the life of Jesus, and after his Crucifixion, and Orthodox Theologian Sergei Bulgakov wrote: "The Virgin Mary is the center, invisible, but real, of the Apostolic Church."

John Damascene (c. 650─c. 750), one of the greatest Orthodox theologians proclaimed :

“It was necessary that the body of the one who preserved her virginity intact in giving birth should also be kept incorrupt after death. It was necessary that she, who carried the Creator in her womb when he was a baby, should dwell among the tabernacles of heaven. From her we have harvested the grape of life; from her we have cultivated the seed of immortality. For our sake she became Mediatrix of all blessings; in her God became man, and man became God.”

More recently, Sergei Bulgakov expressed the Orthodox sentiments towards Mary as follows:

Mary is not merely the instrument, but the direct positive condition of the Incarnation, its human aspect. Christ could not have been incarnate by some mechanical process, violating human nature. It was necessary for that nature itself to say for itself, by the mouth of the most pure human being: "Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it unto me according to Thy word."

Protestant view of Mary

Protestants in general reject the veneration and invocation of the Saints. Protestants typically hold that Mary was the mother of Jesus, but was an ordinary woman devoted to God. 

Therefore, there is virtually no Marian veneration, Marian feasts, Marian pilgrimages, Marian art, Marian music or Marian spirituality in today's Protestant communities. Within these views, Roman Catholic beliefs and practices are at times rejected, e.g., theologian Karl Barth wrote that "the heresy of the Catholic Church is its Mariology".

Some early Protestants venerated and honored Mary. Martin Luther wrote that: "Mary is full of grace, proclaimed to be entirely without sin. God's grace fills her with everything good and makes her devoid of all evil." However, as of 1532 Luther stopped celebrating the feast of the Assumption of Mary and also discontinued his support of the Immaculate Conception.

In the text of the Magnificat (recorded in Luke 1:46-55), Mary proclaims, "My soul rejoices in God my Savior." The personal need of a savior is seen by Protestants as expressing that Mary never thought herself "sinless".

John Calvin said, "It cannot be denied that God in choosing and destining Mary to be the Mother of his Son, granted her the highest honor." However, Calvin firmly rejected the notion that anyone but Christ can intercede for man.

Although Calvin and Huldrych Zwingli honored Mary as the Mother of God in the 16th century, they did so less than Martin Luther. Thus the idea of respect and high honor for Mary was not rejected by the first Protestants; but, they came to criticize the Roman Catholics for venerating Mary. 

Following the Council of Trent in the 16th century, as Marian veneration became associated with Catholics, Protestant interest in Mary decreased. During the Age of the Enlightenment any residual interest in Mary within Protestant churches almost disappeared, although Anglicans and Lutherans continued to honor her. 

Protestants acknowledge that Mary is "blessed among women"[Luke 1:42] but they do not agree that Mary is to be venerated. She is considered to be an outstanding example of a life dedicated to God. 

In the 20th century, Protestants reacted in opposition to the Catholic dogma of the Assumption of Mary. The conservative tone of the Second Vatican Council began to mend the ecumenical differences, and Protestants began to show interest in Marian themes. In 1997 and 1998 ecumenical dialogs between Catholics and Protestants took place, but to date the majority of Protestants pay scant attention to Marian issues and often view them as a challenge to the authority of Scripture. 

Lutheran Views

Despite Martin Luther's harsh polemics against his Roman Catholic opponents over issues concerning Mary and the saints, theologians appear to agree that Luther adhered to the Marian decrees of the ecumenical councils and dogmas of the church. 

He held fast to the belief that Mary was a perpetual virgin and the Theotokos or Mother of God. Special attention is given to the assertion that Luther, some three-hundred years before the dogmatization of the Immaculate Conception by Pope Pius IX in 1854, was a firm adherent of that view. Others maintain that Luther in later years changed his position on the Immaculate Conception, which, at that time was undefined in the Church, maintaining however the sinlessness of Mary throughout her life. 

For Luther, early in his life, the Assumption of Mary was an understood fact, although he later stated that the Bible did not say anything about it and stopped celebrating its feast. Important to him was the belief that Mary and the saints do live on after death. Throughout his career as a priest-professor-reformer, Luther preached, taught, and argued about the veneration of Mary with a verbosity that ranged from childlike piety to sophisticated polemics. His views are intimately linked to his Christocentric theology and its consequences for liturgy and piety.

Luther, while revering Mary, came to criticize the "Papists" for blurring the line, between high admiration of the grace of God wherever it is seen in a human being, and religious service given to another creature. He considered the Roman Catholic practice of celebrating saints' days and making intercessory requests addressed especially to Mary and other departed saints to be idolatry. His final thoughts on Marian devotion and veneration are preserved in a sermon preached at Wittenberg only a month before his death:

Therefore, when we preach faith, that we should worship nothing but God alone, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, as we say in the Creed: 'I believe in God the Father almighty and in Jesus Christ,' then we are remaining in the temple at Jerusalem. Again,'This is my beloved Son; listen to him.' 'You will find him in a manger'. He alone does it. But reason says the opposite:

What, us? Are we to worship only Christ? Indeed, shouldn’t we also honor the holy mother of Christ? She is the woman who bruised the head of the serpent. Hear us, Mary, for thy Son so honors thee that he can refuse thee nothing. Here Bernard went too far in his Homilies on the Gospel: Missus est Angelus. God has commanded that we should honor the parents; therefore I will call upon Mary. She will intercede for me with the Son, and the Son with the Father, who will listen to the Son. So you have the picture of God as angry and Christ as judge; Mary shows to Christ her breast and Christ shows his wounds to the wrathful Father. That’s the kind of thing this comely bride, the wisdom of reason cooks up: Mary is the mother of Christ, surely Christ will listen to her; Christ is a stern judge, therefore I will call upon St. George and St. Christopher. No, we have been by God’s command baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, just as the Jews were circumcised.

Certain Lutheran churches such as the Anglo-Lutheran Catholic Church however, continue to venerate Mary and the saints in the same manner that Roman Catholics do, and hold all Marian dogmas as part of their faith.

Methodist views on Mary

The United Methodist Church, as well as other Methodist churches, have no official writings or teachings on the Virgin Mary except what is mentioned in Scripture and the ecumenical Creeds, mainly that Christ was conceived in her womb through the Holy Spirit and that she gave birth to Christ as a virgin. 

John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Movement within the Church of England, which later led to the Methodist Church, believed that the Virgin Mary was a perpetual virgin, meaning she never had sex. Many Methodists reject this concept, but some Methodists believe it. The church does hold that Mary was a virgin before, during, and immediately after the birth of Christ.

John Wesley stated in a letter to a Roman Catholic friend that: 
The Blessed Virgin Mary, who, as well after as when she brought him forth, continued a pure and unspotted virgin.

Article II of the Articles of Religion of the Methodist Church states that: The Son, who is the Word of the Father, the very and eternal God, of one substance with the Father, took man's nature in the womb of the blessed Virgin; so that two whole and perfect natures, that is to say, the Godhead and Manhood, were joined together in one person, never to be divided; whereof is one Christ, very God and very Man, who truly suffered, was crucified, dead, and buried, to reconcile his Father to us, and to be a sacrifice, not only for original guilt, but also for actual sins of men.

From this, the Virgin Mary is believed to be the Theotokos, or Mother of God, in the Methodist Church, although the term is usually only used by those of High Church and Evangelical Catholic tradition.

Article II of The Confession of Faith from The Book of Discipline states: 
We believe in Jesus Christ, truly God and truly man, in whom the divine and human natures are perfectly and inseparably united. He is the eternal Word made flesh, the only begotten Son of the Father, born of the Virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit. As ministering servant he lived, suffered and died on the cross. He was buried, rose from the dead and ascended into heaven to be with the Father, from whence he shall return. He is eternal Savior and Mediator, who intercedes for us, and by him all persons are to be judged.

From this statement, Methodists reject the Catholic ideas of Mary as a Co-Redemptrix and Mediatrix of the Faith. The Methodist Churches disagree with veneration of saints, of Mary, and of relics; believing that reverence and praise are for God alone. However, studying the life of Mary and the biographies of saints is deemed appropriate, as they are seen as heroes and examples of good Christians. 

The Methodist churches reject the doctrines of the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption of Mary, stating that Christ was the only person to live a sinless life and to ascend body and soul into Heaven.

Islamic views on Mary

Mary, the mother of Jesus, is mentioned as Maryam, more in the Qur'an than in the entire New Testament. She enjoys a singularly distinguished and honored position among women in the Qur'an. 

A Sura (chapter) in the Qur'an is titled "Maryam" (Mary), which is the only Sura in the Qur'an named after a woman, in which the story of Mary (Maryam) and Jesus (Isa) is recounted according to the Islamic view of Jesus.

She is mentioned in the Qur'an with the honorific title of "our lady" (syyidatuna) as the daughter of Imran and Hannah.

She is the only woman directly named in the Qur'an; declared (uniquely along with Jesus) to be a Sign of God to mankind;[Quran 23:50] as one who "guarded her chastity";[Quran 66:12] an obedient one;[Quran 66:12] chosen of her mother and dedicated to God whilst still in the womb; [Quran 3:36] uniquely (amongst women) Accepted into service by God;[Quran 3:37] cared for by (one of the prophets as per Islam) Zakariya (Zacharias);[Quran 3:37] that in her childhood she resided in the Temple and uniquely had access to Al-Mihrab (understood to be the Holy of Holies), and was provided with heavenly "provisions" by God.[Quran 3:37]

Mary is also called a Chosen One;[Quran 3:42] a Purified One;[Quran 3:42] a Truthful one;[Quran 5:75] her child conceived through "a Word from God";[Quran 3:45] and "exalted above all women of The Worlds/Universes (the material and heavenly worlds)". [Quran 3:42]

The Qur'an relates detailed narrative accounts of Maryam (Mary) in two places, Sura 3[Quran 3:35] and Sura 19.[Quran 19:16] These state beliefs in both the Immaculate Conception of Mary and the Virgin birth of Jesus.[174][175] [176] The account given in Sura 19 [Quran 19:1] of the Qur'an is nearly identical with that in the Gospel according to Luke, and both of these (Luke, Sura 19) begin with an account of the visitation of an angel upon Zakariya (Zecharias) and Good News of the birth of Yahya (John), followed by the account of the annunciation. It mentions how Mary was informed by an angel that she would become the mother of Jesus through the actions of God alone.

In the Islamic tradition, Mary and Jesus were the only children who could not be touched by Satan at the moment of their birth, for God imposed a veil between them and Satan. According to author Shabbir Akhtar, the Islamic perspective on Mary's Immaculate Conception is compatible with the Catholic doctrine of the same topic.

The Qur'an says that Jesus was the result of a virgin birth. The most detailed account of the annunciation and birth of Jesus is provided in Sura 3 and 19 of The Qur'an wherein it is written that God sent an angel to announce that she could shortly expect to bear a son, despite being a virgin. As other Muslims, Ahmadiyya Islam holds that Mary conceived Jesus without sexual intercourse with a male, did not have a marriage and did not commit adultery.

The Catholic Perspective

In the Catholic Church, Mary is accorded the title "Blessed", (from Latin beatus, blessed, via Greek μακάριος, makarios) in recognition of her assumption to Heaven and her capacity to intercede on behalf of those who pray to her. Catholic teachings make clear that Mary is not considered divine and prayers to her are not answered by her, they are answered by God.

 The four Catholic dogmas regarding Mary are: Mother of God, Perpetual virginity of Mary, Immaculate Conception (of Mary) and Assumption of Mary.

The Blessed Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus has a more central role in Roman Catholic teachings and beliefs than in any other major Christian group. Not only do Roman Catholics have more theological doctrines and teachings that relate to Mary, but they have more festivals, prayers, devotional, and venerative practices than any other group.

The Catholic Catechism states: "The Church's devotion to the Blessed Virgin is intrinsic to Christian worship."

For centuries, Roman Catholics have performed acts of consecration and entrustment to Mary at personal, societal and regional levels. These acts may be directed to the Virgin herself, to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and to the Immaculata. In Catholic teachings, consecration to Mary does not diminish or substitute the love of God, but enhances it, for all consecration is ultimately made to God.

Following the growth of Marian devotions in the 16th century, Catholic saints wrote books such as Glories of Mary and True Devotion to Mary that emphasized Marian veneration and taught that "the path to Jesus is through Mary". Marian devotions are at times linked to Christocentric devotions, e.g., the Alliance of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary.

Popes have issued a number of Marian encyclicals and Apostolic Letters to encourage devotions to and the veneration of the Virgin Mary.

Catholics place high emphasis on Mary's roles as protector and intercessor and the Catholic Catechism refers to Mary as the "Mother of God to whose protection the faithful fly in all their dangers and needs".

Mary's participation in the processes of salvation and redemption has also been emphasized in the Catholic tradition, but they are not doctrines.

Pope John Paul II's 1987 encyclical Redemptoris Mater began with the sentence: "The Mother of the Redeemer has a precise place in the plan of salvation."

In the 20th century both popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI have emphasized the Marian focus of the Church. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI) wrote: “It is necessary to go back to Mary if we want to return to that "truth about Jesus Christ," "truth about the Church" and "truth about man."

Mary’s Protection and Intercession

Roman Catholic views of the Virgin Mary place emphasis on her roles as a mediatrix (intercessory role) of men to God, refuge and advocate of sinners, protector from dangers and most powerful intercessor with her Son, Jesus, who is God. These views are expressed in prayers and artistic depictions, theology, popular and devotional writings, as well as in the use of Marian Sacramentals and images.

The earliest known prayer to Mary, the Sub tuum praesidium, (Latin for under your protection) begins with the words: "Beneath your compassion, we take refuge." The artistic depictions of the Virgin of Mercy portray the role of Mary as the protector of Christians, as she shelters them under her mantle. The Virgin of Mercy depictions sometimes include arrows raining from above, with the Virgin's cloak protecting the people.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church (item 971) echoes this protective sentiment, stating that: 
From the most ancient times the Blessed Virgin has been honoured with the title of 'Mother of God,' to whose protection the faithful fly in all their dangers and needs.

Catholics have continued to seek the protection of Mary as the Mother of Sorrows (who understands and shows compassion) and relied on her intercession as the Queen of Heaven since the Middle Ages. Building on that sentiment, popes have entrusted specific causes to the protection of the Virgin Mary. For instance, pope Benedict XV entrusted the protection of the world through the intercession of Mary Queen of Peace during the first world war .

For many centuries, Catholics have used Marian Sacramentals. Since the Middle Ages the wearing of the Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel (Brown Scapular) by Catholics has been a sign of their seeking her protection. Pope John Paul II wore a Brown Scapular (like an apron) since childhood and as he momentarily gained consciousness when he was shot on 13 May 1981 he asked to keep his scapular during the operation to remove the bullet.

The depictions of Our Lady of Navigators arose from the prayers and devotions of Portuguese navigators, who saw the Virgin Mary as their protector during storms and other hazards. Prayers to Our Lady of Navigators are well known in South America, specially Brazil, where its February 2 feast is an official holiday. The Virgin of the Navigators (a variant of the Virgin of Mercy), depicting ships under her mantle, is the earliest known painting whose subject is the discovery of the Americas.

The popular Catholic prayer, the Memorare relates protection with the intercession of the Virgin Mary, stating:
"Never was it known that anyone who fled to Thy protection, implored Thy help or sought Thy intercession, was left unaided."

Saint Louis de Montfort taught that God appointed Mary as "the dispenser of grace", and to receive grace from God, one can receive it through the hands of the Blessed Virgin, as a child receives from a mother. This concept of Mary as "the mother to us in the order of grace" who can intercede for "the gift of eternal salvation" was restated in the 1960s in Lumen Gentium, one of the principal documents of the Second Vatican Council.

It is important  to note that Mary as the Mother of God, though holy, is not herself a divine being. Individuals seek her intercession before God through her son Jesus Christ, for she has no divine power.

Devotions to Mary are also commonly directed to Mary herself, to the Immaculate Heart, and/or to the Immaculata. Some say they consecrate themselves to Mary, however true consecration is only to God. 

In modern times, Pope John Paul II clarified consecration to Mary in his 1987 encyclical, Mother of the Redeemer, in which he stated, "Mary's motherhood...is a gift which Christ himself makes personally to every individual." John Paul II suggested Christians could best "entrust" themselves to Mary by becoming her spiritual sons and daughters.