The Blessed Virgin Mary is mentioned
in both the first
and the last books of the Bible.

Finding Mary in the Scriptures

By Robert S. Zeiger

    The Universal Church was promised the gift of the Holy Spirit to guide her into all truth (John 16:13). The Church was conscious of this guidance in her dogmatic teaching from the very first (Acts 15:28). But the Church has also been aware of this guidance in her Divine Tradition from the very first. This tradition is not that human tradition which would nullify the commandments of God, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men (Matt. 15:1-9). Instead, Divine Tradition in the Church is the revelation of God, whether taught by word of mouth or in writings such as the Holy Scriptures (2 Thess. 2:15; 3:6; 1 Cor. 11:1).

    So it is that in her guidance by the Holy Spirit into all truth, our Holy Mother the Church has certified which writings were (and thus, which were not) the inspired and infallible Word of God in writing. Under that guidance, she has interpreted them correctly. And the Church has been guided by the same Spirit in her use of Scripture. In her eucharistic liturgies and offices of prayer, the Church has applied various scriptural passages to the Blessed Virgin when they serve to illustrate various truths about her, even though some of these passages referred originally to others. Delving deeply into these treasures of Scripture we can benefit our own spiritual lives and share our love for our Blessed Mother with our evangelical, fundamentalist, and pentecostal Protestant brethren who agree with us that Holy Scripture is the inspired and infallible Word of God in writing. So this can be used as a bridge to help them join us in venerating the Mother of God. This will draw them closer and closer to the Church. For they will appreciate and find themselves drawn more and more to the glorious fullness of faith and life which is to be found only in the Catholic Church.

    In order to introduce these Protestant brethren to the Blessed Virgin (and to enrich our own spiritual lives), we have only to look up, learn, and share the scriptural verses cited below.

    The Virgin Mary is blessed above all women, and therefore Christians have always called her “The Blessed Virgin Mary” in fulfillment of prophecy (Luke 1:28, 42, 45, 48).

    The Blessed Virgin Mary is the mother of Jesus Christ who is God. She is, therefore, truly the Mother of God, the Mother of that Person who is God the Son, not by generating his divinity, for he was divine before his conception in the womb, but by generating his humanity and carrying him to birth in her womb by the power of the Holy Spirit and not by any human father (Luke 1:35; 41, 43, 48).

    The Blessed Virgin Mary is mentioned in both the first and the last books of the Bible. In Genesis 3:15, God foretold that he would put enmity between the seed or offspring of the devil and the offspring of the Woman, and that the offspring of the Woman would crush the head of that old serpent, and the serpent would strike the heel of the offspring. Eve had surrendered to the serpent’s tempting, so there was no enmity between them, for “you are slaves of him to whom you yield yourselves to obey as slaves” (Rom. 6:16). The Woman foretold in Genesis could not have been Eve. Eve was not Satan’s enemy, but his slave. However, mention of the Woman, Mary, is found in the last book of the Bible in the twelfth chapter of Revelation (the Apocalypse).

    The Blessed Virgin Mary is the woman who gave birth to him who is to rule all nations with a rod of iron, namely Jesus Christ, and she is, therefore, also the Mother of all Christians, who are her offspring, those who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ, and we are bound to honor her, our Mother, the Second Eve, as Jesus Christ honors her (Exod. 20:12; Sirach 40:1; John 1:29; 1 Cor. 15:45-47; Rev. 12:1, 5, 17).

    The Blessed Virgin Mary, in giving birth to Jesus Christ, the head of that body which is his Church, also gave birth into eternal life to the members of that body, all baptized Christians, and she is, therefore, the Mother of the Church and the Mediatrix of All Graces which come to us through Christ. As our Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary brings forth Christ in our hearts as she brought him forth in her womb (Gal. 2:20).

    Blessed Mary is holier than the Ark of the Old Covenant, to touch which was death, for she was set apart as the Ark of God the Son for the exclusive use of our Great High Priest Jesus Christ, as his Mother, and she is, therefore, ever Virgin, the “garden enclosed” and, as she contained him whom the heavens cannot contain, she is the Holy of Holies, the Saint of Saints (Exod. 26:33; Lev. 16:2-34; 2 Sam 6:6-7; 1 Kings 8:27; Luke 1:34; Heb. 9:3, 12).

    In accordance with her title in the Eastern Church, “The All-Immaculate One,” the Blessed Virgin Mary, as the Mother of Our Lord and God Jesus Christ, by a special privilege of Divine Providence, has been, from the moment of her conception, “full of grace,” even the “Uncreated Grace” who is our eternal life, namely God the Son, who lived in her heart before he became incarnate in her womb, and thus she was and is “filled with all the fullness of God,” and she has been preserved unstained by personal sin or by our disordered passions resulting from the original sin of Adam (Luke 1:28; John 1:4; 10:10; Rom. 5:12, 17; Eph. 3:19; James 1:15). For Mary and Satan are enemies; he has no part in her (Gen. 3:15).

    The Blessed Virgin Mary exercised the greatest virtue by risking death by stoning for adultery for consenting to be the Mother of God; by being the first to believe in Jesus, and thus working the greatest of the works of God, the Incarnation of his Son; and by suffering the most agonizing sword of sorrow that pierced her Immaculate Heart at the crucifixion of her Son and the piercing of his Sacred Heart (Matt. 1:18-19; Luke 1:38, 45; 2:35; John 6:29; 19:25, 34).

    God the Son has not suffered his Mother, the blessed, glorious, and ever Virgin Mary, to see corruption, but has honored her as the first of the saints, and assumed her, body and soul, into heaven (Exod. 20:12; Ps. 16:10; Rev. 12:1, 3, 14).

    The Blessed Virgin Mary has been crowned Queen of the Universe by God the Father, whose daughter she is, by God the Son, whose mother she is, and by God the Holy Spirit, whose faithful spouse she is, and she has been crowned by the stars and clothed with the sun, and had the moon put under her feet in token of her being set, under her Son, the King of Kings, over all other created beings, as Queen of the Universe (Rev. 12:1, 5, 17; 17:14; 19:16).

    The Blessed and ever Virgin Mary always bids us to do whatever Jesus says (John 2:5). Together with the rest of the angels and saints, as a witness to our lives, she sees our lives and hears our prayers now and is, as our Mother, our most potent intercessor with God (Matt. 18:10; John 2:1-11, esp. v. 3; Heb. 12:1; Rev. 5:8-10; 8:3-4).

    The Bible does not ask us to pay Mary the adoration due to God alone; that would be idolatry. But the Bible does teach us: Honor thy mother, Mary, as Jesus did! We can also be assured that our Blessed Mother hears our prayers for she, as well as the other saints in heaven, is one of the “cloud of witnesses,” who observe us (Heb. 12:1), and witnesses are those who can testify under oath in court as to what they have seen and heard. Therefore, we should frequently request our Blessed Mother to pray to God, to obtain his graces for us. Following are several prayers to the Blessed Virgin that have been widely used throughout the Church over the ages.

The Hail Mary

    Hail Mary, full of Grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen (Luke 1:28; 42-43, 45, 48).

The Memorare

    Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession, was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of Virgins, my mother. To thee I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy, hear and answer me.

O Gentle Protectress of Christians

    O gentle protectress of Christians, never failing mediatrix before the Creator, despise not the prayerful voices of sinners, but in thy goodness hasten to assist us who trustfully cry out to thee. Inspire us to prayer and hasten to hear our supplications. Intercede always, O Mother of God, in behalf of those who honor thee.

It Is Truly Meet

    It is truly meet to bless thee, who hast borne God, the ever blessed and immaculate one and the Mother of our God. More honorable than the cherubim and beyond compare more glorious than the seraphim, thou, remaining an immaculate Virgin, gavest birth to God the Word. True Mother of God, we proclaim thy greatness.

Hail, Holy Queen

    Hail Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, hail our life, our sweetness, and our hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve. To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning, and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy towards us, and after this, our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus, O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary! Pray for us, O holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

We Fly beneath Thy Protection

    We fly beneath thy protection, O Holy Mother of God; despise not our petitions in our necessities, but ever deliver us from all danger, O glorious and blessed Virgin!

Dr. Robert S. Zeiger was ordained a priest for the Apostolic Catholic Church of the Americas. He retired as Orthodox Archbishop of Lakewood in 1995 after 36 years as a priest. He has returned to the Roman Catholic Church but is not allowed to exercise the priesthood. In 1990 he retired as the State Supervisor of Counseling and Testing of the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment. He is a non-violent pro-life activist who has been arrested four times for protesting abortion. His last article in HPR appeared in April 1997.

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