Who is Mother Mary? She is the Blessed Mother of God. She is the Mother of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer. She is a Virgin Mother. She conceived Jesus in her womb by the overshadowing of the Holy Ghost at the Annunciation. Since Jesus is the Second Person in the Blessed Trinity and indelibly united to the other persons in the Blessed Trinity, the Father, and the Holy Ghost, three Persons in one God, Mary is, indeed, the Mother of God.
What is the Annunciation? The Annunciation is a Marian feast day celebrated on March 25th. It was when the Angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she was to be the mother of the Messiah, Our Lord Jesus Christ. Mary said, “I am the handmaid of the Lord; be it done unto me according to thy word. This is sometimes referred to as Mary’s fiat. In Latin, it is: Fiat Mihi Secundum Verbum Tuum. It is Mary’s “Yes” to God!
Is Mother Mary a goddess? Mother Mary is not a goddess. She is 100% human. She has no power on her own ; however, God has deigned to grant her extraordinary power to intercede for mankind because of her great privilege of being the Mother of Jesus Christ. God desires for us to pray to her first, so that she can go to God with a perfect prayer for us
Did Mother Mary have other children?
No, Mother Mary did not have other children. She was a Virgin Mother and remained a Virgin Mother throughout her life. After giving birth to Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God, there would be no returning to a lesser motherhood. Because she gave birth to the Infinite God, she was everyone’s Mother already. This fact was borne out when Jesus Christ gave her to us to be our Mother from the Cross at Calvary.
When Jesus therefore had seen his mother and the disciple standing whom he loved, he saith to his mother: Woman, behold thy son. [27] After that, he saith to the disciple: Behold thy mother. And from that hour, the disciple took her to his own.
John 19: 26-27
It is worth noting that John is not called John but the “disciple whom he loved” for a reason. We are all the disciples whom he loves. When we embrace Mary as our mother, we return our love to Him.
Mary’s perpetual virginity was also confirmed at that time in another way. From the fact that Jesus gave her to John to take as his mother, we can conclude that there were no other siblings.
Furthermore, the brethren who are referred to in the Bible are relatives of Mary but not brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ. Some Bibles have taken the Biblical (Archaic) Hebrew word for brethren and have misconstrued it to mean brothers and sisters as we know them today.
He said, And one said unto Him: behold thy Mother and Thy brethren stand without, seeking Thee…”
Matthew 12:47
Is Mother Mary sinless? Yes, by a very special privilege granted to her by God so that she would be worthy to carry Jesus Christ who is God in her womb, she was exempted from the stain of original sin. Because she was free from the stain of original sin, and also due to her own meritorious effort, Mary never committed actual sin, (sins that we ourselves commit), either.
What is the Immaculate Conception? The fact that Mary is exempted from the stain of original sin is celebrated on December 8th, the feast day of The Immaculate Conception. It is also a holy day of obligation. The title, Immaculate Conception, is not describing when Jesus was conceived but is describing when Mary was conceived. The Blessed Mother said to St. Bernadette in an approved apparition at Lourdes, France on March 25th, 1858, “I am the Immaculate Conception.”
What is original sin? Original sin is the sin of Adam and Eve that has been passed down to humanity. Adam and Eve disobeyed God by a trick of the devil and ate of the forbidden fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. God cast them out of the Garden of Eden. Because of their sin, Adam and Eve lost the special gifts of God. These were extra special gifts to which neither Adam and Eve nor humanity had a strict right to own. That is why it is just that we have inherited the stain of the original sin of Adam and Eve. The special gifts lost are: freedom from suffering, freedom from death, freedom from sinful desires, sanctifying grace (God’s life in us), the knowledge of God, creation, and the moral law necessary for happiness.
What does it mean that Mary was free from the stain of original sin?
“Full of grace, preserved from original sin, Mary never experienced its consequences, and at the end of her earthly life she was taken up body and soul into heaven, where we contemplate her as Our Lady of the Angels and Queen of the Universe.”
Pope John Paul II – Angelus address on Solemnity of the Assumption (August 15 1998)
How can we say that Mary is free from original sin since she suffered and died. Here is a quote from the Bible first as well as some words from Venerable Bishop Fulton Sheen about why Jesus Christ suffered and died which will help. Mary is a reflection of Jesus Christ and will imitate Him as exactly as possible regarding suffering and dying.
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin (Heb 4.15).
Please listen from 21:07 to the end of the video at 22:58.
Jesus chose suffering and death to redeem us. Mary chose suffering and death because Jesus chose it. They did not suffer and die because of the effects of original sin. They suffered and died on purpose, out of compassion for us, so that we might also have a way to be free from original sin. That is why May is given the title Co-Redemptrix. They both rose in body, soul, and spirit not long after their deaths .
What does “full of grace” means as it pertains to Mary First, in general, as it pertains to the rest of us, grace means God’s life in us. There are 2 types of grace: sanctifying and actual.
Sanctifying grace is that grace which makes the soul holy and pleasing to God. It is a state of being that needs to be maintained. Anyone can obtain sanctifying grace through Baptism done in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. It remains in the soul unless one commits a mortal sin (conscious, purposeful, very serious sin) which kills God’s life in us. However, if one has the misfortune to commit mortal sin, one can be forgiven through the sacrament of Penance (Confession), and God’s life will be resurrected in that person.
Actual graces are exterior helps that God gives us to move us towards the supernatural life of remaining in a state of sanctifying grace. Two examples are: the inspiration to do something good or the voice of the conscience. Without God’s grace, a human being can do no good.
When the Church says Mary is “full of grace”, it means that she is full of God’s life in her. She is full to the brim and she acts ONLY and ever according to HIs Will. She is the perfect reflection of God.
What is the Assumption of Mary?
The Assumption is when Mary’s body was taken from the tomb into Heaven by angels after she had died. During most of the life of the church this position had been held in tradition, but on November 1st, 1950, Pope Pius XII pronounced the Assumption of Mary as dogma, meaning that the Assumption of Mary was to be believed by every Catholic.
Thanks!