Who is Mary?
Awaiting theological review
What you will understand today
Who Mary is in the Gospels, what Catholics believe about her, and why they honour her without worshipping her.
In simple words
Mary was a young Jewish woman of Nazareth. The angel Gabriel announced to her that she would conceive the Son of God by the Holy Spirit, and she answered yes. She is at the beginning of Jesus' life, at the wedding at Cana, at the foot of the Cross and with the apostles at Pentecost.
Because Jesus is God made man, Mary is truly the Mother of God — a title about who her Son is. Catholics also believe God preserved her from all sin from her conception (the Immaculate Conception) and that, at the end of her life, she was taken up body and soul into heaven (the Assumption).
Catholics honour Mary and ask her to pray for them, as you might ask a friend. They do not worship her: worship belongs to God alone. Everything the Church says about Mary points to Jesus.
Key Bible passage
Mary's answer to the angel — the yes that opened the door to Christ.
38And Mary said: Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.
Luke 1:38 · Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition
Mother of God
Because her Son is God
Ever Virgin
Before, during and after Jesus' birth
Immaculate
Preserved from sin from her conception
Assumed
Taken body and soul into heaven
Go deeper
What the Church believes about Mary grows out of what she believes about Christ. Calling Mary Mother of God was a way of saying that the child she bore is not a man who later became divine, but the eternal Son of God made man.
The Immaculate Conception (defined in 1854) is often confused with the virgin birth. It is about Mary's own conception: by a unique grace, through the merits of her Son, she was preserved from original sin. The Assumption (defined in 1950) says she shares already, body and soul, in her Son's Resurrection — what all believers hope for.
At the Cross, Jesus gave Mary to the beloved disciple as his mother. Christians have read this as a gift to the whole Church: Mary's motherhood extends to all those her Son came to save.
Questions people ask
Did Jesus have brothers and sisters?
The Gospels mention the brothers of Jesus. In the language of the time the word could mean cousins or close relatives; the Church holds that Mary remained a virgin and that Jesus is her only son.
Why pray to Mary instead of directly to God?
It is not instead. Catholics pray to God directly, and also ask Mary to pray with them and for them, just as they ask friends to pray for them. Her prayer, like ours, goes to God.
Are the apparitions, like Fátima, part of the faith?
No Catholic is required to believe in a particular apparition. The Church may judge some worthy of belief, but they never add to public Revelation, which ended with the apostles.
Read more in the Bible
- Luke 1:26–38 — The Annunciation
- John 2:1–11 — At Cana: Whatsoever he shall say to you, do ye
- John 19:25–27 — Behold thy mother
Did you know?
In 431 the Council of Ephesus confirmed the title Mother of God (Theotokos), to defend the truth that Jesus is one Person, true God and true man.
CCC 495A common misconception
Catholics worship Mary.
In fact
Catholics venerate Mary — they honour her and ask her prayers — but adoration is given to God alone. The Church calls devotion to Mary something that leads to her Son.
A question to take with you
Mary said yes without knowing everything that would follow. Where is God asking you for a yes?
One small thing for today
Read Mary's song of praise, the Magnificat, in Luke 1:46–55.