“Many daughters have gathered together riches: thou hast surpassed them all.” -Proverbs 31:29
“I am the mother of fair love, and of fear, and of knowledge, and of holy hope.” -Ecclesiasticus 24:24
“And Mary said: My soul doth magnify the Lord. And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. Because he hath regarded the humility of his handmaid; for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. Because he that is mighty, hath done great things to me; and holy is his name.” -Luke 1:46-49
“And it came to pass, as he spoke these things, a certain woman from the crowd, lifting up her voice, said to him: Blessed is the womb that bore thee, and the paps that gave thee suck.” -Luke 11:27
“But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent his Son, made of a woman, made under the law: That he might redeem them who were under the law: that we might receive the adoption of sons.” -Galatians 4:4-5
“And a great sign appeared in heaven: A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.” -Apocalypse of Saint John 12:1
Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has made His mother, the ever Blessed Virgin Mary, an integral part of His plan for our salvation. In and of herself she was not necessary, but God in His infinite Wisdom chose to save us by being conceived and born of a virgin. It was she who gave Him His Sacred Flesh that was wounded for us and His most Precious Blood which was spilt for our salvation. This was the design of our creator that after the entire human race had fallen by one woman’s rejection of God this woman would bring forth our Savior and save the world. The holy Father of the Church Saint Irenaeus explains this point in Book II of his great work Adversus Haereses written in 180 AD
“Consequently, then, Mary the Virgin is found to be obedient, saying: ‘Behold, O Lord, your handmaid; be it done to me according to your word.’ Eve, however, was disobedient; and when yet a virgin, she did not obey…. having become disobedient, was made the cause of death for herself and for the whole human race; so also Mary, betrothed to a man but nevertheless a virgin, being obedient, was made the cause of salvation for herself and for the whole human race…. Thus, the knot of Eve’s disobedience was loosed by the obedience of Mary. What the virgin Eve had bound in unbelief, the virgin Mary loosed through faith.”
Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary
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Mariology: Theological Study of the Blessed Virgin Mary
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Feast Days of the Blessed Virgin Mary
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