Mary, the Mother of Christ
Probably the most famous mother in history, the name Mary, Maria or Miriam all refer to the woman who gave birth to perhaps the most famous prophet that ever walked the earth; and she did so without the usual preliminary of copulation. The Immaculate Conception is central to Christian doctrine because it stands as proof that Christ was divine. Needless to say, this particular snippet of Christian mythology has been the subject of cruel jokes since it was first devised, and the ostensible father of Christ, Joseph, is portrayed quite frequently as the most shamelessly cuckolded man in history.
In a previous millennium, of course, this author would have been burned at the stake for such a heretical observation, but thankfully, not today. Mary, the mother of Christ, however, her gifted son was conceived, sits at the penultimate zenith of the Christian faith, and in particular the Catholic faith. And of all of the various splintered denominations of faith, be they Christian, Islamic, Judaic, Catholics outnumber any other.
But who was Mary, and why is she still so important to the Christian faith? Well, quite simply, it was she who guided Jesus through his formative years, and she who remained vital to him until the moment he was nailed to the cross, and indeed, beyond. As Jesus hung on the cross, he said to the disciple John ‘Behold thy mother’, implying that Mary was the mother of all, and through her, any devotee could become a disciple. This immediately places Mary at the center of the nascent Christian faith.
Sadly, there is no reliable record detailing any of her specific functions as the ministry of Christ begins, but one can assume that an unmarried wandering prophet, whose mother remained a factor in his life, will have relied frequently on her support. Developing a faith, in particular one with the inevitable end that Christ suffered, is one that would have been frequently characterized by doubt and self-questioning. Jesus, of course, enjoyed the support of twelve disciples, but perhaps more importantly than that, he relied on the support of his mother.
The emergence of Mary as a central figure of veneration serves a modern purpose also, insofar as it identifies a woman at the center of the Christian faith, which offers not only diversity but a role model for women infinitely adaptable to evolving circumstances. As faith, and matters of faith fade somewhat in the modern era, the notion of the Virgin Mary has become vague and ill-formed in the minds of modern generations, and it is often hard to recall quite how pivotal this woman was to the development of arguably the most influential faith in history.
Where did we get this stuff? Here are our sources:
“The Women Behind Powerful Men’. Female First, September 2008
“John Lennon and Yoko Ono”. Mercy Street Cafe
“Paul McCartney: Yoko Ono did not break up The Beatles”. The Guardian, November 2012
“Julius Caesar and Cleopatra”. History Hit. Graham Land, 2018
“When a secret president ran the country.” PBS News Hour. Dr. Howard Markel, October 2015
“Eva Perón Actress, Politician (1919-1952)”. Biography 2018
“Consider Eva Perón’s Influence”. New York Times. Marysa Navarro, November 2013