“ | I am the bondslave of the Lord, may it be done according to your word. | „ |
~ Mary to Angel Gabriel. |
Mary is a first century Galilean woman, who was the Mother of Jesus Christ, according to the Gospel and the Quran. Thus she plays a crucial role in religion. She is the wife of Joseph and a major figure in Christianity and Islam. She was a virgin when she conceived Jesus and gave birth to him in a stable in the town of David.
Biography[]
Childhood of Mary[]
Nothing is mentioned of Mary's childhood in the Bible, but as a little girl in Nazareth, she must have do alot of chores by helping her mother around the house, she must have take care of the younger children, gardening, filling heavy buckets with waters from the well, cooking, and cleaning. Mary was a well disciplined child who learned to obey God's commands and being a modest young girl. She does not get much freedom as a child, by the time she reached puberty, her parents find a man that would be suitable for her, Joseph was a perfect match for Mary.
Bible: Angel Gabriel visits Mary[]
Mary was probably 13 when the angel Gabriel visited her, the angel said to Mary "Hail! highly favored, the Lord is with you" Mary was greatly troubled by his words then the angel said "do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God, in your womb, you will conceived a child, you are to call him Jesus, He will be great and will be called the son of the most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob, his kingdom will have no end" Mary then said "how could this be for I am a virgin?" then the angel said "The holy spirit will come upon you, and the power of the most high will overshadow you, so the holy child to be born will be called the son of God, even your relative Elizabeth is going to have a child in her old age, and she is in her sixth month, for nothing is impossible for God" Mary then said "I am the bondslave of the Lord, may it be done according to your words" then the angel left her.
Visiting Elizabeth[]
Mary traveled to Judea with a group of close friends to visit Elizabeth, she arrived at Judea and called out for Elizabeth, Elizabeth heard Mary's greetings and was filled with the holy spirit: "Blessed are you among all women of the world, and blessed is this holy child in your womb, why is this so special to me that the Mother of my Lord is visiting me, as soon as I heard your greeting, the baby in womb leap for joy, you are blessed for believing in the promise of God"
Mary happily said "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has greatfully rejoice in my God, my savior, for he has showed kindness toward me, his humble servant. from now on, all generation shall call me blessed, because the Almighty God had done great things for me, and holy is his name, his mercy is powerful for all people, he has shown great things with his arm, God has wash away the pride in their hearts, God had thrown away the powerful from their throne, and highly praises the humbles. He has filled the hungry with good things and the rich he had sent away empty. God has loved and help his servant people of Israel, to remember his wonderful mercy, and the promise of God that he made to our ancestors. to Abraham and his descendants, forever"
Mary then stayed with Elizabeth for 3 months, she had witnessed the birth of John the Baptist, Mary then return home.
Mary's pregnancies revealed[]
Joseph found out about Mary's pregnancies, it was shameful for Mary, it was even worse is that if a woman is found with a child before marriage, she had committed adultery and she must be stoned to death, Mary was innocent but she knew people wouldn't believe her. Joseph was heart broken, but he was a humble and good man, so he decided to divorce Mary secretly and decided not to accuse her. he was still unsure if he should accuse Mary or not. Mary told him about the angel, but Joseph was not convinced.
When Joseph was sleeping, an angel came to Joseph, in his dream, and said "Joseph, do not be afraid, for these things that Mary has told you, she heard from me, for this child is from the holy spirit, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he the king will save his people from their sins, so don't worry to take Mary as your humble wife."
The next day, Joseph told Mary about the angel in his dream, Mary was happy that Joseph believed him.
Birth of Jesus[]
Joseph had to travel to Bethlehem with his family to pay taxes from the order of Roman emperor, Joseph was worried for Mary since a journey to Bethlehem takes many days, after traveling to Bethlehem for many days, Mary and Joseph arrived at Bethlehem but to their shock, they were told that every inns were full, one of the owner of the inn saw that Mary was pregnant, so he decided to help them, he told them that they could stay in his stable. Mary and Joseph settle down on a hay in a stable with sleeping animals. Mary went into labor, she felt terrible pain, there were no midwives to be found during that night, then Jesus was born. the only place for baby Jesus was a manger, they gently place Jesus in a manger. Mary wished to die, so the Lord made a stream/river flow and made fresh ripe dates fall from the palm tree nearby.
At night, the shepherds were flocking their sheeps, when all of a sudden they saw a bright light, and a angel appeared before them, the shepherds were scared, then the angel said "do not be afraid, I have come to share you good news, in the town of David, the savior of the world has been born in a stable, you will find him in a manger!" then the shepherds heard all the angels singing: "Glory to God in the highest!" then the shepherds immediately went to find the baby, they find baby Jesus lying in a manger according to the angel. the three wise men also came, the shepherds and the three wise men worshipped baby Jesus. the three wise men gave baby Jesus gifts, one of them was gold, the other frankincense, and myrrh. Mary and Joseph took baby Jesus to the temple, Simeon saw baby Jesus and began to prophesied, Simeon was in great happiness that he saw the Messiah before his death, Simeon prophesied that many will reject Jesus and a sword will pierced Mary's own soul.
Before the wise man reached the Bethlehem, they told the emperor that they were looking for a new born king, the emperor was angry but he did not show his emotion to the wise men but he said "when you reached Bethlehem and found the baby child, tell me the exact location so that I may worship him" but the emperor was actually planning to kill baby Jesus. when the wise men left the stable, they decided to go the other direction since they notice how the emperor was suspicious. when the emperor found out that the wise men had tricked him, he order all baby boy in Bethlehem under the age of two be killed, the angel came to Joseph dream and told him to take Mary and baby Jesus and travel to Egypt since the emperor was going to kill the child, Joseph and Mary with baby Jesus got up early and left Bethlehem to Egypt.
They stayed in Egypt until the angel told them that the emperor is dead, Joseph decided not to go back to Bethlehem since the emperor's son was now ruling, so they went back to Nazareth.
Mary's soul pierced by a sword[]
Jesus was now a grown man, he was preaching, he was a wise man and was filled with the holy spirit. Mary knew Jesus could do miracle and she was the one that made Jesus do his 1st miracle. Mary was a loving and nurturing mother, she supported Jesus throughout his life and believed in him, she was the 1st disciple of Jesus, she trusted Jesus but sometime she misunderstands Jesus and sometime expresses anger, but day by day, Mary learns who Jesus truly is. Mary was in great fear when she heard that Jesus was taken to the court, she silently watches the crowd angrily demanding that Jesus should be crucified, she sorrowfully watched Jesus getting tortured and beaten, her eyes were filled with tears. Mary was with the people who loved Jesus, her hands were shivering in fear, she painfully watches Jesus carrying the cross and to Golgotha.
Jesus was then crucified, that is when a sword pierced Mary's heart, it was the most painful thing that Mary had ever feel. she couldn't even breath well, tears were rolling down her cheeks, as she cried out for Jesus. Jesus last words to her was "Mother here is your son" and Jesus said to John "Disciple, here is your mother" and Jesus died. Jesus loved the people very much but he could not forget about his Mother who supported him all his life and was there for him when no one else was there. Jesus still care about his Mother so he entrusted John to take care of Mary. the death of Jesus was one of Mary's nightmare, a mother should never go through this, a mother should've not lose her child, but Mary did. However, Jesus's spirit was still in his body but also had been given up in the afterlife.
Jesus was taken down from the cross, Mary hurried over to held the dead Jesus in her arms, she must have gently kissed him, and she painfully put Jesus in a tomb.
The resurrection of her son[]
The two days must have been horrible, Mary must have been suffering due to her loss of Jesus, but the third day she heard from Mary Magdalene that Jesus was alive, that he was risen from the dead, Mary must have been so happy, she also must have saw Jesus with her own eyes. it was a great day for Mary and the followers of Jesus.
Life after the resurrection of Jesus[]
The only thing in the Bible that mentioned Mary was that she and all the followers of her son went to pray and they all received the Holy Spirit. But A number of Christian denominations - such as the Catholic Church - believe that Mary was bodily assumed into Heaven at the end of her Earthly existence.
It is believed that Mary moved to Asia Minor (modern day Turkey) with Saint John and moved into a stone house on Mt. Koressos near Ephesus.
Physical Appearance[]
We don't know for sure what she looked like, but she must have had either black or brown hair and a fair skin but also browny. She must have wore traditional jewelry, she would wear a gold nose ring that represented that she was from a modest Jewish family and she would have wore a gold earring swinging from her ear lobes. her hair must have been oiled so that it looked glossy and sometime parted in the middle, the center must have been painted with red or purple dye.
she must have wear clothes that she wove herself, her clothes were made from homespun wool or linen, the dress fell in practical loosefitting design, in one of the soft colors produced by natural dyes- creams, a deep faded pink, a soft blue grey, or light brown.
The fabric and weave depended on the season: heavy wool for winter, she must have wore blankets when going outside, and light wool for summer. her long skirt get tucked up into her waistband when she is working.
The woven belt she wore around her waist was probably stiff with embroidery too, geometric designs, circles, colored edging, all in the same soft colors. she would wore leather ankle-length boots in winter, sandals in summer.
Teeth: her teeth must have looked shiny and clean, well why, there was no toothpaste back then, well back in her time there was only one type of sweeteners she'd get from a dried fruit made form figs, that would have dried away all the ugly tartars.
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