Saint Mary

There have been several Christian saints called Mary, notably the mother of Jesus after whom other, later, Marys are largely named.

The Virgin Mary

In European and Christian culture, the female forename Mary is first and foremost the name of the 'Blessed Virgin Mary' (sometimes abbreviated to BVM), the mother of Jesus - sometimes even more honoured by the simpler the Virgin. In those churches that have a particular devotion to her (in Britain, this is mostly the Roman Catholic church, including churches taken from the Roman Catholics as a result of the Reformation), she has many titles and honorifics, including 'mother of God' (θεοτόκος, theotokos, in Greek). In contradistinction to human Queen Marys, she is sometimes called Mary Queen of Heaven (Latin Maria regina coelorum). She is also Our Lady - Notre Dame in French, Madonna (lit. 'my lady') in Italian, unsere [liebe] Frau ('our [dear] lady') in German. Certain cults have formed in places where she is believed to have appeared; some of these have a widespread appeal, such as Our Lady of Lourdes (in France), patron of a famous healing grotto credited with miraculous powers. (The Roman Catholic church on Cottingham Road in Hull, near the University, is dedicated to 'Our Lady of Lourdes and Saint Peter Chanel'.) Lourdes, like Walsingham in England, where the Virgin is also believed to have appeared, is a prime destination for pilgrims.

In Semitic languages (such as her own) she is Maryam or Miriam. A Sura (or chapter) in the Qur'an, the 19th, is about her, and called by her name, the Sura Maryam.

There is not much about Mary in the Bible other than the two iconic events of the Nativity and Crucifixion of her son Jesus. An apocryphal Gospel names her parents as Joachim and Ann, who are canonized in the Roman Catholic church, which holds the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception: that Mary was "conceived without sin" - the first since the Fall. The Gospel of Luke reports that she was engaged to be married to Saint Joseph, of Nazareth, when an angel brought her the news (the Annunciation) that she would bear a son whom she was to call Jesus: Matthew says that when she was found to be with child, the angel appeared to Joseph and warned him not to disown Mary, "for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost". The birth came to pass in Bethlehem, where they had gone for a census. She is also reported at the Crucifixion, where Jesus commends her to the care of a 'beloved disciple': saying "Woman, behold thy son!", and to the disciple, "Behold thy mother!" "And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home" (John 19, 26-7). In art, she is often shown receiving the body of Jesus as it is taken from the cross - this is known as a Pietà. The Bible says only that she saw the body laid in the tomb.

A hymn and a prayer - also often set to music, and sung - are associated with Mary. There is the Magnificat that she is recorded in Luke as saying; and the 'Hail Mary' or Ave Maria, combined from two greetings in Luke, that of the angel at the Annunciation, and that of Mary's cousin Saint Elizabeth, with slight alterations.

Mary Magdalen

The saint called Mary Magdalene (i.e. 'Mary from [the settlement called] Magdala'), is mentioned twice in the Christian Bible, which makes her an important woman. (She is not as important as some modern sensationalist fiction makes her: it is highly improbable, and certainly heretical, that she was the mother of Jesus's children.) The legend of Mary Magdalen, and many popular beliefs about her, are sometimes conflated with biblical stories about women not given her name. She is first mentioned as being healed of what we might now recognize as a mental health issue in Luke 8 1-2: "And it came to pass afterward, that he went throughout every city and village, preaching and shewing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God: and the twelve were with him, And certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities [including] Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils." She was also at the Crucifixion: "And many women were there beholding afar off, which followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto him: Among which was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's children." (Matt, 27 55-6). The next day, Easter Sunday, "as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre." An angel appeared, rolled back the stone which was blocking the door, and said "Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. ... And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him" (Matt, 28 1-9). In popular culture, she is associated with the sinful woman in the Gospel according to Luke 7, 37-8, who "brought an alabaster box of ointment, and stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment" - though this woman is not named in Luke: in Saint John's Gospel, the story is "It was that Mary [sister of Martha and Lazarus] which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick" - i.e., in this version, the Mary is clearly Mary of Bethany, and may be Mary Magdalene. In Mark 14 (v. 3), the event happens in Bethany, but at the house of Simon the Leper: "And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head." Mary Magdalene is often identified with Mary of Bethany. 'The Magdalene' is often depicted in art, as in legend, as a reformed prostitute, a portrayal which may have helped artists to paint women of a certain type. This tradition may have arisen from confusion with Mary of Egypt.

Mary of Bethany

Mary of Bethany is not usually regarded as canonized. She is the sister of Martha and Lazarus, who was raised from the dead by Jesus: "Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus (John 11, which contains the story of the whole miracle.) It begins: "Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha" (vv. 1-2). Another story is associated with this Mary, though the text does not give the name of their home village. Luke says (10, 38-42) "Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word. But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me. And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her." Mary of Bethany is often said to be the same as Mary Magdalen.

Mary of Egypt

Mary of Egypt - or Mary the Egyptian, 'penitent and hermite' - may be the origin of some of the legends about Mary Magdalene. Mary of Egypt's legend had wide currency, mostly in the East. She was a prostitute in Alexandria who went to Jerusalem out of curiosity. An 'invisible force' prevented her from entering the church. An image of the Virgin Mary told her that she would find peace if she went beyond the river Jordan. She bought three loaves, crossed the Jordan, and lived in the desert for the rest of her life, eating dates and berries. Her clothes wore out, but her hair grew long and took their place. She could not read, but was divinely instructed in the Christian faith. A devout monk called Zosimus met her by chance in the desert, covered her with his cloak at her own request, and heard her story. He promised to meet her in the same place next Maundy Thursday to bring her holy communion. This was done and arrangements made for another meeting. But when he came, he found her dead body, which a lion helped him to bury. This story was popular in the East. For more detail, see the article on 'Mary of Egypt' in Farmer (2003), from which this has been summarized.

Saint Mary MacKillop

In 2010, Pope Benedict XVI canonized the first Australian saint - Mary MacKillop (1842-1909), the daughter of Scots settlers. (She had already been the first Australian to be beatified. This was by Pope John Paul II in 1995.) She was a teacher, an educator, a nun (with the religious name of Mary of the Cross), and the founder of the religious order of the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart.