What it was: Jesus’ mother
Where did you live: Palestine
When he was born and died: around 18 BC – around 40
Israelite teenage girls of the early Christian era married very young. Mary would have been around 12 years old when she was betrothed to Joseph, possibly also a boy. Imagine the scare she had when she learned that she was going to get pregnant and that her child would be the direct offspring of God. For Mary accepted the mission willingly.
It is difficult to prove that she existed, but Maria became an emblematic character. She is the central figure of gigantic shrines dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe (Mexico), Our Lady of Conception (Washington), Our Lady of All Peoples (Japan), Our Lady of Fatima (Portugal), Our Lady of Lourdes ( France). And, of course, Our Lady of Aparecida in Brazil.
Hundreds of people report, since the 12th century, having received apparitions of the mother of Jesus, which only proves how much she is present in the Western imagination. All this for a figure about which very little is known.
OTHER CHILDREN
The four Gospels present Mary as a resident of Nazareth, in the north of ancient Palestine, today a city in Israel with a Muslim majority. She has a sister, or sister-in-law, also named Mary, and a relative, perhaps a cousin, Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist.
After the birth of Christ, she gave birth to four other male children (James, Joseph, Judas and Simon) and an undetailed number of female daughters. She gets lost from Jesus when he is a teenager and is alone in the Jerusalem temple.
She insists that he perform his first miracle, the turning of water into wine during a wedding feast. It witnesses the death of Christ, as well as the moment when he ascends to heaven. Then Mary disappears from the Bible.
Later accounts fill in several gaps. Her parents, for example, would be called Ana and Joaquim. And Mary would have suffered with the personality of Jesus – according to the apocryphal Gospels, which were not included in the Bible, he would have killed a classmate who bumped into her shoulder. It also blinded people who ran to his parents to complain about him. In these cases, Maria scolded the boy.
STRAIGHT TO HEAVEN
There are also later reports that Mary would have ascended to heaven in flesh and blood. She would be the only person in humanity not to suffer death. This would have happened 13 years after Jesus’ crucifixion.
Considering that Christ was born around 6 BC (that’s right, the year zero was calculated later, and incorrectly), Mary would have come into the world 12 years earlier, around 18 BC Her son would have died in the year 27, aged 33 years. And her mother left this world more or less in the year 40. She would have, therefore, been 58 years old dedicated to personally caring for the life and legacy of the beloved son of the Creator.
YOUR GREAT ACHIEVEMENTS
- Had faith – She was very young when she received the news that she would have a great responsibility. Still she trusted in the angel sent by Yahweh
- Endured much pain – Seeing your child unjustly condemned, flogged, humiliated with a crown of thorns and nailed to a cross is unimaginable suffering.
- It was a leader – The Bible indicates that Mary assumed John, one of the apostles, as her son. And that she participated in the early years of Christianity
YOUR GREAT FAILURES
- Lost son – Jesus went to Jerusalem at the age of 12. On the way back, Maria followed with the women. Joseph, with the men. And the boy stays behind. Like the father, the mother also failed in the episode, even though Jesus had been well cared for by the city’s religious
- Fought with Jesus – There are signs in the Bible that Christ rejected his mother and brothers and was persecuted by his family. Jesus even said a famous phrase when she took the other children to talk to him: “Who are my mother and my brothers?” Sign that he did not get along well with Maria
book tip
The best sources about Mary are the quran and the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John