Who was St Mary the Virgin?

There are few names in history which will be instantly recognisable in every nation on earth, but Mary’s name is one such. The Blessed Virgin Mary was, and is, the Mother of God (theotokos), being the young virgin espoused to Joseph of Nazareth, who received a visit from the Archangel Gabriel and accepted God’s call to her to be the mother of Jesus.

 

Wherever Christians have gathered in time and space, the name of Mary has been honoured. The angel had said to her “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you”; and the Bible also reports the salutation of Mary’s relative Elizabeth who (meeting with the pregnant Mary) said, “You are blessed above all women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb”.

 

According to the tradition of the Church, Mary, like Enoch and Elijah in Old Testament days, was assumed into heaven, body and soul, and so never experienced the death of the body on earth. Scripture informs us that only the Lord Jesus has ascended into heaven (ie gone up in his own power), but we hear of several people who have been assumed into heaven (ie taken up by God’s power, and at his will).

 

Mary has often appeared to the faithful with words of encouragement, and many shrines have been established at the sites of her apparitions. These visits from Mary have always been accompanied by three things - a call to peace, a clear summons to return to the Lord Jesus, and miracles of healing of the sick.

 

There are more churches dedicated to Mary than any other saint, and most churches dedicated to other saints have a side chapel dedicated to Mary - in English tradition this side chapel is usually called the “Chapel of Our Lady” or “Lady Chapel”.

 

In our parish there used to be a chapel dedicated to St Mary the Virgin and located on Bramber Bridge (this huge bridge was 170 feet in length, and accommodated ocean-going sailing ships beneath it); this “St Mary’s Chapel” was serviced by the monks of Sele Priory, but was lost when the bridge was demolished and replaced with a much smaller version after the river had silted up and changed direction, and Bramber had ceased to be a port.,

 

Mary has many feast days (her birth, her visit to Elizabeth, the visit of the angel to her, her conception, and her purification, to name just a few), but since the year 2000 the Church of England has officially adopted the feast of Mary’s Assumption into heaven (15th August) as the principal feast day of Mary.