MARY, the mother of our Saviour Jesus Christ, and a virgin at the time that she conceived him; daughter of Joachim and of Anna, of the tribe of Judah, and married to Joseph of the same tribe. The Scripture tells us nothing of her parents, not so much as their names, unless Heli mentioned by St Luke iii. 23. be the same with Joachim. All that is said concerning the birth of Mary and of her parents is only to be found in some apocryphal writings; which, however, are very ancient.
Mary was of the royal race of David, as was also her husband: "A virgin, espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David," says our translation of St Luke i. 27. which translation Mr Whitby thinks might be better rendered thus: "A virgin of the house of David, espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, and the virgin's name was Mary; because this agrees better with the words of the angel, "The Lord shall give him the throne of his father David," ver. 32. For since the angel had plainly told the virgin, that she should have this son without the knowledge of any man, it was not Joseph's but Mary's being of the house of David, that made David his father.
Mary was akin to the race of Aaron, since Elizabeth the wife of Zacharias was her cousin (ver. 36.) Mary very early made a vow of chastity, and engaged herself to perpetual virginity. The Proto-evangelium of St James tells us, that she was consecrated to the Lord, and offered in the temple from her earliest youth; and that the priests gave her Joseph for a spouse, who was a holy and venerable old man, whom Providence appointed for his purpose by a miracle, the rod which he commonly carried having grown green and flourished as Aaron's did formerly. He espoused Mary, not to live with her in the ordinary use of marriage, and to have children by her, but only that he might be the guardian of her virginity. Though these circumstances are not to be relied on as certain, yet Mary's resolution of continency, even in a married state, cannot be called in question, since her virginity is attested by the gospel, and that herself speaking to the angel, who declared to her that she should become the mother of a son, told him that "she knew not a man," (ver. 34.), or that she lived in continency with her husband: for which reason,
when Joseph perceived her pregnancy, he was extremely surprised at it, knowing the mutual resolution they had agreed to of living in continency though in a state of marriage.
When Mary was ready to lie in, an edict was published by Cæsar Augustus, which decreed, that all the subjects of the empire should go to their own cities, there to have their names registered according to their families. Thus Joseph and Mary, who were both of the lineage of David, betook themselves to the city of Bethlehem, from whence was the original of their family. But while they were in this place, the time being fulfilled in which Mary was to be delivered, she brought forth her first-born son. She wrapped him in swaddling-clothes, and laid him in the manger of the stable or cavern whither they had retired: for they could find no place in the public inn, because of the great concourse of people that were then at Bethlehem on the same occasion; or they were forced to withdraw into the stable of the inn, not being able to get a more convenient lodging, because of the multitude of people then at Bethlehem.
At the same time the angels made it known to the shepherds who were in the fields near Bethlehem, and who came in the night to see Mary and Joseph and the child lying in the manger, and to pay him their tribute of adoration. Mary took notice of all these things, and laid them up in her heart, (Luke ii. 19. Matth. ii. 8, 9, 10, 11, &c.). A few days after, the magi or wise men came from the east, and brought to Jesus the mysterious presents of gold, frankincense, and myrrh; after which, being warned by an angel that appeared to them in a dream, they returned into their own country by a way different from that by which they came. But the time of Mary's purification being come, that is forty days after the birth of Jesus, Mary went to Jerusalem (Luke ii. 21.), there to present her son in the temple, and there to offer the sacrifice appointed by the law for the purification of women after childbirth. There was then at Jerusalem an old man named Simeon, who was full of the Holy Ghost, and who had received a secret assurance that he should not die before he had seen Christ the Lord. He came then into the temple by the influence of the spirit of God, and taking the little Jesus within his arms, he blessed the Lord: and afterwards addressing himself to Mary, he told her, "That this child should be for the rising and falling of many in Israel, and for a sign which should be spoken against; even so far as that her own soul should be pierced as with a sword, that the secret thoughts in the hearts of many might be discovered." Afterwards when Joseph and Mary were preparing to return to their own country of Nazareth (Matth. ii. 13, 14.), Joseph was warned in a dream to retire into Egypt with Mary and the child, because Herod had a design to destroy Jesus. Joseph obeys the admonition, and they continued in Egypt till after the death of Herod; upon which he and Mary returned to Nazareth, not daring to go to Bethlehem because it was in the jurisdiction of Archelaus the son and successor of Herod the Great. Here the holy family took up their residence, and remained till Jesus began his public ministry. We read of Mary being present at the marriage of Cana in Galilee, with her son Jesus and his disciples (John ii.
Mary. 1, 2, &c.). On which occasion Jesus having turned water into wine, being the first public miracle that he performed, he went from thence to Capernaum with his mother and his brethren, or his parents and disciples: and this seems to be the place where the holy virgin afterwards chiefly resided. However, St. Epiphanius thinks that she followed him everywhere during the whole time of his preaching; though we do not find the evangelists make any mention of her among the holy women that followed him and ministered to his necessities. The Virgin Mary was at Jerusalem at the last passover that our Saviour celebrated there; she saw all that was transacted against him, followed him to Calvary, and stood at the foot of his cross with a constancy worthy of the mother of God. There Jesus seeing his mother and his beloved disciple near her, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold thy son;" and to the disciple, "Behold thy mother." And from that hour the disciple took her home to his own house. It is not to be doubted, but that our Saviour appeared to his mother immediately after his resurrection; and that she was the first, or at least one of the first, to whom he vouchsafed this great consolation. She was with the apostles at his ascension, and continued with them at Jerusalem, expecting the coming of the Holy Ghost (Acts i. 14.). After this, she dwelt in the house of St. John the Evangelist, who took care of her as of his own mother. It is thought that he took her along with him to Ephesus, where she died in an extreme old age. There is a letter of the oecumenical council of Ephesus, importing, that in the fifth century it was believed she was buried there. Yet this opinion was not so universal, but that there are authors of the same age who think she died and was buried at Jerusalem.