Virgin Mary: Life, Legacy, and Role as Mother of Jesus (VERSES)

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily match my own. - Dr. Bart D. Ehrman

The relationship between the Virgin Mary and my Croatian culture is so pervasive that almost no wedding can pass without a traditional song that begins, “Hail Virgin, Queen of the Croats.” This small example captures something much larger, the extraordinary power of Mary, mother of Jesus, to shape not only religious devotion but also art, music, and collective identity across centuries.

From the Adriatic coast to the Andes, she stands as one of the most enduring and beloved figures in the history of Christianity.

Few women in world history have been remembered, celebrated, and reinterpreted as much as the Virgin Mary. For two millennia, she has inspired painters, poets, theologians, and ordinary believers. Her image appears in cathedrals and chapels, in the prayers of the devout and the lyrics of folk songs.

Yet for all the beauty and reverence surrounding her, Mary’s historical story begins in an unassuming setting, among the villages of Galilee, within the narratives of the earliest Christian writings.

The fascination with the blessed virgin Mary didn’t end with the New Testament; it only began there. Over the centuries, Christians sought to understand her role more deeply (as a mother, disciple, and model of faith) and to explore what her life revealed about God’s action in the world.

Our aim in this article is to trace that journey: from the historical glimpses we find in the earliest sources, through the rich imaginative traditions of the early Church, to the living devotion that continues to define Catholic spirituality today.

But before we begin, I’d like to invite you to explore Bart D. Ehrman’s fascinating course, The Unknown Gospels. In this carefully designed 8-lecture series, Dr. Ehrman offers a compelling scholarly perspective on the origins of the New Testament and a critical look at the sources that lie at the heart of the Christian faith. If you’re interested in discovering how historians distinguish historical truth from later tradition in the Gospels, this course is the perfect place to start! 

Mary in the Bible

The New Testament writings were never intended to be objective, journalistic reports of historical events. Rather, they are theological reflections shaped by faith, memory, and the distinct perspectives of their authors. 

For instance, each Gospel writer sought to interpret Jesus’ significance for his own community, weaving together oral traditions, scriptural allusions, and personal convictions.

As Bart D. Ehrman explains in Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium:

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This doesn’t mean the Gospels are historically useless, but it does mean that they must be read as theological narratives rather than modern biographies.

Within this context, the figure of Mary (later venerated as the blessed virgin Mary) appears only occasionally. Even though she would later play an enormous role in Christian devotion and Catholic theology, her presence in the New Testament is surprisingly limited.

Stephen J. Shoemaker, in his study Mary in Early Christian Faith and Devotion, notes the contrast between her later prominence and her early obscurity:

When we turn to the Gospels, Mary’s appearances vary widely, reflecting each author’s distinct theological focus. In the earliest Gospel, Mark, she is mentioned only briefly, and not always positively. At one point, her family tries to restrain Jesus, thinking he has gone out of his mind (Mark 3:21).

When told that his mother and brothers are outside, Jesus redefines family in purely spiritual terms: “Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.” 

The author of Matthew’s Gospel, writing a decade or two later, expands Mary’s story by introducing the miraculous conception. Here she fulfills Isaiah’s prophecy that “the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,” linking her to Israel’s history and divine providence. Yet Joseph, not Mary, dominates the narrative; she remains a silent participant in God’s plan.

Luke’s Gospel, by contrast, places mother Mary at the very center of the story. His account of the Annunciation, where the angel Gabriel greets her as “favored one,” presents her as the model believer who accepts God’s will in faith.

Her song, the Magnificat, echoes the prayer of Hannah in the Old Testament and celebrates the reversal of worldly power. Luke’s portrait of Mary as a contemplative, faithful disciple who “ponders these things in her heart” profoundly shaped later Christian reflection. 

The Gospel of John, meanwhile, portrays her in more symbolic terms. She appears only twice (at the wedding in Cana and at the foot of the Cross). Yet, both scenes are highly theological. At Cana, she initiates Jesus’ first “sign,” revealing his divine glory. At the Cross, Jesus entrusts her to the beloved disciple, creating a new spiritual family that symbolizes the birth of the Church.

Finally, in the Acts of the Apostles, Mary appears one last time, praying with the disciples after the Ascension (1:14).

What can we say, then, about the historical Mary behind these portrayals? Most scholars agree that she was a Jewish woman named Mariam (the Hebrew form of Mary), from the small Galilean village of Nazareth in Roman-controlled Palestine.

She was likely young at the time of her betrothal to Joseph, perhaps in her early teens, as was customary for Jewish women of the period. 

Her family would have lived a simple, agrarian life under difficult economic conditions. Joseph is described as a tekton (a craftsman or builder) and their world was one marked by political instability and heavy taxation under Roman rule. It’s also probable that Mary, like most women of her class, was illiterate but deeply shaped by the rhythms of Jewish piety and family life.

Beyond these sparse details, the New Testament offers little historical information. There is no mention of her age at Jesus’ death, no record of her later years, and no account of what happened to her afterward. This leads naturally to the question: How did Mary die?

The Bible itself says nothing about her death or burial. From a historical standpoint, we simply do not know. What we do possess are later theological traditions, stories that emerged from the second century onward and would profoundly shape Christian imagination. 

To those traditions we now turn. Beyond the New Testament, early Christian writers and communities began to expand upon the biblical portrait, weaving a tapestry of stories, doctrines, and devotions that would transform Mary from a humble Jewish mother in Galilee into one of the most enduring symbols of faith in the Christian world.

However, before we embark on this fascinating journey through the world of early Christian literature, we decided to pause for a moment and look back at the biblical roots of the devotion to St. Mary. The following table highlights the key New Testament passages that mention or involve the Virgin Mary.

Virgin Mary in Early Christian Tradition

By the 2nd century, belief in the virgin conception of Jesus, first introduced in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, had already spread widely throughout Christian communities. This conviction became a central element of early Christian confession, appearing in creedal-like statements among figures such as Ignatius of Antioch.

The emphasis, however, was still primarily on Christology: Mary’s virginal conception served to demonstrate Jesus’ divine sonship, rather than to elevate her own status. 

The earliest generations of Christians were far more concerned with who Jesus was than with who his mother was. Yet, as time went on, reflection on her role deepened, and the figure of the Virgin Mary began to acquire new theological and symbolic dimensions.

Writers like Justin Martyr and Irenaeus of Lyons, both active in the mid to late 2nd century, played a decisive role in this transformation. 

In his Dialogue with Trypho, Justin introduced the powerful image of Mary as the “New Eve”: just as death entered the world through Eve’s disobedience, so life entered through Mary’s obedience. Irenaeus adopted and expanded this idea in his Against Heresies, describing Mary as the “cause of salvation” because her faith reversed the disobedience of the first woman. 

In both cases, her significance remained theological rather than devotional. To be precise, Mary wasn’t yet an object of prayer or veneration, but a model within the larger story of redemption.

At the same time, an anonymous author produced the Protevangelium of James, the earliest Christian writing devoted entirely to Mary’s life. 

This apocryphal work, written, as Bart D. Ehrman and Zlatko Pleše note, around the end of the 2nd century, recounts her miraculous birth to Joachim and Anna, her upbringing in the Temple, and her virginal conception of Jesus. It portrays her as a figure of extraordinary holiness, so pure that divine grace seemed to radiate from her existence.

Ronald F. Hock emphasizes the purity of Mary as one of the major features of this document. He explains:

It’s an understatement to say that the Protevangelium of James had an enormous influence on Christian imagination! 

Its depiction of Mary giving birth in a cave, of angels feeding her in the Temple, and of her perpetual virginity after Jesus’ birth shaped centuries of iconography, liturgy, and devotion.

It also offered the first narrative of her death and assumption, although in a rudimentary form. Later versions of this story (known as the Transitus Mariae traditions) would elaborate on how Mary peacefully passed from this world and was taken into heaven, but even at this early stage, the seeds of that belief were being sown.

While these writings were never included in the New Testament canon, their influence on the Christian imagination was immense, ensuring that Mary’s image grew far beyond what the canonical Gospels had described.

The 3rd century brought both continuity and contrast. Some leading theologians, such as Tertullian of Carthage, remained skeptical of the more exalted views of Mary. Tertullian accepted the virgin conception but rejected her perpetual virginity, arguing that she later lived as Joseph’s wife. 

In Alexandria, Clement defended Mary’s purity. Then, his successor Origen maintained her lifelong virginity but also emphasized her humanity and capacity for doubt, interpreting the “sword” that would pierce her soul as a moment of spiritual trial. 

Around the same time, a short Greek prayer, preserved on papyrus and known today as Sub tuum praesidium, addressed Mary directly: “Under your protection we seek refuge, O Theotokos [Mother of God].” 

This remarkable text, probably from the late third century, is the earliest known Christian prayer to the Virgin Mary, revealing that ordinary believers had already begun to turn to her for intercession even before the great theologians formally acknowledged such devotion.

By the end of the 3rd century, the image of Mary had expanded dramatically: from a quiet, faithful woman of the Gospels to a cosmic figure woven into the drama of salvation. 

Theological reflection hadn’t yet fully caught up with popular devotion, but the foundations of later Marian piety were firmly laid. The Virgin Mary was increasingly seen not only as the mother of Jesus but as a model of holiness, obedience, and divine favor. 

Her life, from miraculous conception to her peaceful departure, had become an integral part of the Christian story. And as later centuries would show, this story was only beginning to unfold.

To understand how this transformation unfolded (how the Virgin Mary came to occupy such a central place in the spiritual imagination of millions) we must now turn to her enduring legacy within the Catholic tradition.

Virgin Mary in Catholic Tradition: Faith, Devotion, and Reflection

When we talk about the role and importance of the Virgin Mary in the Catholic tradition, it’s important to note that, essentially, it all comes down to the complex relationship between history, tradition, and theological reflection. While these three dimensions, in some sense, go back to the earliest years of Christianity, the major developments occurred as we entered the 4th century.

This was, broadly speaking, the time when the Catholic Church entered a new world that followed Constantine’s conversion. After all, the Church became, in a sense, an imperial partner, a political body with the support of the most powerful figure in the Roman Empire. 

And like it or not, that new political reality influenced the way the Church understood and developed its views about Mary.

In her sweeping study Mother of God: A History of the Virgin Mary, Miri Rubin observes:

It was precisely within these debates about Christ’s nature that Mary’s theological role became more sharply defined. 

By the early 5th century, the title Theotokos (already, as we saw, used in Egypt a century earlier) was officially affirmed at the Council of Ephesus in 431 CE, primarily to safeguard the doctrine of Christ’s full divinity. 

Around the same time, other ideas that had circulated in earlier centuries began to crystallize. The doctrine of Mary’s Perpetual Virginity (the belief that she remained a virgin before, during, and after Jesus’ birth) was most eloquently defended by Jerome in his treatise Against Helvidius. For Jerome, Mary’s perpetual virginity symbolized the Church’s total devotion to God and its purity of faith. 

The belief in her Assumption, her being taken body and soul into heaven at the end of her earthly life, emerged later from apocryphal sources known as the Transitus Mariae traditions. These stories, immensely popular in both the East and West, expressed the conviction that the woman who bore the incarnate God could not be subject to decay. 

Although not defined as dogma until 1950, the Assumption reflects the older Christian intuition that Mary’s life was uniquely united to her Son’s resurrection.

Alongside these theological developments came the rise of Marian devotion in the Catholic Church. It basically represented the emotional and affective side of piety that deeply marked medieval (Catholic) Christianity. By the Middle Ages, Mary wasn’t only a doctrinal figure but the compassionate mother, the intercessor, and the refuge of sinners.

Pilgrimages to Marian shrines, from Walsingham in England to Lourdes and Guadalupe centuries later, became among the most popular expressions of Catholic piety. The recitation of the Rosary, the celebration of Marian feasts, and the flowering of art and music devoted to her all reveal how profoundly the Virgin Mary had entered the religious imagination of Christian Europe. 

Of course, much more could be said about the breadth of her influence (her theological symbolism, artistic representations, social role, etc.). However, that would require an article of its own, entirely devoted to the subject. And, perhaps, we’ll write one in the future! 

Even though the articles I write are almost always presented from a scholarly and neutral perspective, aiming to reflect the communis opinio among historians, this topic, I believe, allows space for a small personal reflection.

As a person born into a Catholic family and raised within a predominantly Catholic culture, I have always found Mariology (the study of Mary’s person and role) one of the most fascinating aspects of the Catholic tradition.

What continues to intrigue me is how this single figure has served as both a theological mirror and a cultural bridge: at once a symbol of divine grace, maternal care, and human fragility. The Virgin Mary embodies the tension between transcendence and tenderness, between heaven and earth, qualities that make her devotionally almost irresistible, even to those who approach her story from a critical distance.

Yet my own research into the historical Jesus and the history of early Christianity, as I advanced from undergraduate studies to doctoral research and beyond, has inevitably shaped how I see Catholic teachings about Mary.

From the perspective of a critical historian, doctrines such as the Perpetual Virginity are difficult to affirm as historical claims. But that doesn’t make them meaningless. Rather, it shows how theology and history, while related, often speak in different languages. I have come to appreciate that recognizing those differences can deepen, not diminish, one’s understanding of both.

And I take some comfort in knowing that I am not alone in this tension. Some of the brightest Catholic minds and scholars (such as John P. Meier and Raymond E. Brown) have wrestled with the same question. At least, I’m not in bad company!

Conclusion

Across two millennia, the image of Virgin Mary has evolved from the quiet presence in the Gospels to one of the most theologically and culturally powerful symbols in the Christian imagination. The sparse biblical data (just a few verses scattered across the New Testament) became the seed for a vast and diverse tradition.

Early Christian writers including Justin Martyr and Irenaeus gave her theological depth, apocryphal authors such as the creator of the Protevangelium of James supplied narrative color, and later theologians from Jerome to Aquinas defined her role within the grand architecture of Catholic doctrine.

For me, as a historian, the challenge lies in recognizing both sides of this legacy. The historical Mary was a poor Jewish woman of 1st-century Galilee; the Mary of theology and tradition became Saint Mary, Queen of Heaven.

And that’s an irony, isn’t it? There are more than two billion Christians in the world. The Mary of history is known only to, perhaps, a thousand of critical scholars who are experts in the origins of Christianity. For the other billions of Christians, the only Mary they know (and pray to) is the remembered Mary, the one shaped by tradition, theology, and personal piety.