By John P. Chase

Revised and Updated February 2010

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Other than Jesus Christ, no other figure in Christian history is more venerated or written about than the Virgin Mary. The Internet is no exception. Using only “Virgin Mary” as a search term on All the Web,  results came back showing more than 33,400,000 websites devoted to the Mother of God. As with many of our Christian Enrichment articles, this offers us a comparative view of the Blessed Mother of God. The links in the table at bottom of this page will give you a thorough history and profile how various Christian sects worship the Virgin Mary. This will be left permanently on the website so you can study it at your leisure.

For Anglo-Catholic Episcopalians, the August 15th Feast represents one of the most important and holiest in the Church year.  It has been celebrated on this date since the early 4th century.  In most Apostolic churches, it is the principal feast day for Mary.  Her other major Feast is the Annunciation on March 25.  Some Anglo-Catholics take the more mystical few of her August 15th Feast paralleling the Roman Catholic view,  this day celebrates Mary’s Assumption into heaven.  With the exception of core beliefs of the Nicene Creed, one of the joys of being an Anglican is the freedom to add or subtract whatever Christian belief fits one own spiritual needs.

A question that is often raised about Mary:   Does she deserve the all the devotional hoopla that has surrounded her for centuries?  After all Mary hardly influenced the Lord’s three-year ministry. Even Roman Catholics scholars acknowledge this.  A.J. Maas, in his writings for the Catholic Encyclopedia said, “During the apostolic life of Jesus, Mary effaced herself almost completely. Not being called to aid her Son directly in His ministry, she did not wish to interfere with His work by her untimely presence. In Nazareth she was regarded as a common Jewish mother.”  Previously many churches in the evangelical movement criticized the devotion to Mary as almost pagan.  However, due to the worldwide Christian interest in the Blessed Mother even Evangelicals have re-evaluated view of devotions to Mary.

The Rev. Timothy George, a Southern Baptist Scholar, said in a 2007 article, "So why should evangelicals participate in and celebrate the Marian moment that seems to be upon us? The answer is: Precisely because they are evangelicals, that is, gospel people and Bible people. Mary has a pivotal and irreducible place in the Bible, and evangelicals must reclaim this aspect of biblical teaching if we are to be faithful to the whole counsel of God. When it comes to the gospel, Mary cannot be shunted aside or relegated to the affectionate obscurity of the annual Christmas pageant."

Despite her absence from Christ’s ministry, her combination of piety and strength, especially at the foot of the cross, answers this question of devotion in the affirmative.  Our Anglican scholars seem to able to defend our devotion to Mary most succinctly when placing her in the frame of Christ’s ministry.  Oxford teacher and writer Eric Mascall said rather brusquely in The Dogmatic Theology of the Mother of God, “The relation of Mary to the Church is (as the modern logicians would say) the relative product of two more fundamental relations. The first of these is Mary's relation to her Son; he is still man and she is still his mother. The second is his relation to us and to the Church; we are his members and the Church is his body. Therefore Mary is our mother and we are her children by adoption into her Son. This is not an exuberance of devotion but a fact of theology.”

Author and Anglican theologian John MacQuarrie said in his definitive work, “Mary For All Christians,” “A genuinely personal and biblical view [sees each human being] as made in the image of God and destined for God, a being still capable of responding to God and of serving God in the work of building up the creation. This hopeful view of the human race is personified and enshrined in Mary.”

Distinguished Yale University Marian theologian, Jaroslav Pelikan, in his book “Mary, Through the Centuries” (entire first chapter in table below) calls her, “The Woman for All Seasons. Rosters of this kind would, of course, be a part, but only a small part, of all those who through the centuries have found in the Virgin Mary an object of devotion and a model of the godly life, for they shall occupy the balance of this book. As she was represented as predicting, ‘For, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.’ is was one of relatively few passages in the New Testament that seemed to envision a long period of many generations to come, along with the prophecy of Christ that ‘his gospel shall be preached in the whole world.’ The content with which those successive generations would invest the title ‘blessed’ would vary greatly through the centuries, but the striking quality would be the success with which, in all seasons, Mary's blessedness would be seen as relevant to men and woman in an equal variety of situations. And that has truly made her the Woman for All Seasons.”

Some, even among our own very belief tolerant church, have often questioned the over devotion to Mary by Roman Catholics and others because they see this as sublimating central role of our Lord. There are 43 feast days devoted to various spiritual aspects of her in the Roman Calendar.  Both Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI  are  enthusiastic devotees to the cult of the Virgin Mary.  John Paul II added to this devotion by adding a controversial spiritual aspect to her as the “co-redeemer” with Christ. He said, “Mary intensely and mysteriously unites her life with Christ's sorrowful mission: she was to become her Son's faithful co-worker for the salvation of the human race.”

If you read Simeon’s prophecy (Luke 2:28-35) in the temple all of these views of Mary can find merit. "Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying,  'Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,  a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.'

And the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him.  Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, 'This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too.' ”

How you place the Blessed Mother of God in your spiritual life should be a deeply personal and private devotion.  As she has done through the centuries, she can help us find some of the answers for both the blessings and troubles of our lives.  All Saints' Episcopal Church celebrates the three principal feasts on their appointed date with a Mass.  Advent is celebrated as appointed and begins the Church Year. They are The Annuciation on March 25, when the angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she bore the son of man.  August 15 is the feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary's Assumption into Heaven.  The season of Advent, which begins the calendar of the church year, begins in or around December 1st.

The table below offers links (left column) to other extensive writing on the Virgin Mary. There is brief explanation in the table as to what each document represents. Please Note:

Printed Versions of these Documents can be found on line, but you may also get them

from the webmaster@allsaintssanfran.org.  This site will be updated periodically with new or revised material.