Our Lady
The Blessed Virgin Mary
Mother of God and our mother, first disciple, and the most powerful intercessor before the throne of her Son.
Her life
Mary of Nazareth was a young woman of Israel when the angel Gabriel greeted her as full of grace and announced that she would bear the Son of God. Her answer, “Let it be done to me according to your word,” is the model of every Christian life. She carried Jesus to Elizabeth, gave birth to Him in Bethlehem, presented Him in the Temple, sought Him sorrowing in Jerusalem, prompted His first miracle at Cana, stood faithful at the foot of the Cross, and prayed with the apostles at Pentecost. At the end of her earthly life she was assumed body and soul into heaven, where she reigns as Queen and intercedes for us still.
Her titles
The Church honors Mary under many titles, each a window into her role in salvation. Mother of God (Theotokos), defined at the Council of Ephesus in 431. Immaculate Conception, conceived without sin. Our Lady of the Assumption. Queen of Heaven. Mother of the Church. Undoer of Knots. Our Lady of Perpetual Help. Star of the Sea. Each title is an invitation to know her, and through her, to know Jesus more deeply.
Her apparitions
Across the centuries Our Lady has visited her children. At Guadalupe in 1531 she appeared to St. Juan Diego and left her image on his tilma, drawing millions to her Son. At Lourdes in 1858 she named herself the Immaculate Conception to St. Bernadette, and the spring there remains a place of healing. At Fatima in 1917 she asked three shepherd children for prayer and penance, and gave the world the message of the Rosary. Each approved apparition carries the same heartbeat: come back to my Son, pray, trust, do not be afraid.
Hail, Holy Queen
Hail, holy Queen, Mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness, and our hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve. To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears.
Turn, then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us, and after this our exile show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.
Pray for us, O holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.