And the Winds Cry Mary; Understanding the Truth Behind Marian Dogmas and Her Role in the Early Church and now.

“But Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart.” (Luke 2:19)

INTRODUCTION

Yes, I borrowed the title of this Blog from Jimi Hendrix because I still love Classic Rock. May is the month dedicated to Blessed Mother Mary (Luke 1:48) and the Jimi Hendrix title I thought was fitting because it's poetic, and bold and Mary was an amazing human being, and thanks to her Fiat (let it be done), the Savoir of all came into the world. The original churches show her a great deal of respect for this reason and some people are confused by this. And I'm hoping to clear up a lot of that confusion here, as well as give us a better understanding of who she is.

Who is Mary?

Mary devout Jew, descendant of the House of David. She is the daughter of Joachim and Anne, she was betrothed to Joseph, and carried one child in her womb, and that child would grow up to be Jesus Christ, the redeemer of the world. She had always been shown honor and respect. The archangel Gabriel greeted her with, "Hail, κεχαριτωμένη" (Luke 1:28) What does κεχαριτωμένη mean? The prefix “κε-” indicates it’s in the perfect tense, meaning Mary has been graced completely in the past, and that grace continues permanently. κεχαριτωμένη doesn’t mean she was just momentarily favored, it means she was permanently and perfectly graced. While some Bibles translate it as “highly favored one”, many Greek scholars note that the literal Greek goes beyond that and leans toward the understanding of Mary’s unique grace. And her relative Elisabeth greeted her with, "The mother of my Lord" Elisabeth, being a Jew would have seen her Lord as Yahweh. This is the first time she is refereed to as the "Mother of God" or Theotokos which is Greek for God-bearer. She would be given this official title at Council of Ephesus (AD 431) She has also always been see as the New Ark of the Covenant. This is first shown when she visits Elisabeth. The Visitation as it's called in Luke chapter one is a mirror of 2 Samuel:

2 Samuel 6:2– “David arose and went… to bring up from there the ark of God…” 2 Samuel 6:10-11 – “The ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite (also in the hill country of Judah) three months.”

Luke 1: 39- In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a city of Judah

2 Samuel 6:9 – “How can the ark of the Lord come to me?”

Luke 1:43 – “And why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?”

And even John the Baptist Leaping and Rejoicing in Elisabeth's womb:

2 Samuel 6:14, 16 – “David danced before the Lord with all his might.”

Luke 1:41 – “The baby (John) leaped in her womb.”

 

While the Old Ark carried the stone tablets (Word of God), Aaron’s rod (priesthood), and manna (bread from heaven) (Hebrews 9:4) While the New Ark (Mary) carries Jesus in her womb -the Word made flesh, the High Priest, and the Bread of Life. Gregory Thaumaturgus in the 3rd Century wrote in his Homily on the Annunciation:

“Let us chant the melody that has been taught us by the inspired harp of David, and say: ‘Arise, O Lord, into Your resting place, You and the ark of Your holiness.’ For the holy Virgin is in truth an ark, wrought with gold both within and without, that has received the whole treasure of the sanctuary.”

It was fitting that if God was to enter into the world being born of a woman, she should be pure and sinless. This is explained differently by some apostolic Christians, but it was the understanding of all Christians for over 1500 years. St. Ambrose of Milan (AD 339–397) wrote:

“Mary, a virgin not only undefiled but a virgin whom grace has made inviolate, free of every stain of sin.”— Commentary on Psalm 118

She was seen as the "new Eve" St. Irenaeus of Lyons (AD 130–202) wrote: “Being obedient, she became the cause of salvation for herself and for the whole human race... The knot of Eve’s disobedience was loosed by the obedience of Mary.”— Against Heresies, Book 3, Ch. 22

The sinnlessness of Mary was understood even after the Protestant Revolt. Luther had many beautiful and orthodox things to say about Mary like,

“She is full of grace, proclaimed to be entirely without sin. God’s grace fills her with everything good and makes her devoid of all evil.”

— Luther’s Works, vol. 43, p. 40, "On the Magnificat" (1521)

Around AD 1227 Stephen Langton, a professor at the University of Paris and later Archbishop of Canterbury, divided the Bible into chapters. Prior to this, Revelation 11:19 and 12:1 was read together. It would have sounded more like:

  Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple, and there were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail. A great portent appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.

And then leads right into Mary, crowned with Twelve Stars. Which brings me to why she is sometimes called "Our Lady" Jesus was not only a descendant of the house of David, He was also given the throne of His father David (Luke 1:32-33) In the Dividic Kingdom the king's mother was queen. We have an example of this in 1 Kings 2:19. She was called Gebirah, which means Great Lady and Queen mommy. And her role was intercessor. Christ is King (Mark 15:32, Revelation 15:3, Psalm 89:27) And He was given the throne of His father David. (Luke 1:32) That's why we refer to our Blessed Mother as "Our Lady" and she has always been highly revered. 

“It was fitting that she, who had kept her virginity intact in childbirth, should keep her own body free from all corruption even after death.”

— Homily on the Dormition of Mary, 1:13

As for the end of her Earthly life, it's unclear whether or not she actually died, most likely not, having been sinnless. What is certain is one, her Dormition. Her falling asleep. In Greek it was called her Κοίμησις (Koímēsis). The Feast of the Dormition/Assumption was celebrated in the East by the 5th century and in the West by the 7th century. Her tomb was found empty, having been assumed into Heaven around AD 50–55. Not ascended, because she is a human being and wouldn't have been able to ascend on her own ability. We can know this for sure because of how adamant Christians have been from the beginning about collecting relics, and the Mother of God would have definitely been someone they would have collected first class relics from. And early Christians like St. John Damascene (c. AD 675–749) and St. Epiphanius of Salamis (AD 377) had written about it. This was declared a Dogma in 1950 by Pius XII. This was done Ex cathedra, which means from the Chair of St. Peter. This is confusing to some Christians because when something is Ex cathedra, or from the Chair it's considered infallible. The only other time Ex cathedra was used was in 1854 by Pope Pius IX making the The Immaculate Conception an official Dogma. Sadly, Ex cathedra is one of the things that keeps the Eastern Church from returning to communion with the West.

Having seen how Scripture, history, and the Church affirm Mary's special role in salvation history, we naturally ask, what does that mean for us today? Is she still active in the life of the Church? The answer is a resounding yes. The Blessed Virgin continues to intercede powerfully for God’s people, just as the Queen Mother once interceded for the kingdom in ancient Israel.

Marian Intercession 

“Never be afraid of loving the Blessed Virgin too much. You can never love her more than Jesus did.”

 — St. Maximilian Kolbe

Just as God worked miracles through the Apostles, He continues to work through His saints.

"In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk." (Acts 3:6) As mentioned earlier, her role as Queen Mother, Gebirah, means she is intercessor. We see an example of the role of intercessor of the Gebirah in 1 Kings 2:19, and Mary's intersession is still powerful today. This is something I’ve seen in my own life, and I can attest to it. We see that in Hebrews 12:1a "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses" the cloud of witnesses is the Angeles and Saints in Heaven “For the departed, even though they are not present in body, are present in the spirit, and they know what is happening here. For how could he say, ‘we are encompassed with so great a cloud of witnesses’? Therefore they are near and see all that is done.” (St. John Chrysostom Homily 28 on Hebrews, 4th century) And the prayer of a righteous man availeth much. (James 5:16KJV) A person can't get more righteous if they're in Heaven. So, it's not surprising that Marian Intercession can be dated back to about the third century. The oldest documented source of Marian intersession was around AD 250. It was found in a Greek papyrus (Rylands Papyrus 470), discovered in Egypt. So it has been in practice by all Christians for the first 1500 years until Martin Luther. At first, he still held the original understanding. In a 1522 sermon, he said:

“One should honor Mary as she herself wished and as she expressed it in the Magnificat. She glorifies God for his deeds… Mary does not wish that we come to her, but through her to God.”

(Sermon, 1522)

          But later rejected this. He later stated:

“Scripture teaches that we are to pray to God alone. No example in the Bible commands us to call upon saints.”

(Smalcald Articles, 1537)

And if we just read our Bibles we can see this to be false (James 5:16b; Revelation 5:8) Martin Luther was also a big promoter of the Bible Alone doctrine and inventor of the Faith Alone doctrine which are both not found in the Bible as well as many other things he was confused about.

We first see Mary's role as intercessor at the wedding at Cana (John 2:1–11) “Do whatever He tells you.” This moment—Jesus' first public miracle—was prompted by Mary’s intercession. It set the tone for her ongoing maternal care for the Church throughout the ages.

Long before the formal Rosary developed, Monks counted prayers with pebbles or knotted cords, often reciting the Lord’s Prayer or phrases honoring Mary. This prayer tradition deepened in the 13th century when St. Dominic, facing the Albigensian heresy. The Albigensians believed only the spiritual world was good and the material world was evil. This was problematic because this would include human flesh and God took on human flesh in order to die for us. St. Dominic received a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who gave him the Rosary as a spiritual weapon. It wasn’t just a tool for private devotion, it became a lifeline for the Church in times of crisis. For example, the Battle of Lepanto in 1571. Pope Pius V called for a Rosary crusade, and Christian forces triumphed against overwhelming odds. I'll get more into the history of Rosary in a future Blog. I'll link that here

Personal Testimony

Over the centuries, the Rosary has been credited with miraculous victories and conversions, including my own. After I received my second Baptism, (Believers Baptism, which is unBiblical, I'll get to that in another Blog) I had an overwhelming desire to do more for God. I had a feeling like I wasn't doing enough, but I couldn't explain why. So, I thought maybe God was Calling me to be a protestant pastor. So this got me studying. I needed to know where the Bible came from. When I'd ask where the Bible came from, or anything about the early Church I'd get no answer or vauge responses. So, once I realized the Church I went to as a kid was the Church founded by Christ, one of the first things I wanted to do was pray the Rosary. And it's what kept me focused on God. Now I still countnue studying the Faith. We're before, as much as I wanted to study Christianity and practice the Faith I had little to no motivation. And it was hard studying Chrtistianity because there were so many people teaching different things. I'd heard people say, I agree with Luther on this, and Calvin on that, and I remember thinking that there must be a way we can know what the Apostles were preaching. And as it turns out, there is. There's dozens of writings from the early Christians that show us what they learned from the Apostles. They also confirm what the Bible teaches and it makes the Bible make so much more sense. And I Reverted back to the once One unified Church that our Lord founded apon the Apostles, through which we were given the Bible.And I have our Lady's intersession to thank for this. One of the first things I wanted to do after this was something I loved as a kid; praying the Holy Rosary. People like St. Padrè Pio say the Rosary is a power spiritual weapon, and I can absolutely vouch for this. But what I'd throw Rosary and where did it come from? I'll get into that in a future Blog and I'll link it here.

Common Misunderstandings about Mary

Misunderstanding:

“Catholics worship Mary.”

Many Protestants think praying to Mary = worshiping her, putting her on the same level as God.

Truth:

Catholics do not worship Mary. We honor her (hyperdulia), but only God receives worship (latria).

We honor her as the Mother of God (Luke 1:43).

We ask for her intercession, just like asking a friend to pray for us — except Mary is alive in Christ and closer to Him than we are (Hebrews 12:1, Rev 5:8).

Scripture example: The angel Gabriel honored her: “Hail, full of grace” (Luke 1:28) — so we follow heaven’s example in honoring her.

Also it's important to understand what worship actually is. I explain this the Blog linked here 

Misunderstanding:

“There’s no biblical reason to pray to Mary.”

Some believe that since the Bible says we should pray only to God, asking Mary to “pray for us” is unbiblical.

Truth:

Catholics don’t pray to Mary instead of God — we ask her to pray with us and for us.

Revelation 5:8 shows the saints in Heaven offering our prayers to God.

James 5:16 says, “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful.” Who is more righteous than the sinless mother of God.

Also, no official Church document say to "pray" Mary or anyone else. When Catholic or Orthodox Christians say, “We pray to Mary,” it does not mean we worship her or treat her as a goddess. The word “pray” in older English simply means “to ask.” As in: “Pray tell, what does this mean?” or “I pray you, hear me out.”

Also, some people take Ecclesiastes 9:5 out of context because the dead know nothing. But Ecclesiastes is written from the perspective of human observation “under the sun” (Eccl 1:14), expressing natural human limitations without divine revelation. It's not a theological treatise on the afterlife.

The author (often considered Solomon) is describing what seems true from the earthly point of view: the dead “know nothing” here on earth, not that they are spiritually unconscious. The Saints aren't dead. That why it's called Eternal Life. Theologically this is wrong because God is a God of the living, not of the dead (Luke 20:37–38, Revelation 6:9–10, Hebrews 12:1)

Misunderstanding:

“Mary was just a vessel — she’s not that important.”

Some reduce Mary to a “spiritual surrogate mother” and don’t see her ongoing role in salvation history.

Truth:

Mary’s role didn’t end at the Nativity. She:

Said yes to God’s plan, reversing Eve’s “no” (Luke 1:38)

Bore God Himself, fulfilling Isaiah 7:14

Was prophesied in Genesis 3:15 as the woman whose offspring crushes the serpent

Was at the foot of the Cross and in the upper room at Pentecost (John 19:25–27, Acts 1:14)

Is the Ark of the New Covenant (Luke 1:39–56 echoes 2 Samuel 6)

Jesus Himself entrusted her to us:

“Behold your mother.” – John 19:27

Misunderstanding:

“The Hail Mary and Rosary are vain repetitions.”

People cite Matthew 6:7, thinking repeating the Hail Mary is forbidden.

Truth:

Jesus condemned empty, mindless repetition — not structured, heartfelt prayer.

Jesus repeated Himself in prayer (Matthew 26:44).

The Psalms repeat phrases often (“His mercy endures forever” – Psalm 136).

The Rosary is meditative, not mindless — each Hail Mary is background for meditating on Christ’s life.

Like in Psalm 1:2: "but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night." 

The Hebrew word translated as "meditates" here is: הָגָה (hāgāh) The meaning of hāgāh:

Hāgāh (Strong’s H1897) has a richer meaning than simply silent thought. It includes:

To murmur, To mutter, To speak under the breath, To muse or ponder, To repeat quietly

Examples of usage:

Isaiah 31:4 — a lion growls (hāgāh)

Joshua 1:8 — “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate (hāgāh) on it day and night…”

Misunderstanding:

“Mary was not a perpetual virgin — she had other children.”

Some point to verses like “Jesus’ brothers” and say Mary had more children.

Truth:

In ancient Jewish and Semitic culture, “brothers” often meant relatives or kin, not literal siblings.

Jesus on the cross gave Mary to John (John 19:27) — if Mary had other sons, this would have been unnecessary and even insulting.

The Early Church universally taught her perpetual virginity as I stated earlier.

Some people will assume that because in Mark 6:3 and Matthew 13:55–56 it lists guys as Jesus "brothers" when in Mark 15:40 and John 19:25 they're said to have different moms. This is because the Greek word “adelphos” (ἀδελφός) used for “brothers” can mean relative, cousin, or close kin, not necessarily a biological brother. Hebrew and Aramaic had no word for “cousin”, so broader family terms were common. The same word is used in Genesis 13:8 where Abraham calls Lot his “brother," though Lot is his nephew.

Ezekiel 44:2 (prophecy of a gate that remains shut because the Lord entered it) has been seen as a foreshadowing of Mary's perpetual virginity.

Misunderstanding:

“Calling Mary the ‘Mother of God’ is idolatry.”

Some think the title puts Mary above God.

Truth:

Calling Mary “Mother of God” (Greek: Theotokos) was defined at the Council of Ephesus (431 A.D.) to protect the truth that Jesus is fully God and fully man — not to glorify Mary more than Jesus.

Mary is the Mother of Jesus, and Jesus is God, so she is the Mother of God. It's not rocket science. She's not the origin of His divinity, but of His Incarnation.

Conclusion

I hope this helps clear up the confusion some modern christians have about who Mary is. Without her we wouldn't have Jesus. He could have come into the world another way of He wanted to, but He chose to come into this world through Blessed Mother Mary. Our mother. She gave birth to the founder of The Church and we are adopted sons and daughters through our Baptisms (John 1:12, Ephesians 1:4–5, Galatians 4:4–7, Romans 8:14–17) which makes her our Spiritual mother. We thank you mamma Mary for your fiat- your "Let it be done" and doing God's Will in bringing Jesus into the world that we may have eternal life. The winds cry Mary, pray for us.