The Titles Of The Blessed Virgin Mary (Part One).

Text and Illustrations from Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.

The Annunciation.

Artist: Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1617–1682).

Date: 1665 - 1660.

Current location: The State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia.

Source/Photographer: The Yorck Project: 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei. DVD-ROM, 2002. 

ISBN 3936122202. Distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH.

Permission: [1].

(Wikimedia Commons)

Mary is known by many titles (Blessed Mother, Virgin, Madonna, Our Lady), epithets (Star of the Sea, Queen of Heaven, Cause of Our Joy), invocations (Theotokos, Panagia, Mother of Mercy) and other names (Our Lady of Loreto, Our Lady of Guadalupe).

All of these titles refer to the same individual named Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ (in both the New Testament and Qur'an) and are used variably by Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and some Anglicans. (Note: Mary Magdalene, Mary of Clopas, and Mary Salome, are different individuals from Mary, mother of Jesus.)

A few of the titles given to Mary are Dogmatic in nature. Many other titles are poetic or allegorical and have lesser or no Canonical status, but which form part of popular piety, with varying degrees of acceptance by the Clergy. Yet more titles refer to depictions of Mary in the history of art.

The Nativity.

Artist: Lorenzo Lotto (1480–1556).

Date: 1523.

Current location: National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., United States of America.

Source/Photographer: The Yorck Project: 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei. DVD-ROM, 2002. 

ISBN 3936122202. Distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH.

Permission: [1].

(Wikimedia Commons)

There are several stories on the significance of the relatively large number of titles given to Mary. Some titles grew due to geographic and cultural reasons, e.g. through the veneration of specific icons. Others were related to Marian apparitions.

Given the large spectrum of human needs in varied situations, Mary's help was, and is, sought for all of them. This led to the formulation of many of her titles (Good Counsel, Help of the Sick, etc.). Moreover, meditations and devotions on the different aspects of the Virgin Mary's role, within the life of Jesus, led to additional titles, such as Our Lady of Sorrows. Still further, titles have been derived from Dogmas and Doctrines, e.g. Queen of Heaven or the Immaculate Conception.

Mary's cultus, or "devotional cult", consolidated in the year 431 A.D., when, at the Council of Ephesus, "Nestorianism", which asserted Christ's dual nature, was anathematised and the Theotokos, or Mary as bearer of God, was declared Dogma. Henceforth, Marian devotion — which centred on the subtle and complex relationship between Mary, Jesus, and the Church — would flourish, first in the East and, later, in the West.

The Adoration of the Shepherds.

Artist: Gerard van Honthorst (1590–1656).

Date: 25 December 1622.

Current location: Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, Cologne, Germany.

Note: Deutsch: Urechter Caravaggisten.

Source/Photographer: The Yorck Project: 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei. DVD-ROM, 2002. ISBN 3936122202. Distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH.

Permission: [1].

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Reformation diminished Mary's role in many parts of Northern Europe in the 16th- and 17th-Centuries. The Council of Trent and Counter Reformation would intensify Marian devotion in the West. Around the same period, Mary would become an instrument of evangelisation in the Americas and parts of Asia and Africa, e.g. via the apparitions at Our Lady of Guadalupe, which resulted in a large number of conversions to Christianity in Mexico.

Following the Reformation, as of the 17th-Century, the Baroque literature on Mary experienced unforeseen growth with over 500 pages of Mariological writings during the 17th-Century, alone. During the Age of Enlightenment, the emphasis on scientific progress and rationalism put Catholic theology and Mariology often on the defensive in the later parts of the 18th-Century, to the extent that books such as The Glories of Mary (by Alphonsus Liguori) were written in defence of Mariology. The 20th-Century was dominated by a genuine Marian enthusiasm, both at the Papal and popular levels. The 20th-Century witnessed significant growth in Marian devotions and a dramatic rise in membership in Marian Movements and Societies.

Frequently used Titles for Mary in the English-speaking world include:

The Virgin Mary;
The Blessed Virgin Mary;
The Blessed Mother;
Mother of God;
Immaculate Mary;
Saint Mary;
Holy Mary;
Holy Virgin;
Our Lady;
The Madonna;
Notre-Dame;
Queen of Heaven.

Deutsch: Zanobi-Altar, Anbetung der Heiligen Drei Könige, mit Darstellung der Mitglieder der Medici-Familie als Könige: Cosimo (kniend), Piero und Giovanni (Rückenfiguren im Mittelpunkt) und Angehörige des Medici-Hofes.

Français: Sandro Botticelli, L'adoration des Mages.

English: Sandro Botticelli, Adoration of the Magi.

Artist: Sandro Botticelli (1445–1510).

Date: Circa 1475.

Current location: Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy.

Note: Deutsch: Urspr. in Santa Maria Novella in Florenz, Auftraggeber: 

Bankier Giovanni di Zanobi del Lama.

Source/Photographer: The Yorck Project: 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei. DVD-ROM, 2002. 

ISBN 3936122202. Distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH.

Permission: [1].

(Wikimedia Commons)

Early Titles of Mary include:

Mary (Maria);
Full of Grace (Gratia plena);
Blessed (Beata);
Most Blessed (Beatissima);
Virgin (Virgo);
The Virgin (Virgo);
Cause of Our Salvation (causa salutis);
Advocate of Eve (advocata Evæ);
Mother of God (Mater Dei);
God Bearer (Deipara, Dei genetrix);
"Ever-Virgin (semper virgo);
Holy Mary (Sancta Maria);
Saint Mary (Sancta Maria);
Most Holy (Sanctissima, tota Sancta);
Most Pure (Purissima);
Immaculate (immaculata);
Lady (Domina);
Mistress (Domina);
Queen of Heaven (Regina Coeli, Regina Caeli);
Star of the Sea (stella maris);
Seat of Wisdom (Sedes sapientiae);
Cause of Our Joy (Causa nostrae laetitiae);
Help of Christians (Auxilium christianorum).

PART TWO FOLLOWS.