Melody Art

Melody Art

Origin al painti ng in oil on canv as of Mado nna or Mary the moth er of Jesu s.

Mary (Jude o-Aram aic: מרים, Maryā m, from Hebr ew Miria m, Greek Μαρι αμ or Μαρι α, in Arab ic مريم Marya m), and called since medie val times Mado nna (My Lady), reside nt in Nazar eth in Galile e, is known from the New Testa ment[ 1] as the moth er of Jesus of Nazar eth. The New Testa ment descri bes her as a young maid en who conce ived by the agen cy of the Holy Spirit whilst she was alrea dy the betrot hed wife of Jose ph of the Hou se of David and awaiti ng their immin ent formal home-taking cerem ony (the conclu ding Jewi sh weddi ng rite).

Christ ians gener ally maint ain that she was a virgin at the point of conce ption and at least until the birth of Jesu s. The Rom an Catho lic, Easte rn Ortho dox, and Orient al Ortho dox Churc hes and some Prote stant deno minati ons also maint ain that Mary remai ned a virgin throug hout the rest of her life.

The New Testa ment recou nts her prese nce at import ant stag es during her son's adult life (e.g., at the Wedd ing at Cana and at his crucifi xion). Also, she was prese nt at comm unal praye rs imme diate ly after Jesus' Ascen sion.

Narrat ives of her life are further elabor ated in later Christ ian apocr ypha, who give the nam es of her paren ts as Joach im and Anne.

Christ ian churc hes teach vario us doctri nes conce rning Mary, and she is the subje ct of much vener ation. The area of Christ ian theolo gy conce rning her is known as Mariol ogy. The conce ption of her son Jesus is believ ed to have been an act of the Holy Spirit, and to fulfill the proph ecy of Isaiah that a virgin (or young woma n) would bear a son who would be called Imma nuel ("God with us").[ 5] The Rom an Catho lic Churc h, Easte rn Catho lic and Easte rn Ortho dox Churc hes vener ate her as the Ever-Virgin Moth er of God (Theot okos), who was speci ally favour ed by God's grace (Cath olics hold that she was conce ived witho ut origin al sin) and who, when her earth ly life had been compl eted, was assu med bodily into Heav en. Some Prote stant s, includi ng certa in Anglic ans, Metho dists and Luther ans, embr ace vener ation of Mary and also hold some of these doctri nes. Other s, espec ially in the Refor med traditi on, questi on or even conde mn the devoti onal and doctri nal positi on of Mary in the above traditi ons. Mary also holds a rever ed positi on in Islam.

The Rom an Catho lic traditi on has a well establ ished philos ophy for the study and vener ation of the Virgin Mary via the field of Mariol ogy with Pontifi cal schoo ls such as the Maria num specif ically devot ed to this task

Madonna in red

Original oil painting on canvas