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MARIA
curriculum vitae
(September 8, 22 BC -
– August 15, AD 50, approx. 15.00)
Mary or Mariam, Heb. mirejam – ‘exalted’, ‘bitter’, ‘strife’, ‘starfish’, ‘beloved by God’; Gk. Maria, Mariam. Known as the Mother of God, Our Lady, the Blessed Virgin etc. Mother of Jesus Christ, chief witness of his divine origins.
Israelite. Born in the town of Nazareth (in the northern hills around the Plain of Esdraelon, Judaea) to Anne of the house of the first priest Aaron (tribe of Levi), daughter of the priest Matthan, and Joachim of the house of King David (tribe of Judah, line of Nathan), son of Barpathir. Her cousin Mary the wife of Clopas (in other versions the wife of Jacob or Joseph) is the best known of her relatives.
Of medium height (according to one source 3 cubits tall). Long face, complexion the colour of wheat germ, auburn hair with gold lights, crescent-shaped black eyebrows, brown eyes with pupils black as olives, long nose, pink lips and elongated hands and fingers. The most ancient image of her is the fresco (2nd century) from St Priscilla’s Catacombs in Rome.
Received elementary education at the Temple in Jerusalem, where she was brought up. Betrothed to Joseph, son of Jacob from the house of King David (tribe of Judah). According to the Gospel of St John, before his death Christ asked Mary to adopt his ‘Beloved Disciple’.
Mary lived with her family in Egypt from about 7-6 BC and between 30 and 40 AD visited Mount Athos (Agion Oros peninsula, Greece), Ephesus and the island of Cyprus. Died in Gethsemane. Her body disappeared on the third day after burial. Particularly venerated relics were her girdle (preserved in the Chalcoprateian Church in Constantinople) and her raiments and shroud (in the Church of Blachernae, near Constantinople).
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