the Virgin Mary

the Virgin Mary Question from on 05-26-2007:

Hi there. Recently, I have been getting in arguments with my aunt (who is an ex-Catholic)about the Virgin Mary. She tells me that Catholics are Mary worshipers and that we tend to honour her more than God. She also says that we believe Mary to be Divine and that the cult of Aphrodite (Greek goddess)turned into the cult of Mary when the Ephesians converted to Christianity. She also can't stand the fact that in the Rosary, there are more prayers offered to Mary than God. (53 Hail Marys)rather than the Our Fathers (5) and Glory Bes (5). And to tell you the truth, I've kind of wondered this myself. Also, another thing is that she believes that Mary had children after Jesus, what proof or evidence could I give her to prove her wrong?

Answer by Fr. John Trigilio on 06-04-2007:

Ask your Aunt if she has a problem with the Bible? The Hail Mary comes from the very lips of the Archangel Gabriel "Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you" (Luke 1:28) and from the lips of Elizabeth "Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb." (Luke 1:42) I know of no Protestant Christian who has a problem quoting Scripture. The Hail Mary is just that, a quoting of Luke's Gospel from the dialogues of the Archangel Gabriel and Saint Elizabeth. Is not Scripture the inspired, revealed Word of God? How could quoting the Gospel be wrong? Luke 1:48 also quotes Mary when she says "behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed." How can honoring the mother of Jesus be considered idolatry when the Bible says that all generations will call her blessed? Is it not one of the ten commandments that we 'honor' our mother and father? Jesus said in John 19:27 "behold, thy mother" as He dies on the Cross. He bequeathed to the the human race as His last will and testament the only thing the Romans and Jewish leaders could not take from Him, i.e., his MOTHER. He freely GAVE her to us. Since Jesus is our BROTHER and God is our FATHER, then the MOTHER of Jesus is our adopted mother on the spiritual plane. Mary had NO other children. Jesus was her ONLY son. IF she had other sons and daughters, where were they on Good Friday? Jewish custom would have demanded that the entire immediate family be there at the death and at the burial. ONLY Mary is mentioned in the Gospels, no other siblings. Some women accompanied Mary and Saint John the Evangelist (and Apostle) but NO brothers or sisters. When the Gospel does use the phrase "your BROTHERS and SISTERS" are outside, remember that the Greek word used by ALL four Gospel writers, ADELPHOI (plural of ADELPHOS), can be translated as 'brothers' but it is also used to designate any 'relative', 'kinsman', 'uncle', 'nephew', etc. The word ADELPHOI does not exclusively mean 'brothers' Proof of this is found in the Greek translation of the Old testament. Lot was the nephew of Abraham since Lot's dad (father) was Haran, the brother of Abraham. Haran and Abraham were brothers, while Abraham was the uncle of Lot (his brother's son). The Greek word ADELPHOS and Hebrew word ACH can be translated as "BROTHER" but it is also used to denote an extended relationship, like cousins or as in the case of Abraham and Lot, an uncle and his nephew. Genesis 14:14 and 14:16 use the word ACH in Hebrew (the Septuagint uses the Greek word ADELPHOS) and the King James Bible translates that as "brother" as in "his brother Lot." Yet, Genesis 11:29, 31 show that Abram (Abraham) is the brother of Haran and Haran is the father of Lot, so in English, we say, Lot is Abram's nephew or Abram is Lot's Uncle. Ancient Hebrew and Greek did not have those words, so they either said it clumsily, as "Lot, the son of Abram's brother, Haran" or they merely used the colloquial 'brother' as we would use the word 'relative' and say 'brother' Lot rather than 'nephew' Lot. If Lot can be called the 'brother' of his uncle Abraham, then the cousins and other relatives of Jesus can also be called 'brethren' or 'brothers and sisters.' IF the bible does it in one place, it can do it in another.