Who was Mary (Miriam), the mother of Jesus? She was the daughter of Joachim and Anne in legend, and, from the canonical gospels, we are told that Mary’s story begins when she was a young girl. She is described as a virgin. A virgin was a young girl before her marriage. She would have been betrothed around the age of puberty. She would have been living in an extended family living in Galilee, such as the tribe of Ephrahim. She would have sat by the river bank, watching the water ripple as the breeze created waves. This sea is shaped like a harp - it’s a beautiful and romantic setting. Whilst engaged to be married to Joseph, the Angel Gabriel visited her and told her she would bear a son who would become the prophesied messiah. Both she and her fiancé Joseph were of the royal line of Judah, and therefore their son would be the rightful royal heir. At that time, a ruthless puppet king, Herod the Great, sat on the throne who would do all he could to destroy the lives of Mary and Joseph.
The Angel Gabriel addressed Mary as a ‘most highly favoured lady’ and prophesied the life of the child she was to bear. We have one of the longest verbatim texts in the New Testament to describe this meeting. These are Mary’s extraordinary words and they show Mary’s early mature spiritual ministry: "My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour: He has looked with favour on his lowly handmaiden. From this day all generations will call me blessed: The Almighty has done great things for me and ‘holy’ is his name. He has mercy on those who fear him, from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm and has scattered the proud in their conceit, casting down the mighty from their thrones and lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty. He has come to the aid of his servant Israel, to remember his promise of mercy, the promise made to our ancestors, to Abraham and his children for ever."
