Posted: July 12 2007 at 9:05am | IP Logged

This portrait of the Virgin Mary's girlhood is a very personal interpretation. In part, the details of Mary's birth and childhood are based on the scant material documented in the Gospels according to James, Luke, and Matthew. Further material, such as the story of the "waters of conviction," can be found in the writings of the early saints and mystics. To more fully illustrate Mary's character, certain incidents were drawn from my imagination as well as from my vivid memories of the Apocryphal tales passed on by the nuns of Saint Joseph in the convent school where my early education took place. Mary's relationship with her mother and the priest Zaccharia, her healing of the bird and the sick girl, as well as her good works at the Temple--all emphasize Mary's courage. Indeed, it was Mary's strength of character as much as her goodness that caused her to choose to do the will of God.

Most revered of all saints, perhaps rivaling even Christ as a focus of personal devotion, the Blessed Virgin embodies the very essence of powerful pagan Great mother goddesses that went before her. Her presence in the the Roman Catholic Church then and now has elevated womanhood to the level of the sacred, replacing darker examples, such as Lilith and Eve, with a woman heretofore unparalleled in biblical scripture.