The Marian Trilogy: Part One

Mother of God: Mary's Young Life As a young, first-century Palestinian, Jewish woman of Galilee, I was born during the reign of King Herod the Great, the king of Judea, who many mocked for his lack of common sense and his opulent display of riches throughout his palaces and kingdom. Despite the King's authority and power, he was mocked by the Roman prelates that chiefly ruled the city. Many privately branded him the cruel King and his nickname, among the Pharisees and the poor, was Herod the Brute! SInce I descended from a long line of those from Judea, I am humbly a royal descendant of kings and queens in the years prior to the coming of Christ. My parents, Joachim and Theresa, never boasted of our royal line and remained humble in their dealings with the people in the market where my father sold everything related to olives. My favorite thing to do as a little girl was to take my favorite olives and spit out the pit in wealthy people's gardens to see if an olive tree would grow, but it neer happened in those lovely, watered gardens, to my dismay. On one odd occasion when I was six or seven, I purposely placed an olive pit in the Garden of Gethsemane, which was dry and arid at the time, and to my surprise, it grew tall and beautiful. By the time I reached the age of about 15, the garden had turned into an olive grove which everyone loved, strolling along the trails made specifically for that beautiful olive grove. At the time, I would never have guessed Gethsemene would be the place where my future son would go and seek solace from the same angel who had consoled me in my hour of need. They had called him the "King of the Jews," a title that did no justice to my son, Jesus of Nazareth. By now you may have guessed that my name is Mary. Mother of God is my beloved title now, among others. But I get ahead of myself. I want to tell you about my visit from the angel Gabriel. I never knew I would ever meet an angel, let alone one who presented himself humbly, gently and, yet so firmly. The angel Gabriel was sent to Nazareth in Galilee to reach me and tell me the good news. The angel Gabriel said to me, "Greetings, you are highly favored. The Lord is with you." I was frightened and baffled that this huge and beautiful messenger would come to me in the name of the Lord, our God. I shivered for a moment before he spoke again in the most comforting manner I have eve known. "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give the name Jesus." I was aghast at his words. Was I really a pure vessel as the angel had intimated? I felt like any other young woman in Nazareth, holding onto my virginity until I was properly married. And what about Joseph, my betrothed? How would he take this news? I wondered. Would he discard me? Disbelieve my miraculous story about Gabriel? All of these questions whirled around in my mind like so many beads on a strung necklace for sale at the market in the center of town. Gabriel continued with the good news, saying, "He will be great and called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and his kingdom will never end." I asked the angel Gabriel, who was, by now, a calming figure to me despite his enormous size, "How will this be since I am a virgin?" The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God." I was not ashamed, no. I was thrilled about the prospect of having a child that would be the messiah. My little son of God. And how I would love him with all of my heart. The angel told me how my elderly cousin, Elizabeth, and her old husband, Zechariah, were expecting a child who would be called, John and that he would prepare the way for my son, Jesus. She was already six months with child, the angel told me and I would be giving birth only three months after Elizabeth! I answered the messenger, Gabriel, "I am the Lord's servant, may it be done to me as you have said." With that, the angel departed as swiftly as he'd come. (The Gospel according to St. Luke, NIV: 1:26-38) Was I really a pure vessel as the angel had intimated? I felt like any other young woman in Galilee, holding onto my virginity until I was properly married. And what about Joseph? How would he take this news? I wondered. Would he discard me? Disbelieve my miraculous story about Gabriel? All of these questions whirled around in my mind like so many beads on a strung necklace for sale at the market in the center of town. I was not ashamed, no. I was thrilled about the prospect of having a child that would be the messiah. My little son of God. And how I would love him with all of my heart. My worries about my up coming marriage were relieved when the angel Gabriel imparted, in a dream, to my betrothed, Joseph of the line of David, that our son's name would be Immanuel, which means "of God". The Angel's vision assured him of the Holy Spirit's conception so that my beloved fiance would not think me a harlot, but rather the second Arc of the Covenant, by carrying the word of God in the flesh within my womb. I was terrified at the promise I had just made by saying, "Let thy will be done." But, His will was done and my son became the savior of the human race. Some say, he was not the messiah, nor God, nor the Son of Man...but, I know the truth and it sets me free. I know that God's love will bring all those souls to heaven; those that do not believe will have peace on earth and in heaven for heaven and earth are one and the same. NEXT ARTICLE WILL BE ON MARY MAGDALENE - tune in and see what her life was like. Thanks: From the Grotto of Mystic Amy Note: This is a piece of short-historical fiction.