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There is no woman whom the prophets prophesied and whom the book cared like the Virgin Mary. The Word of God, second Person of the Holy Trinity, became incarnate by the power of the Holy Spirit in assuming from the holy Virgin Mary.

According to the Syriac ecclesiastical apostolic tradition, as time drew near for the Redeemer of the world to be born, there lived in the town of Nazareth, in Galilee, a man by the name of Joachim with his wife Dina. Joachim was a direct descendant of King David but lived a very modest and simple life. Both he and his wife were God-fearing people and were known for their humility and compassion. They never had children and, being very aged, had little chance at having any. However, not willing to despair, they continued to ask God to send them a child. They even made a vow that if they had an infant, they would dedicate that child to the service of God.

At that time, to be childless meant to be punished by God for sins. Childlessness was especially difficult for Joachim since, according to prophecy, the Messiah-Christ was to be born into his family line. Owing to their patience and faith, the Lord finally sent the Angel to Dina and said to her God heard your prayers and hath received thy petition, and from now and henceforth thy name shall not be called Dina but Anna, for the mercy of the Lord hath been gracious unto thee.  Anna had a daughter. The newborn child was given the name of Mary. 

When the Virgin Mary became three years old, Her God-fearing parents prepared themselves to carry out their vow: they took Her to the temple in Jerusalem in order to consecrate Her to God. Mary was left to stay at the temple. There she was taught the Law of God as well as handiwork. She prayed and read the Scriptures. The Blessed Virgin lived at the temple for approximately twelve years and grew up to be deeply pious and obedient to Him, as well as very modest and industrious. Willing only to serve God, She gave a vow to never marry and to remain forever a virgin.

Since Joachim and Anna were in advanced old age, they did not live for long after Her presentation to the temple. When she reached her fourteenth birthday, according to the law, She could no longer stay at the temple and had to wed. The High Priest, being aware of Her vow but reluctant to violate the law of marriage, formally betrothed Her to a distant relative of Hers, the octogenarian Joseph, who promised to care for her and protect her virginity. Joseph lived in the town of Nazareth and also came from the lineage of King David. He was not a wealthy man and worked as a carpenter. The Virgin Mary led as modest and solitary a life in the home of Joseph as She did in the temple. 

As we know from early Christian writings, the Apostle Luke the Evangelist personally knew the Virgin Mary and based several chapters of His Gospel on Her recollections. During Her first year in the house of Joseph, about six months after the appearance of the Angel Gabriel to Zacharias (see Luke 1:8-25), as the birth of the prophet John the Baptist was approaching, the Angel was sent by God into the town of Nazareth to the Holy Virgin with the joyous news that the Lord had chosen Her to become the Mother of the Savior of the world. In book the commentaries of Bishop Mar Ishodad of Merv in 9th century, he said that according to the theologian, the Engel found her occupied in prayer and seeking mercy both for herself and her nation, which were subjugated under the scepter of the Romans.

The Angel, having appeared, told Her, “filled with grace” The Lord is with You! Blessed art Thou amongst women.” Mary was puzzled by the words of the Angel and unsure what this greeting was supposed to mean. The Angel continued by saying to Her: “Fear not, Mary, for You have found favor with God. And therefore, You will bear a Son and shall name Him Jesus. He shall be great and shall be known as the Son of the Most-high, and to His Kingdom there shall be no end.” Still puzzled, Mary asked the Angel: “How can that be, since I know not a man?” The Angel replied that this would be accomplished by the power of the omnipotent God: “The Holy Spirit shall come upon Thee, and the power of the Most-high shall overshadow Thee; therefore, accordingly, that Holy One which shall be born of Thee shall be called the Son of God. Your relative, Elizabeth, not having had any offspring till her very old age, shall soon give birth to a son; for with God nothing shall be impossible.” Then Mary humbly answered, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word” (Luke 1:26-38). After this reply the Holy Spirit descended upon Mary, and she conceived the Word of God. Thus, in the most modest circumstances happened the greatest miracle in the life of mankind! Here the Infinite joined the finite; the Light, unapproachable to Angels, descended into the Virgin’s womb!

Having heard that her relative Elizabeth, the wife of the priest Zacharias, would soon bear a son, Mary hastened to visit her. On entering the house, She saluted Elizabeth. Upon hearing Mary’s voice, Elizabeth, being filled with the Holy Spirit, recognized Mary to be worthy to become the Mother of the Lord. She cried out aloud and said: “Blessed art Thou amongst women, and Blessed is the Fruit of Thy womb! And from whence is such happiness for me that the Mother of my Lord should come to me?”

The Virgin Mary, in answer to Elizabeth’s greeting, glorified God with the following words: “My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my savior. For He hath regarded the low estate of His handmaiden: for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For He that is mighty hath done to me great things; and Holy is His name. And His mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation” (Luke 1:46-50). Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned to Nazareth. When the righteous, aged Joseph learned that Mary was expecting a child, he was scandalized, assuming that something had gone very wrong. Jewish law required unfaithful wives to be mercilessly stoned. But God revealed to Joseph not to be afraid of what had happened and to be kind to Mary. The Angel of God appeared to Joseph in his sleep and told him that Mary would bear a Son through the action of the Holy Spirit, just as the Lord God had predicted through the prophet Isaiah (Is 7:14) and the Angel commanded Joseph to give Him the name “Jesus” Savior —because He shall save people from their sins.

The subsequent Evangelical narratives mention the Virgin Mary in conjunction with the events in the life of Her Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Thus, they speak of Her in connection with the birth of Christ in Bethlehem, then His circumcision, the worship of the Magi, the offering brought to the temple on the 40th day, the flight into Egypt, settling in Nazareth, traveling to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover when He reached His twelfth birthday, and so forth. It should be noted that though the Evangelical references to the Virgin Mary are concise, they give the reader a clear comprehension of Her great moral eminence: Her humility, great faith, patience, courage, obedience to God, love and dedication to Him, and devotion to Her Divine Son. From these incidental but characteristic references we see why, in the words of the Angel, She became worthy “to attain favor from God.”

The first miracle performed by Jesus Christ, at the wedding feast in Cana of Galilee, gives us an insight into the great kindness of His Mother and into Her influence on Her Son. These qualities made Her a powerful intercessor for all Christians. Having noticed a shortage of wine at the wedding feast, the Blessed Virgin drew the attention of Her Son to that fact, and though the Lord answered Her cryptically “What is it to Me and You Woman? My hour has not yet come,”

She was not discouraged by this rebuke, being sure that Her Son would not ignore Her plea. She told the servants: “Whatever He tells you, do this.” As can be seen from this forewarning to the servants, this undertaking would come to a favorable end.  Indeed, Her intercession drew divine intervention to an event in the life of a poor, little-known family. Thus happened the first miracle of Jesus, after which “His disciples believed in Him” (John 2:11).

The Gospels depict the Mother of Christ as having constant concern for Her Son, following Him in His journeys, always ready to help Him at any time, caring for His well-being and tranquility at home, which He always refused to take advantage of. Finally, we see Her standing in indescribable grief by the Cross of Her Crucified Son, hearing His final words and commandments, entrusting Her care to His beloved pupil. Not a word of reproach or despair left Her lips. She conceded all to the will of God. This was the time of Her supreme greatness.

Again, briefly, there is mention of the Virgin Mary in the Acts of the Holy Apostles when, upon Her as well as the Apostles, on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended in the form of fiery tongues. Fulfilling the Lord’s will, the Apostle John the Theologian, author of the fourth Gospel, took Her into his home, and with great love, as if being Her own son, he cared for Her till Her very end. When the Christian faith spread to other countries, many Christians came from far off countries to see and hear Her. From that time the Most Holy Virgin Mary became a mother to all of Christ’s pupils and a high example of virtue.

Once, as the Holy Virgin prayed on the Mount of Olives (near Jerusalem), the Angel Gabriel appeared to Her, as he had the first time in Nazareth, holding in his hand a branch with a white flower from Paradise, and announced to Her that in three days Her earthly life would come to an end and that the Lord would take Her to Him. The Lord arranged it so that toward that time the   Apostles congregated in Jerusalem from the many parts of the world where they were preaching. At the hour of Her end, a bright light illuminated the room in which the Virgin Mary was lying. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself, surrounded by Angels, appeared and received Her most pure soul. The Apostles buried Her holy body, according to Her wish, at the foot of the Mount of Olives in the Garden of Gethsemane. The Assumption happened after Her death, where Apostle Thomas saw it while He was in India, and when He came back He asked to see Her body in the tomb, and when they opened it they found nothing, so He told them about what He saw.  So they fasted for two weeks until Jesus Christ appeared to them along with Virgin Mary, and He told them that she is with in heaven now. And she became our heavenly Mother, defend Christians to the present day. For Her great love and all-powerful help, Christians always have honored Her and turned to Her for help, appealing to Her as the Fervent intercessor for the Christian race, the Joy of all those who grieve.

St. Mary’s Commemorations

The Virgin Mary had a prominent place in the lives of the children of the Assyrian Church of the East, as her mention covered a large area in various rites and rituals. The position of the Virgin in the liturgy of the Church of the East reflects her place in the Holy Scriptures. It is a balanced status, so there is no exaggeration in honoring it, that is, there is no exaggeration in raising its status to the point of competing with her Son in piety and worship, nor diminishing or minifying it, That is, not to deny her basic and sublime qualities.  Since it is mentioned when she played an important role during the events of the earthly life of Jesus Christ, that is, she participated with Jesus, her Son, in implementing God’s plan for the salvation of mankind, so we can only understand her lofty position within the framework of the plan of salvation. 

The Patriarch Ishoyahb III al-Hudaybi (649-659) organized the liturgical calendar for the Church of the East, distributing the stages of Jesus’ salvation work through the seasons of the liturgical year so that the believers celebrate the mystery of salvation completely during the year. What is striking about the ritual year is that the Virgin Mary has a special memory in each of its periods, through the various Marian commemorations or through the ritual seasons held in them, or through the prayers and supplications that are raised during prayer hours especially on days Wednesday. The liturgy of the Church of the East devotes many memorials to Saint Mary, highlighting her role in the plan of salvation and demonstrating the power of her intercession for us. 

Assyrian Church of the East ascribes the establishment of these three commemorations to the apostles themselves. These three Mary’s feasts correspond to the three major Jewish holidays. Farming was the reason for their inception: the Feast of Unleavened Bread in the spring, the feast of harvest or weeks in the summer, and the feast of crops or grapes in the fall. What gives these three holidays a special charm is their local oriental character, as they reflect the daily lives of the believers and their livelihood interests, and are characterized by an integrated agricultural character, as follows:

1. The first commemoration of the Virgin following Christmas. The Church of the East celebrates the oldest commemoration of the Virgin immediately after the feast of the Nativity of the Lord Jesus Christ which takes place first or second Friday after Nativity. According to Patriarch Ishohb III al-Hadiabi (649 AD-659 AD), That this glorious commemoration is celebrated after Natvity because the plan of salvation began with the Virgin Mary, to clearly show her role in the plan of salvation and to show her sublime position in the mystery of the incarnation, and her divine motherhood and because on this Friday Eve was created, also it is the day of St. Mary’s departure from this world. As well, the first holiday is celebrated at the end of December or at the beginning of January, when the believers ask for the protection of their virgin mother for their crops. so that rain may come upon the early and the later crops, and that they may increase at the will of their owners.

2. The second commemoration of Mary, in order to preserve crops and yields, falls on the fifteenth day of May during which the believers ask the Virgin to guard the ears from pests. This commemoration is characterized by a local character, like the previous one, during which the faithful invoke the Virgin to extend her protection over the crops, and the time of harvest approaching, to protect her from the many pests and the many dangers that threaten her.

3. The third commemoration falls on August 15th, the memorial of her Assumption of our Lady. In book of Hudra Vol I, the Karozuta prayer of the commemoration of this feast proclaims as follows:  Christ, who brought his twelve apostles to gather to escort the departure of his Holy Mother; each one came from his land on a bright cloud. Christ, who sent watchers from the heights to her, in honor of the response of the Virgin Mary, and they lifted up the holy body of his mother with great dignity. Christ who honored the departure of his blessed mother on earth and in heaven. In 13th century father of our church Mar Šlimon of al-Basra writes about the Assumption in his work “The Book of the Bee, where he seems already known and accepted by the Church of his times. He said Glorification by the angels and exaltation, namely, being taken up, into heaven. As well, in this day the believers invoke their mother to shepherd and protect the harvest and the vineyards, and all the lands which had to be irrigated. This is an important religious occasion in the lives of the contemporary children of the Church of the East. The Assyrian were preparing to celebrate it with a fast starting from the beginning of August until the eve of the feast, then this fasting was for 15 days because the Apostles fasted for two weeks until Jesus Christ appeared to them along with Virgin Mary, and He told them that she is with in heaven now.