There is something about Mary that you do not know. perhaps her appearance, or maybe her childhood or probably her name being mentioned in the Bible. Well here is a list of all the things I knew about Mary. They are not much and only a handful but this is everything i knew and remember. These are the facts that I can remember about Mary, taught to us by our professors during my stint in the seminary. It took me a day to recall all of these facts and enumerate them down for you. I also took time in double checking them in my notes and books so that I can be sure I am not misleading anyone. I like to share them with you today in celebration of our Blessed Mother’s Birthday. I just hope and pray that these little tidbits could personally help you grow in faith, confidence and love for our dear Virgin Mary, who, two thousand years ago, was born to fulfill her divine mission in becoming the inviolate and pure vessel of the “Word became flesh” and subsequently become as the Mother of God. Hail Mary full of Grace, the Lord is indeed with Thee!

• Mary was betrothed to Joseph at the age of 14

• Mary’s husband, Joseph was nearly double her age when she was betrothed to him

• Mary belongs to the Hebrew race, her skin tone is quite dark and her features are mixed Mediterranean and Middle Eastern, contrary to what we usually see inher pictures and images wherein she is depicted as Caucasian.

• Mary is the only human being, aside from Jesus who have been given the honor of being bowed to by an Arngel (Archangel Gabriel during the Annunciation), a respect and allegiance given to the mother of God.

• Mary is Virgin before, during and after the birth of Jesus.

• Mary’s native language is Hebrew, while her dialect is Aramaic, just like Jesus

• It took Mary and Joseph ten days before reaching Egypt after they escaped from Bethlehem during the death of the Innocents

• Mary is one of the three persons who were born without the stain of Original sin, two of whom were her own son, Jesus and her nephew John the Baptist.

• Mary is also one of the only three privileged persons who were taken up to heaven body and soul, two of whom were Enoch and Elijah

• Nowhere in St. John the Evangelist’s, Gospel (aka St. John the Beloved Apostle) has he mentioned the name “Mary”, but instead referred to her as the “Mother of Jesus”

• Mary’s Companions during the later years of Jesus were also three Marys: Mary of Magdala (aka Mary of Bethany), Mary Salome and Mary Cleophas.

• Mary Cleophas’ husband is the brother of Mary’s husband, Joseph. So the Virgin Mary and Mary Cleophas are practically sisters-in-law

• It is believed by Church Tradition that Mary did not die, but only slept temporarily until she was assumed to Heaven body and soul. This temporal stae is called the “Dormition of Mary”

• Mary is prefigured in different women in Old testament Books, some of whom were Eve, Miriam, and Esther.

• There are several allusions and passages about the Virgin Mary spread all over the Old testament like the “Closed Door” and the “Tabernacle (Vessel)  of the Most High”

• After the Ascension of Jesus, Mary went and lived with John the Beloved in Ephesus where she stayed there with him until her Dormition and Assumption. Ephesus is Country called Turkey today in our Modern era.

• Like Joseph her husband, Mary is a direct descendant of King David and belong to the Tribe of Judah. Therefore in the Davidic line, Jesus is entirely came from the seed of King David as what has been propheseid in the Old Testament.

• Mary came from two Jewish tribes. her father, Saint Joaquim is from the tribe of Judah (the Kingly line) and her mother, Saint Anne is from the tribe of Levi (the Priestly line). Thus Jesus, the lone flesh and blood of Mary, is both King and Priest.

• A chapter in the Qur’an is titled “Maryam” (Mary), which is the only chapter in the Qur’an named after a woman, in which the story of Mary and Jesus is recounted according to the Islamic view of Jesus.

• Mary is referred to as the “Mother of Jesus” eight times in the Bible

• The name Maria literally means “Star of the Sea”.  it’s long form is “Stella Maris”

• Mary is referred to as “Theotokos” in the Greek Church which means “God bearer” or “Mother of God”

• The oldest existing hymn to the Blessed Virgin Mary is the “Sub Tuum Praesidium” which literally means “Beneath thy Protection”. This hymn is sung after Compline or Night Prayer in the Liturgy of the hours outside the easter season.

• The formal study of Mary and everything Marian is called “Mariology”.

• Mary gave a miraculous birth to Jesus resulting to the preservation of her hymen – a membrane that guards the virginal integrity of every virgin women, thus Mary is technically, physically, physiologically and absolutely Virgin.

• The theological and biblical basis of our Veneration of Mary can be found in the New Testament wherein the Archangel Gabriel and her cousin Elizabeth greeted her as “Hail, full of Grace, the Lord is with you” “Blessed are you among women”. Mary is the only woman greeted this way in the entire bible.

• There are 4 Marian Dogma’s of the Blessed Virgin mary which are all co-related with each other: Mother of God proclaimed during the Council of Ephesus in 431, Immaculate Conception proclaimed by Pope Pius IX (Apostolic Constitution “Ineffabilis Deus”) on December 8, 1854, and Mary’s Assumption into Heaven proclaimed by Pope Pius XII on November 1, 1950 (on his Encyclical Munificentissimus Deus). “The perpetual Virginity of Mary”, although not officially proclaimed, is acknowledge by the Church as a Dogma during the reign of Pope Ignatius of Antioch in year 107 AD.

• There are no authentic or preserved picture of the Virgin mary. Her real appearance are unknown even to the early church fathers. Yet, the earliest picture of Mary represents the Virgin as if about to nurse the Infant Jesus, and near her is the image of a prophet, Isaias which is found in the cemetery of Priscilla beginning of the second century

• Mary is “directly” and “explicitly” foretold in four Old Testaments books: Genesis 3:15, Isaiah 7:1-17, Micha 5:2-3, and Jeremiah 31:22

• Mary’s first Marian Apparition according to tradition was in Zaragosa, Spain to St. James the Apostle (the Greater) in 40 AD

• When Mary appear to her seers, she speak in their native language or dialect of the visionary.

• Mary’s favorite color is Blue

• In most of her apparitions, Mary often reveals her name near the end of her entire duration of apparition.

• Mary is always seen as three dimensional being in Apparitions, just as we see humans with our own naked eyes.

• To date, only ten Marian Apparitions were officially proclaimed and acknowledged by the Vatican as “supernatural in origin” and “worthy of belief”, one of which was just recently approved in 2008 and the first Marian Apparition to get the vatican’s approval in the 21st Century. The Apparitions according to date of occurence: Guadalupe (1531), Laus (1665), Miraculous Medal (1830), La Salette (1846), Lourdes (1858), Pontmain (1871), Fátima (1917), Beauraing (1932), Banneux (1935), and Akita (1973)