St. Mary & St. Paul Church

No woman has been prophesied about by the prophets and given such prominence in Scripture as Mary. Numerous symbols of her appear in the Old Testament, and her life, hymns, and miracles are recounted in the New Testament.

How many hymns and reflections are dedicated to the Virgin Mary in the writings of the Church Fathers, titles bestowed upon her by the Church, inspired by the spirit of Scripture!

She is our Mother, our Lady, the pride of our race, the Queen standing at the right hand of the King, the ever-virgin Virgin, full of grace, the Holy Mary, the all-powerful, all-helping, merciful Mother, the Mother of Light, the Mother of Mercy and Salvation, the True Vine. The Church elevates her above the archangels, and in her hymns and chants, we say: “You are exalted, O Mary, above the Cherubim, and you are raised, O Mary, above the Seraphim.”

The Holy Scriptures do not record the history of Saint Anne and Saint Joachim—the parents of the Virgin Mary—nor even the history of the Virgin Mary before her betrothal. This is because the Holy Scriptures focus entirely on the person of Christ, leaving other matters to tradition to record and preserve for the Holy Church.

Tradition tells of a man in Judea named Joachim and his wife Hannah. They were elderly and childless. Because the Israelites looked down upon those without children, the two saints were saddened and constantly prayed to God day and night to grant them a son to serve Him in His house like Samuel. The Lord answered their prayers, and the angel Gabriel appeared to Joachim and told him that his wife Hannah would conceive and give birth to a son who would gladden his heart. Gabriel also appeared to Hannah and brought her the good news that she would give birth to a blessed daughter whom all generations would call blessed, for through her would come the salvation of Adam and his descendants. Hannah spent her pregnancy in prayer and fasting until she gave birth to a daughter, whom they named Mary. This occurred on the first day of Bashans. When Mary was 3 years old, her parents presented her to the temple to serve the Lord with the rest of the virgins. She continued to serve in the temple until she was 12 years old. Her parents had died, and when she reached marriageable age, the priests consulted together about her marriage. Zechariah the priest chose from among the elders and young men of Judah, and he took their staffs and wrote on each one the name of its owner and placed them inside the temple. A dove came up on the staff that belonged to Joseph the carpenter and then settled on his head. So the priests arranged her betrothal to Joseph, and she lived in his house in Nazareth.