Monday, June 26, 2006

In veneration of the Mother of God

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The rood of the Church of the Advent, Boston. Christ is on the cross in the center with his closest folowers below. On the right is the Apostle John; on the left is the Theotokos.

In our study of John's gospel during Sunday School this past spring, one of the things that came up was John's reverence for Mary, in the way that she was never mentioned by name, but instead usually referred to as "the mother of Jesus." Here is a list of all the possible references to the Virgin Mary in John's writings.

John 2:1 "On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there."

John 2:3 "When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, 'They have no wine'."

John 2:5 "His mother said to the servants, 'Do whatever he tells you'."

John 2:12 "After this he went down to Capernaum, with his mother and his brothers and his disciples, and they stayed there for a few days."

John 6:42 "They said, 'Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, "I have come down from heaven"?'"

John 19:25 "but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene."

John 19:26-27 "When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, 'Woman, behold, your son!' Then he said to the disciple, 'Behold, your mother!' And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home."

2 John 1:1 "The elder, To the chosen lady and her children, whom I love in the truth—and not I only, but also all who know the truth"

2 John 1:5 "And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another."

Revelation 11:19--12:1 "Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail. And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars."

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