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Maria or Miryam in Hebrew.
Name of Hebrew origin.
The name Maria is derived from the name "Miryam", which means "beloved by God" or "star of the sea".
1st century BC (between the year -20 and the year -15.)
Around the year 50 or 60.
Maria was born in Nazareth, a small town in Galilee, probably between the year 20 and the year 15 BC.
According to tradition, she was born to devout parents, Anne and Joachim, she grew up in the Jewish faith awaiting the Messiah. She herself was born of a miraculous birth. She was likely raised in a simple, humble, but deeply spiritual life in the countryside.
As a teenager, while betrothed to Joseph, a righteous and believing carpenter, her life changed when an angel, Gabriel, appeared to her. It was the Annunciation. He announced that she was chosen by God to miraculously give birth to a son who would be the Son of the Most High. Mary accepted this task and became the mother of God.
Shortly afterwards, she visits her cousin Elizabeth who is pregnant with John the Baptist. Mary speaks a beautiful hymn: the Magnificat, which has become an important prayer in the liturgy.
In Bethlehem, she gives birth to Jesus in a humble stable. She nurtures him, protects him, takes him to the temple, and then flees with Joseph to Egypt to escape Herod's persecution. Back in Nazareth, she raises Jesus in the shade, in a modest life.
At the beginning of her son's public life, Mary is present at the wedding in Cana, where Jesus performs his first miracle through her intercession: changing water into wine. She remains close to him throughout his mission, even when he is rejected and condemned. At her son's crucifixion, she stands silently but faithfully, and receives a final command from Jesus: to become the spiritual mother of humanity.
After the resurrection and ascension of Jesus, Mary remains with the apostles. She is present at Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descends upon them and marks the birth of the Church. Here her direct historical trace ends in the Gospels, but Christian tradition states that she later lived in Jerusalem or Ephesus (modern-day Turkey) under the protection of Saint John.
Throughout the centuries, Mary has been deeply loved and revered. Her worship has developed everywhere in the Christian world, with shrines, feasts dedicated to Mary, prayers, recognized apparitions (Lourdes, Beauraing), and an immense place in art, music, or poetry.
As a virgin, wife, mother, disciple, and queen, Mary remains today the most revered female figure in Christianity, loved for her gentleness, faithfulness, humility, and unique role in the history of redemption.
Toward the end of her life, Mary dies peacefully - or, according to some traditions, falls asleep (Dormition) - and is then bodily assumed into heaven, an event celebrated as the Assumption. She then becomes the Queen of Heaven, the universal mother of all believers.
Mary performs no miracles in the Gospels, except for the birth of Christ, but she is a source of intercession in Christian tradition. Many miracles are attributed to her apparitions.
The veneration of the Holy Mary is one of the oldest and deepest in Christianity.
Early Christians quickly recognized in her an exceptional woman: the mother of Jesus, the mother of God, the humble servant of the Lord.
Over the centuries, her image has transcended her maternal role: she has become an example of faith, a protectress, and a spiritual queen.
As Mary was bodily assumed into heaven, according to Catholic tradition, there is no authenticated bodily relic.
However, there is a traditional tomb in Jerusalem, a pilgrimage site.
Objects are also attributed to her, such as the House of Mary in Ephesus or the Veil of the Holy Virgin in Chartres, France.