(All quotes from Scripture are taken from the King James Version of the Bible)

Luke 1:26-28---"And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women." It is interesting to note that the Bible never refers to any other woman as "blessed among women" except for the Virgin Mary.


Luke 1:30-33---"And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end."


Luke 1:38---"And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her."


Luke 1:41-45---"And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord." The text here specifically says that St. Elizabeth spoke by the Holy Spirit when she called the Virgin Mary blessed among women and blessed for believing. Which also means that she spoke by the Holy Spirit when she said, "whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?" Our attitude towards the Virgin Mary should at least be the same as St. Elizabeth's. It also says that St. John the Baptist leaped in his mother's womb at the sound of Mary's salutation.


Luke 1:46---"And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed." What excuse do the heretics who do not refer to Mary as the Blessed Virgin have? The Scripture here is very specific.


Luke 11:27-28---"And it came to pass, as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked. But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it." A woman tells Christ that "blessed is the womb that bare Him". In the King James Version they have Christ saying to her, "Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it." The key words are "Yea rather". If Christ were saying "Yea rather" (in other words that she were not blessed), then all of the passages in the 1st chapter of Luke (where she is called "blessed" 4 times) would make no sense. Does it now make sense for Christ to say that she is not blessed? Not at all. Instead, what He said was, "Yea indeed, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it". The Greek word used in this passage is menounge which means "indeed" and not "rather". This rendering is not only in harmony with the 4 times she is called "blessed", but also makes the Holy Virgin an example to others, for Christ says "blessed are they who hear the word of God and keep it". St. Elizabeth called the Theotokos blessed for believing (Luke 1:45). It should be very obvious that she not only heard the word of God (given by the Archangel Gabriel), but she also kept it as well, otherwise Christ would not have been born of her.


John 2:1-5---"And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come. His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it." Is Christ excluding the Virgin Mary in this passage? She requests a miracle from Christ. His response is literally, "What me and you?" (ti emoi kai soi in Greek. ti="what" emoi="me" kai="and" soi="you"). The translators of the King James Version somehow managed to mistranslate this Greek phrase as "what have I to do with thee?". Now, one could argue that this is the proper translation, but let's look at the evidence. First of all, the Greek word emoi means "me" and not "I" (the Greek word ego means "I"), so the word "I" should not even appear in the sentence. Secondly, if Christ's words were a rebuke, then He most certainly would not have worked the miracle for the Virgin. And further, if the Holy Virgin is not a good example for us, then we must avoid the advice she gives in verse 5 which is, "whatsoever He saith unto you, do it". So we see that instead of excluding His Mother in this passage (what have I to do with thee?), Christ is including her (what is that to me and thee?).


The Orthodox title most commonly used for the Blessed Virgin Mary, "Theotokos", also has Scriptural basis. The Greek word Theotokos means "God-bearer" or "Mother of God". In Luke 1:43 St. Elizabeth says, "And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?" So we see that according to the Bible, Mary is the mother of the Lord. Common sense also tells us this. If Jesus Christ is God, and Mary is His mother, then Mary is the Mother of God. Please note that Orthodoxy teaches that she is not the mother of God in His eternity (for God is without beginning and without end), but the mother of God in His Incarnation as a Man.


Ezekiel 44:1-3---"Then he brought me back the way of the gate of the outward sanctuary which looketh toward the east; and it was shut. Then said the LORD unto me; This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter in by it; because the LORD, the God of Israel, hath entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut. It is for the prince; the prince, he shall sit in it to eat bread before the LORD; he shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate, and shall go out by the way of the same." Did the Theotokos remain a virgin after the birth of Christ? This prophecy in Ezekiel lends us the answer. In this passage, God speaks to Ezekiel about an eastern gate that shall be shut, a gate that is for the prince (see Isaiah 9:6) that shall not be opened. This cannot be a prophecy of the literal gate in the city of Jerusalem. Over the centuries, millions of people have come and gone through that gate. What is the only gate that was shut to begin with that the Lord, the Prince, entered in by, went out by, and was never opened? Mary, the Theotokos, was a virgin to begin with, of whom the Lord, the Prince, entered in by, went out by, and (as the Orthodox Church has faithfully taught for 2,000 years) was never opened (i.e. she remained a virgin). The fact that the Gospels speak of "brothers" and "sisters" of Christ does not mean that they were the children of Mary. The Greek words used in the Gospels for "brothers" and "sisters" can signify anything from a blood brother, to a cousin, to someone who is not even related at all. In Genesis 13:8 it says, "And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren." Yet Abram and Lot were not brethren. They were uncle and nephew. Again, in Genesis 29:15 it says, "And Laban said unto Jacob, Because thou art my brother, shouldest thou therefore serve me for nought? tell me, what shall thy wages be?" But, Jacob and Laban were not brothers. They were father-in-law and son-in-law. Holy Tradition tells us that the "brothers" and "sisters" of Christ were actually Joseph's children from a previous marriage. Joseph was a widower at the time of his betrothal to the Virgin, not a young man as most Protestants depict him.


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