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The following just posted on my personal blog, and I want to share it here:
I often have thought about Mary, the mother of Jesus, and the account we have of her in our scriptures.
It is
SOsparse – and I think we romanticize it so much that we tend to forget how precarious her situation was, in multiple ways. Joseph could have had her killed; he could have “put her away” privately; she could have died in childbirth very easily; she apparently had to leave her home and spend her “growing months” with her cousin, Elizabeth – probably to avoid the shame, condemnation and judgment that would have been her lot as people learned she had conceived a child not by her betrothed; ultimately, she had to deal with the conflict between what she originally thought her son would do and be and what he actually did and was not; and, finally, she has to deal still with being adored not for who she was but “merely” for her relationship to someone else – and I don’t think it’s insignificant to point out that she had a life of her own (as a mother to other children, as a wife, perhaps in a vocation of her own, probably as a widow, as a member of a community, etc.) that gets lost completely in our records. I also think sometimes of the difference between how we view her, with the luxury of looking back on her through eyes of faith regarding her son, and how we view young women in situations like hers in our own lives whose babies we don’t honor in the way we honor her son.
The young teenager who is pregnant and whose child might or might not change the world deserves to be treated as Joseph treated Mary, not as those around him probably would have treated and did treat her.I think of a lot of things when I think of Mary, and there is room in our Mormon theology, I believe, to honor her in ways that are non-traditional and in line with the Gospel taught by her son. So, this Christmas season, I add my own voice to those of numerous Christians throughout time:
Quote:Ave, Maria.
Along that same line, one of my favorite Christmas songs is: Quote:Mary did you know?
Written by Mark Lowry. I wish we sang it in church.Thanks for this. Merry Christmas to you all. Most of the optimism I have about my future in the church comes from the wise souls here. Thank you. While I love the musical settings of Ave Maria, and my SIL, who was an operatic soprano and a catholic until a year before marrying my brother, often sang “Ave Maria” in LDS churches, the reality is that the second verse seriously is pure catholic doctrine. Verse 1 comes from scripture:
Quote:Ave Maria, Gratia plena.
Hail Mary, full of grace. (Luke 1:28)
Dominus tecum.
The Lord is with thee. (Luke 1:28)
Benedicta tu in mulieribus
Blessed art thou among women (Luke 1:28, repeated in verse 42)
et benedicta fructus vetntis tui, Iesus.
And blessed is the seed if thy womb, Jesus. (Luke 1:42)
But verse 2 comes from the time of the Council of Trent. The Dutch Jesuit St. Petrus Canisius is credited with adding in it 1555.Quote:Santa Maria, Mater Dei,
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
Ora pro nobis peccatoribus,
Pray for us sinners,
Nunc et in hora mortis nostræ.
Now, and in the hour of our death.
Amen.
There are several doctrinal problems with the second verse from an LDS point if view. Yet, the idea of a female intercessor introduces the divine feminine into godliness.I understand, wayfarer, but my post wasn’t intended to be about the song in any way – so the title uses the word “say” instead of “sing”. 
I think that because Catholics revere, honor, and (maybe) worship Mary to such degree, us Mormons tend to take a more hands-off approach to the mother of Jesus. But, I agree… Ave Maria. And that’s an awesome song that I think is doctrinally fine to sing in LDS churches, especially since 99% of the congregation can’t understand it anyway. It’s pretty. Also “Mary, Did You Know?” is a nice song. I heard this one sang in church last Sunday: “My Son, My King” written by Melanie Davis.
http://www.youngs.org/mdavis/myson.html It’s a beautiful song written from the perspective of Mary when holding her firstborn son. It has been recorded a few times but I can’t find the links.
Mike wrote:Along that same line, one of my favorite Christmas songs is:
Quote:Mary did you know?
Written by Mark Lowry. I wish we sang it in church.We do every year as a special musical number
The RCs take it way, way too far with Mary. If we wanted to be more RC, perhaps we could have her as an incarnation of Heavenly Mother…
Interesting OP. I’ve wondered a lot about Mary. When her son was born and still young, there was a lot of incredible stuff going on, but then if Talmage’s “Jesus the Christ” is correct, by the time He had started His ministry, she and her other children might not have accepted His teachings right away. So she had to deal with the disconnect between having these incredible conception/birth experiences and real life telling her two different things. He seemed an ordinary child, I believe.
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