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Articles on Virgin Mary

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The shrine at Lourdes, France, where the Virgin Mary is venerated as ‘Our Lady of Lourdes,’ following several apparitions reported in 1858. LandFoto/iStock / Getty Images Plus

Vatican centralizes investigations on claims of Virgin Mary apparitions – but local Catholics have always had a say

The Vatican plans to set up an ‘observatory’ to investigate apparitions of the Virgin Mary. A scholar of global Christianity explains why this is a major shift in how apparitions are authenticated.
A handmade Nativity from Kyrgyzstan by an unknown artisan. Instead of a stable, it features a yurt, the traditional home of nomadic Kyrgyz people. The Marian Library, University of Dayton

Who is at the manger? Nativity sets around the world show each culture’s take on the Christmas story

The Christmas story is about Jesus coming to mankind. As holiday decorations show, Christians around the world often picture him in their own cultures.
Apparitions of the Virgin Mary have inspired pilgrimages – and souvenirs – in Lourdes, France, for more than a century. Culture Club/Hulton Archive via Getty Images

How Lourdes became a byword for hope

St. Bernadette’s visions of the Virgin Mary in the 19th century inspired the pilgrimage site millions of Catholics flock to each year.
Jan van Eyck, The Ghent Altarpiece, 1432. Virgin Mary detail. Wikimedia Commons

5 things to know about Mary, the mother of Jesus

In the New Testament, there is nothing about Mary’s birth, death, appearance, or age. What we do know about the mother of Jesus is, in fact, quite surprising.
Several celebrities have been seen wearing coats designed by Brenda Equihua, with an image of Mary displayed at the back. Screen grab from Shelley FKA DRAM - Exposure (Official Music Video)

Warrior, servant, mother, unifier – the Virgin Mary has played many roles through the centuries

Mary has acquired popularity among celebrities of late. A religion scholar writes about how for nearly 2,000 years, the mother of Jesus has been viewed as an exemplar by different Christian groups.
People pray inside the Byzantine-era Hagia Sophia, with sail-like drapes covering mosaic figures of the Virgin Mary and Jesus. AP Photo/Yasin Akgul

Hagia Sophia has been converted back into a mosque, but the veiling of its figural icons is not a Muslim tradition

In reconverting Hagia Sophia to a mosque, Turkish officials have emphasized veiling of Christian icons to create a Muslim prayer space. Experts explain why the veiling is in fact a Byzantine practice.
Madonna with child and angels by Giovanni Battista Salvi da Sassoferrato, 1674. The cult of the Virgin is emblematic of the way the church silences women and marginalises their experience. Wikimedia Commons

How the cult of Virgin Mary turned a symbol of female authority into a tool of patriarchy

Belief in the eternal virginity of Mary has inflicted damage to women, who can never attain her sexless motherhood or unsullied ‘purity’. Yet in the Gospels, Mary is strong-minded and courageous.
Haiti’s black saint known as Grann Sainte Anne Charitable in her European Catholic form and Ti Saint Anne, in Vodoo form. Guilberly Louissaint

I went on a Voodoo pilgrimage in Haiti

A scholar went on a Voodoo pilgrimage in Haiti and learned how an oppressive slave past has shaped its religious present.

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