The Blessed Virgin Mary is the mother of Jesus,

1

• The Blessed Virgin Mary is the mother of Jesus,
• Therefore, the mother of God.
• Theotokos

2

• In general, the theology and history of Mary the
  Mother of God follow the chronological order of
  their respective sources,
• Old Testament,
• New Testament,
• early Christian and Jewish witnesses.

3
the Old Testament
Mary Prophsied in
4

• The Old Testament refers to
• Our Blessed Lady both in its prophecies and its
  types or figures.
• Genesis 315
• The first prophecy referring to Mary is found in
  the very opening chapters of the Book of Genesis

5

• I will put enmity between you and the woman,
• and between your offspring and hers
• He will strike at your head,
• while you strike at his heel.

6
Christians have recognized (all the way back to
the first century) that the woman and her seed
mentioned in Genesis 315 do not simply stand
for Eve and one of her righteous sons. They
prophetically foreshadow Mary and Jesus.
7

• The first half of the verse, speaking of the
  enmity between the serpent and the woman,
• has been applied to Mary,

the second half, speaking of the head crushing
and heel striking, has also been applied to
Mary. It properly applies to Jesus, given the
original Hebrew.
8

• The second prophecy referring to Mary.
• Isaiah 71-17
• guarantees
• that the general Messianic promises made to the
  house of David cannot be frustrated

9

• According to IV Kings 161-4,
• and II Paralipomenon 271-8,
• Ahaz, who began his reign 736 B.C., openly
  professed idolatry, so that God gave him into the
  hands of the kings of Syria and Israel.

10

• Critics have endeavored to represent this passage
  as a combination of occurrences and sayings from
  the life of the prophet written down by an
  unknown hand.
• The credibility of the contents is not
  necessarily affected by this theory,
• since prophetic traditions may be recorded by any
  writer without losing their credibility.

11

• "The Lord Himself will give you this sign.
• the virgin shall be with child,
• and bear a son, and shall name him
• Immanuel.

He shall be living on curds and honey by the time
he learns to reject the bad and choose the good.
For before the child learns to reject the bad,
and choose the good, the land of those two kings
whom you dread shall be deserted."
12

• Without answering a number of questions connected
  with the explanation of the prophecy,
• we must confine ourselves here to the bare proof
  that the virgin mentioned by the prophet is
• Mary the Mother of Christ.
• The argument is based on the premises that the
  prophets virgin is the mother of Immanuel,
• and that Immanuel is Christ.
• The relation of the virgin to Immanuel is clearly
  expressed in the inspired words
• the same indicate also the identity of Immanuel
  with the Christ.

13

• The connection of Immanuel with the extraordinary
  Divine sign which was to be given to Ahaz
  predisposes one to see in the child more than a
  common boy.
• In Isaiah 88,
• the prophet ascribes to him the ownership of the
  land of Judah

"the stretching out of his wings shall fill the
breadth of thy land, O Immanuel".
14

• In Isaiah 96,
• the government of the house of David is said to
  be upon his shoulders,
• and he is described as being endowed with more
  than human qualities
• "a child is born to us,
• and a son is given to us, and the government is
  upon his shoulders,
• and his name shall be called
• Wonderful, Counselor, God the Mighty,
• the Father of the World to Come,
• and the Prince of Peace".

15

• endowed with
• "the spirit of the Lord. . .
• the spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
• the spirit of counsel, and of fortitude,
• the spirit of knowledge and of godliness"
• his advent shall be followed by the general signs
  of the Messianic era, and the remnant of the
  chosen people shall be again the people of God
• (Isaiah 111-16).

Finally, the prophet calls Emmanuel "a rod out
of the root of Jesse"
16

• Whatever obscurity or ambiguity there may be in
  the prophetic text itself it is removed by St.
  Matthew
• (Mt 118-25).
• After narrating the doubt of St. Joseph and the
  angels assurance,
• "that which is conceived in her is of the Holy
  Spirit",

the Evangelist proceeds "now all this was done
that it might be fulfilled which the Lord spoke
by the prophet, saying Behold a virgin shall be
with child, and bring forth a son, and they shall
call his name Emmanuel."
17

• We need not repeat the exposition of the passage
  given by Catholic commentators who answer the
  exceptions raised against the obvious meaning of
  the Evangelist.
• We may infer from all this that Mary is mentioned
  in the prophecy of Isaiah as mother of Jesus
  Christ.
• In the light of St. Matthews reference to the
  prophecy,
• we may add that the prophecy predicted also
  Mary's virginity untarnished by the conception of
  the Emmanuel.

18

• A third prophecy referring to Our Blessed Lady is
  contained in Micah 51-4a
• But you, Bethlehem-Ephrathah
• too small to be among the clans of Judah,
• From you shall come forth for me one who is to be
  
• ruler in Israel
• Whose origin is from of old, from ancient times.
• (Therefore the Lord will give them up,
• until the time when she who is to give birth has
  borne,
• And the rest of his brethren shall return to the
  children of Israel.)
• He shall stand firm and shepherd his flock by the
  strength of the LORD,
• in the majestic name of the LORD, his God
• And they shall remain,
• for now his greatness shall reach to the ends of
  the earth
• he shall be peace.

19
Though the prophet Micah (about 750-660 B.C.)
was a contemporary of Isaiah, his prophetic
activity began a little later and ended a little
earlier than that of Isaiah. There can be no
doubt that the Jews regarded the foregoing
prediction as referring to the Messiah. According
to Matthew 26 the chief priests and scribes,
when asked where the Messiah was to be born,
answered Herod in the words of the prophecy,

• "And thou Bethlehem the land of Judah. . ."

20
According to John 742, the Jewish populace
gathered at Jerusalem for the Feast of
Tabernacles asked the rhetorical question Does
not scripture say that the Messiah will be of
David's family and come from Bethlehem, the
village where David lived?

• The Chaldee paraphrase of
• Micah 52,
• confirms the same view
• "Out of thee shall come forth unto me the
  Messiah, that he may exercise dominion in
  Israel".
• The very words of the prophecy admit of hardly
  any other explanation for
• "his going forth is
• from the beginning,
• from the days of eternity".

21
But how does the prophecy refer to the Virgin
Mary?

• Our Blessed Lady is denoted by the phrase,
• " until the time when she who is to give birth
  has borne ".
• The contextual phrases
• "the ruler in Israel", "his going forth",
• which in Hebrew implies birth,
• and "his brethren"
• denote an individual, not a nation
• hence we infer that the bringing forth must refer
  to the same person.
• It has been shown that the person of the ruler is
  the Messiah hence
• "she who is to give birth"
• must denote the mother of Christ,
• or Our Blessed Lady.

22

• Thus explained the whole passage becomes clear
• the Messiah must be born in Bethlehem, an
  insignificant village in Judah
• his family must be reduced to poverty and
  obscurity before the time of his birth
• as this cannot happen if the theocracy remains
  intact, if Davids house continues to flourish,
  "therefore will he give them up till the time
  when she who is to give birth has borne" the
  Messiah.

23
A fourth prophecy referring to Mary is found in
Jeremiah 3122

• How long will you continue to stray, rebellious
  daughter?
• The LORD has created a new thing upon the earth
• the woman must encompass the man with devotion.

24

• St. Athanasius states
• God has created a new thing in woman"
• saying that the new plantation is Jesus Christ,
• and that the new thing created in woman is the
  body of the Lord,
• conceived within the virgin without the
  co-operation of man.

St. Jerome too understands the prophets text of
the virgin conceiving the Messiah.
25

• As the Word Incarnate possessed from the first
  moment of His conception all His perfections
  excepting those connected with His bodily
  development,
• His mother is rightly said to
• "compass a man".
• No need to point out that such a condition of a
  newly conceived child is rightly called
• "a new thing upon earth".

This meaning of the passage satisfies the text
and the context.
26
The context of the prophecy describes after a
short general introduction (Jer. 301-3)
Israels future freedom and restoration in four
stanzas Jeremiah 304-11, 12-22 3023 3114,
15-26

• the first three stanzas end with the hope of the
  Messianic time.
• The fourth stanza, too, must be expected to have
  a similar ending.

27
Anatot the city of the prophet Jeremiah

• Moreover, the prophecy of Jeremiah, uttered about
  589 B.C. and understood in the sense just
  explained, agrees with the contemporary Messianic
  expectations based on
• Isaiah 714 96 Micah. 53.

28
The Old Testament refers indirectly to Mary in
those prophecies which predict the Incarnation of
the Word of God.

• According to Jeremiah, the mother of Christ is to
  differ from other mothers in this,
• that her child, even while within her womb,
• shall possess all those properties
• which constitute real manhood.