Identifying the Marian Passages in the New Testament

Gospel according to Saint Matthew and Saint Luke - Mt 1:1-17 and Lk 3:23-34. Two genealogies of Jesus: the genealogy according to Saint Matthew places Jesus in the Jewish people; the genealogy according to Saint Luke emphasizes the universality of Jesus who is son of Adam, son of God. Both genealogies agree on an unprecedented fact: Joseph is not Jesus' biological father; Jesus was conceived of the Virgin Mary.

Gospel according to Saint Luke - Lk 1:5-25. News of John the Baptist's conception to Zechariah. The liturgical context of the Infancy narrative. Comparison between John the Baptist and Jesus.

Gospel according to Saint Luke - Lk 1:26-38. Announcement to Mary: the Annunciation. This is about the dialogue between the angel and Mary, ending in Mary's consent. It is also about God's unfathomable Act of love as he becomes incarnate and descends in the Virgin Mary's womb to live among men and reveal God's love. This text of the Gospel corresponds to the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth.

Gospel according to Saint John - Jn 1:1-18. Another way of talking about the Incarnation.

Gospel according to Saint Luke - Lk 1:39-45. Visit of Mary to her cousin Elizabeth or the "Visitation." The joy of two pregnant women who meet again. The effusion of the Holy Spirit. Mary as the Ark of the Covenant and the devotion to Mary in the primitive Church.

Gospel according to Saint Luke - Lk 1:46-56. The Magnificat or canticle of Mary. Mary exalts the great things accomplished by God, beginning with the Incarnation of the Son of God. At the center of the song is God's mercy toward those who fear him.

Gospel according to Saint Luke - Lk 1:57-80. Birth and circumcision of John the Baptist, the son of Elizabeth.

Gospel according to Saint Matthew - Mt 1:18-25. Announcement to Joseph. The Incarnation is the new Covenant. At the beginning we find a man and a woman. Joseph's Yes is reflected by his actions: he does what the angel tells him to do.

Gospel according to Saint Luke - Lk 2:1-7. The narrative of Jesus' birth in Bethlehem. This narrative inserts the birth of Jesus in the human calendar and geography: it is not a myth. The story also shows the poverty chosen by God.

Gospel according to Saint Luke - Lk 2:8-20. The birth of Jesus is announced to the shepherds. A sign is given to them: the sign of tenderness, of virginity. Revelation of Jesus as Savior. Promise of Peace.

Gospel according to Saint Luke - Lk 2:21-40. Circumcision and presentation of Jesus in the Temple: Jesus' family is obedient to the Jewish laws. They are also full of zeal, going beyond what is required, out of love. The text mysteriously alludes to a rite accomplished "for their purification." - Prophecy of Simeon.

Gospel according to Saint Matthew - Mt 2:13-15. Magi from the East come to adore the Child Jesus The Gospel has a universal value. The prophecies are accomplished in Jesus.

Gospel according to Saint Matthew - Mt 2:16-18. Prince Herod, jealous of what he heard said about the child Jesus, orders the massacre of the children of Bethlehem. The Holy Family flees to Egypt.

Gospel according to Saint Matthew - Mt 2:19-23. Return from Egypt to Nazareth.

Gospel according to Saint Luke - Lk 2:41-52. Jesus is twelve. He stays in the Temple without the knowledge of his parents, who find him after 2 days. A revelation about Jesus. Preparation for the paschal mystery.

Gospel according to Saint Luke - Lk 2:19- 51. Mary' meditation. In a few words that we must read in the biblical context, the evangelist illuminates the interior life of Jesus' mother.

Gospel according to Saint John - Jn 2:1-11. The Wedding at Cana. By his mother's prayer, Jesus accomplishes the first sign and his disciples believed in him. It is a capital passage, a revelation of Jesus' identity, of Mary's role and her maternal mediation. A prototype of Jesus' signs. We must read this passage in the light of the covenant on Mount Sinai, the events of Calvary, and in the context of the Church.

Gospel according to Saint Luke - Lk 4:16-30. During his public ministry, Jesus comes to Nazareth. The hard attitude of the inhabitants contrasts with the way Jesus is received in Capernaum. Jesus is threatened with death.

« In the course of her Son's preaching she received the words whereby in extolling a kingdom beyond the calculations and bonds of flesh and blood, He declared blessed (Cf. Mk. 3:35; Lk. 11:27-28) those who heard and kept the word of God, as she was faithfully doing. » (Cf. Lk. 2:19, 51). (Vatican II, Lumen gentium § 58)

Gospel according to Saint John - Jn 19:25-27. Jesus dies on the Cross. He reveals to his mother her spiritual maternity: "Woman, behold your son." This testament, given at the supreme hour, deserves to be considered in a larger frame than the scene at Calvary reported by John's gospel, within the entire story of the Passion. Mary is associated to Jesus' death to gather all the sons of God who are lost in unity.

Acts of the Apostles. Only Acts 1:14 explicitly speaks of Mary's presence at the Cenacle when the day of Pentecost took place (Acts 2:1-4). However, the book of Acts was written by Saint Luke and prolongs his Gospel (Acts 1:1). Mary was present at the beginning of the Gospel as she is at the beginning of the book of Acts, which she wholly illuminates.

Epistles to the Galatians. Saint Paul seems to say very little about Mary when he writes that Jesus was born of a woman (Gal 4:4), and yet, the context of that expression (when the fullness of time had come) and the general theme of the letter to the Galatians (the passage from the regime of the Law to the regime of grace and filial adoption) makes of this passage a fundamental Marian text.

Rv 12. A sign in heaven. The Book of the Revelation to John is an encouragement for the Christians in times of persecution. One of the summits of this encouragement is given when a "great sign" appears in the sky, "a woman clothed with the sun" (Rv 12), a sign we shall have to interpret...

F. Breynaert