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This book examines the rise of Marian piety in the early Christian period. Focusing primarily on the period from the latter half of the second century to the first half of the fifth, it shows how Mary evolved as a focus of Christian devotion and situates the origins of Marian devotion within the broader context of emergent Christian devotion to the saints. The book draws on scattered and often overlooked evidence for early Marian piety, from the beginnings of Christianity up to and including the events of the Council of Ephesus. It considers one important text, the Protevangelium of James, and bridges it with the Marian veneration of the fifth and later centuries through other sources from the second, third, and fourth centuries. This introduction clarifies some of the relevant terms used in the book to refer to the various kinds of reverence that the early Christians had for the Virgin, such as ‘piety’, ‘devotion’, ‘veneration’, and ‘cult’.

This chapter examines the role of the cult of the Virgin in the controversies leading up to the Council of Ephesus as well as its outcome. Toward the end of the twentieth century, a number of studies addressed the impact that an already vibrant Marian piety seems to have had in galvanizing the resistance to Nestorius in Constantinople and elsewhere. These studies also often identify the Empress Pulcheria as an instrumental figure who was particularly responsible for deploying Marian devotion to orchestrate Nestorius’s downfall. More recent scholarship, however, has cast some doubt on the extent of Pulcheria’s involvement in both the promotion of the early Marian cult and Nestorius’s demise. This chapter first considers the controversy involving Nestorius stemming from the issue of Marian veneration before discussing his rift with Pulcheria. It then looks at Pulcheria’s relationship with Proclus, along with her participation in the cult of the Virgin and personal devotion to Mary. It also considers how much popular devotion to Mary in Constantinople and elsewhere may have actually contributed to Nestorius’s ultimate demise.

This conclusion summarizes the evidence for Marian devotion and veneration in early Christianity. It first considers the Protevangelium of James, whose interest in Mary as a figure in her own right and its reverence for her sacred purity mark the beginnings of Marian piety in the early Christian period. It then examines a number of apocryphal texts that attest to belief in the power of Mary’s intercessions, including the Sub tuum praesidium papyrus, along with the Book of Mary’s Repose and the Six Books Dormition Apocryphon. It also discusses writings by the fourth-century church fathers, traces of Marian cult and devotion in material culture, and the events of the Council of Ephesus that reveal a vibrant cult of the Virgin standing behind the controversies over Nestorius.

This chapter examines the evidence of Marian piety from the first two Christian centuries. It begins with the New Testament, highlighting some perspectives on Mary’s role in the process of salvation from a number of writings of the second-century fathers. In particular, it discusses the Gospel of Luke, which offers the most developed reflection on Mary and her role in the beginnings of Christianity in the New Testament. It then considers early Christian apocrypha, and especially the Protevangelium of James, an early Christian biography of the young Virgin that attests to a surprisingly advanced piety centered on Mary’s ‘sacred purity’ and exceptional holiness already by the later second century. It shows that the Protevangelium’s Marian piety poses a puzzling anomaly that is difficult to relate not only to other elements of second-century Christianity but also to later developments in Marian devotion. The chapter also looks at other texts such as the Ascension of Isaiah and the Odes of Solomon.

This chapter examines an important apocryphal text for understanding the rise of Marian piety in early Christianity: the Six Books Dormition Apocryphon. An early Dormition narrative, the Six Books Dormition Apocryphon provides compelling evidence for an early Marian cult nearly a century before the events of the Council of Ephesus. It reveals a remarkably advanced level of Marian veneration, including annual feasts, miracles ascribed to the Virgin, and even Marian apparitions. This chapter first considers the Six Books Dormition Apocryphon’s sensibility about the veneration of Mary before discussing the similarities between the ritual practices ordained by the text and those of the so-called ‘Kollyridians’. It also looks at the Hypomnestikon of Joseph, or Joseph’s Bible Notes, and its description of the Marianites, and concludes with an analysis of evidence of women’s’ liturgical leadership in the Six Books Dormition Apocryphon.

This chapter examines the evidence of Marian piety in the third century. It first considers how Mary was regarded by the church fathers of the period, including Tertullian of Carthage, Clement of Alexandria, and Origen of Alexandria. It then turns to the papyrus called Sub tuum praesidium (Beneath your protection), a fragment of a prayer invoking Mary’s intercessions that was written around the turn of the fourth century in Egypt. Sub tuum praesidiumoffers early evidence that Marian cult had begun to emerge by the later third century. The chapter also discusses other apocryphal writings that exalt Mary not for her virginity and purity, but instead revere her as an especially learned master of the cosmic mysteries; this includes a collection of early Christian texts discovered in Upper Egypt, the Nag Hammadi Library; the Gospel of Mary; the Gospel of Thomas; the Sophia of Jesus Christ; the Gospel of Philip; the Pistis Sophia; and the Gospel (Questions) of Bartholomew.

This chapter examines one apocryphal text that offers insights into the rise of Marian piety and cult within early Christianity: the Liber Requiei Mariae, or Book of Mary’s Repose. The Book of Mary’s Repose is the earliest narrative from the so-called ‘Palm of the Tree of Life’ traditions, or ‘Palm’ traditions. It is a lengthy account of Mary’s Dormition and Assumption and bears early witness to belief in the power of Mary’s intercessions. This chapter analyzes the contents of the Book of Mary’s Repose, beginning with the opening scene in which Mary learns of her impending death from the Christ-angel and proceeds with a discussion of marital disagreement between Joseph and Mary, the restoration of harmony in the Holy Family, and the secret prayer that will enable the soul to pass through various ‘worlds’ during its ascent after death. It also discusses Jesus’s parable of the wormy trees, Mary’s funeral preparations, Mary’s Dormition and Assumption, and Marian apocalypse.

The pieces also enacted difference and identity. The most obvious—and condemnable, to modern sensibilities—was the blaming of Jews for the Passion, references present in about half the repertory. Although the military situation with the Ottomans was often urgent, anti-Islam sentiment in the texts was much less evident than anti-Semitism. In addition, coming out of medieval tradition, the demonic put in an appearance only later, from the 1670s onward. Dynastic prestige was evident in the Habsburgs’ possession of Passion relics, objects that were thematized across a range of sepolcri. The frequency of death in the royal family leads to a consideration of the difficulties of consolation, found most clearly in the 1670 Sette consolationi di Maria, a piece evidently written to comfort Empress Margherita Teresa after the death of yet another infant heir.

Although practiced since antiquity, Marian piety became a confessional characteristic of Catholicism in the sixteenth century. In the immediate aftermath of the Council of Trent, which recommended the veneration of sacred images, countless new images of Mary were placed prominently in churches. Theologically, with Marian piety the church emphasized love and mercy. This brought more balance to the dialectic of fear and mercy that we have encountered throughout this book. The veneration of St. Joseph, which becomes popular only in early modernity, also espouses such hope and mercy. Moreover, the righteousness and chastity of St. Joseph were recommended for imitation to male populations worldwide.

This study has focused on the many ways Marian piety, the rosary, and early modern Catholicism were reframed—reinterpreted, reinvented—starting in the late sixteenth century, after the Council of Trent. This chapter draws a number of conclusions based on the investigation of historical, devotional, and theological sources. Among these is that early modern Catholicism was not simply an intransigent, monolithic, authoritarian, “one-size-fits-all” institution whose principal concern was to combat error and defeat enemies. It was often, on the contrary, energetic, innovative, and more open to reform than may at first meet the eye. Devotions like the rosary were quite congenial to believers whose expanding selves were busy exploring an expanding (inner and outer) world. Far from recommending a retreat from the world, the rosary urged Christians to meditate on precisely those mysteries that make this world a holy banquet where God and all humanity may meet, feast, and live together in peace.

The book of Ruth becomes a liberation text for women—not exactly a song of Miriam about the destruction of Pharaoh and his horsemen, not a cry to arms such as was sung by Deborah or Judith, but a kinder, gentler rally cry to “make a life for ourselves”, “fear nothing and risk anything”, “see ourselves” as “carriers of the Word of God”—as Theotokoi, godbearers. Because generations of Marian piety have stressed the Blessed Mother's impossible purity, passivity, and perpetual virginity, for many women Mary has ceased to be plausible as a person, let alone an exemplary figure. Ruth, on the other hand, goes from rags to riches (not to mention to sex and motherhood) in “twelve months”. Her story suggests that, in God's grace, so can all other people, too.