Jean Vaughn

Mary of Nazareth Jean Vaughn

Mary, an ordinary young woman of Nazareth in Galilee, is called by God to live an extraordinary life. Like her ancestors, Abraham and Sara, Moses, Hannah, and Elizabeth, she says, "Yes."

This is Mary's story from the annunciation by the angel Gabriel to her last days in Jerusalem. The story ends there where Mary goes first to live with the apostle John, then when John goes to Epheses, she lives alone under the care of her son James who is the leader of the Jerusalem Church. Joseph and Jesus are also major characters, but only in the sense that Mary is involved in their lives, and the account is essentially about Mary. Her last great gift is when she collaborates with Dr. Luke in writing his Gospel, which contains events that only Mary would know. Then Luke and Mary write another great letter to the fledging Hebrews who are gradully coming into the fold of the Church. Mary's story does not end with her death, but with her restoration with Joseph and Jesus in Paradise.

Mary is mentioned twelve times in the New Testament of the Bible. Each of these is used to imagine what it would be like to be Mary in a time when she would become pregant before marrige, eventually see her son crucified, and be remembered many centuries later. An Antiphony follows each of the twelve parts of the Book told in Mary's own words. Carefully researched, the text depicts life in Nazareth, Egypt, and Jerusalem.