4. MARY MOTHER
OF GOD
FIRST
AMONG
THE
SAINTS
By Toby.B
5. TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Who is Mary?
2. Mary’s Life In The Scriptures
3. The Annunciation - What Qualities Does Mary Display In This Story?
4. The Visitation - What Qualities Does Mary Display In This Story?
5. Jesus In The Temple - What Qualities Does Mary Display In This Story?
6. The Wedding At Cana - What Qualities Does Mary Display In This Story?
7. Mary At Calvary - What Qualities Does Mary Display In This Story?
8. Different Roles Of Mary - Mary The Mother, The Daughter, The Wife, The
Servant, The Christian and MaryThe Disciple
9. Why Mary Is A Role Model For Me?
6. WHO IS MARY?
Mary is known to us in many ways such as:
*Mary Mother of God
*Saint Mary
*Mary Queen of Heaven and Earth
*The Blessed Virgin Mary
*Mary Mother of Jesus
*Mary Queen of Peace
The name that stands out the most for me is Mary Queen
of Heaven and Earth as even though she lived on Earth, her
connection to the Heavens, through God, was so great.
7. While some believe she was born in Jerusalem, most
believe Nazareth in Galilee was her birth place. Her
parents names were Joachim and Anne. She had a hard
working family and they relied on the weather and the land
for their survival. Mary’s family found out that they needed
to depend on God and believed that God would provide
for them. They had an extremely strong Jewish faith as did
those who lived in the community with them.
Mary was an ordinary, hardworking young girl, who was set
to be married to Joseph. Her world was very normal until....
Mary’s life changed in a most amazing way!
8. MARY’S LIFE IN THE
SCRIPTURES
There are 5 key scriptures that help us to learn about
the life of Mary and her qualities. They are:
*The Annunciation
*The Visitation
*Jesus lost in the Temple
*The Wedding at Cana
*Mary at Calvary
Here is a summery of these scriptures.
9. THE ANNUNCIATION
Mary, was soon to be married to Joseph, a carpenter who lived in
the same town. One day, when Mary was alone, she was very
surprised to see an angel suddenly appear in front of her.
The angels name was Gabriel who was bringing a message from
God.
The message declared that Mary was going to have a son called
Jesus. Jesus was to be a great King with a kingdom that would be
everlasting.
Mary was confused as she was not married yet but Gabriel assured
her that it would be the work of God, and Jesus was to be holy and
the Son of God.
10. WHAT QUALITIES DOES MARY
DISPLAY IN THIS STORY
*Mary is brave as she was accepting of Gabrielle’s visits even
though she was quite afraid
*She is trusting of the word of God as delivered by Gabrielle
*She displayed the strength of her Faith by accepting the role
as the mother of the great King
*Mary was willing to take on this role even though she did
not know how Joseph would react.
11. THE VISITATION
With much on her mind, Mary set off on a long journey to visit her
cousin Elizabeth. She spoke to Elizabeth about Gabrielle’s visit and
to Mary’s surprise, Elizabeth already knew.
Elizabeth and her husband Zechariah had also received a visit from
Gabrielle who told the couple that God was going to give them a
child, to be called John. This was amazing news for the couple as
they believed that they could never have children.
When the two ladies saw each other they were so incredibly happy
for each others great news.
12. WHAT QUALITIES DOES MARY
DISPLAY IN THIS STORY
*Mary is brave as she was travelling alone while pregnant
*She cared about Elizabeth who was having a baby of her own,
and she was not a young mother
*Mary showed joy for the blessings of others
*she stayed with Elizabeth for 3 months, which means she was
generous with her time
*Mary was selfless as even though she was pregnant herself and
young, she was more concerned about taking care of others.
13. JESUS IN THE TEMPLE
Each year Mary and Joseph would travel to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of
the Passover with many other Jews. When Jesus was 12, he travelled with them
to join in the celebrations.
After the festival was over, they all began the journey back to Nazareth. After
quite some time, they noticed that Jesus was missing. They were desperate
with worry.
For 3 days they searched for him but could not find him. At last they saw him
sitting in the Temple, where people gather to honour god and learn about God.
Mary and Joseph explained to Jesus how worried they had been, but he said to
Mary “I didn’t mean to cause you so much trouble. Didn’t you know that I
would be here, in my Father’s house?”.
Only as Jesus grew older did Mary begin to understand exactly how important
such gatherings would mean to the life of Jesus.
14. WHAT QUALITIES DOES MARY
DISPLAY IN THIS STORY
*Mary was a caring and concerned mother who was desperate
to find her son
*She was also understanding of her sons need to spend time
learning about Gods teachings and talking to others in “his Fathers
house”
*Mary recognised that despite her panic at having lost her son, he
was a wise young man who loved and obeyed his parents and God.
15. THE WEDDING IN CANA
Jesus and some friends were invited to a wedding in the town of
Cana. Mary, his mother was there.
Long before the wedding feast was over, the wine was finished.
Mary was concerned and she told Jesus.
Jesus asked his friends to fill up six huge water jugs that were
nearby with water. Once they did this, they took the water from
the jugs to the ruler of the feast for tasting. He did this and the
water had become wine.
The ruler of the feast then explained with excitement that the best
wine was left until last at this particular feast!
16. WHAT QUALITIES DOES MARY
DISPLAY IN THIS STORY
*once again Mary shows caring for others.
*She understood the embarrassment that the wedding organisers
would feel when there was no wine left. This shows Empathy
(understanding the feelings of others )
*She shows grace by pleading with Jesus to fix the problem and
knowing that others could not.
*Mary displays Trust in Jesus that he is capable of solving the
problem. This is also an example to having Faith.
17. MARY AT CALVARY.
Jesus was sentenced to be crucified by Pontius Pilate. The soldiers
dragged him through the streets of Jerusalem making him carry a
huge wooden cross. He was weak from being beaten. Jesus was
then nailed to the cross by his hands and feet.
Mary watched all of this cruelty and stood near Jesus on the cross,
heartbroken. Jesus told John, one of his disciples, to take care of her.
Even after Jesus had died, Mary remained with him at Calvary until
he was taken away to be buried. She must have known that
Simeon’s prophesy had come true.
18. WHAT QUALITIES DOES MARY
DISPLAY IN THIS STORY
*As any mother in such a situation would, Mary showed amazing
strength to be able to stay with her son throughout his suffering
*She showed amazing Faith, knowing that what Jesus was going
through must be part of Gods plan for him
*Mary displayed unconditional love for her son
*She also showed sorrow at the rejection that the people had
shown her son when he had not done any wrong
*Finally, Mary displayed compassion, as always, taking care of
Jesus’s followers while he was gone.
19. As you can see Mary has many amazing
qualities that make her possibly the
most important woman in the catholic
church. She has ....
20. COM
PASSI
O LOVING
N
EM
PAT
NG H Y FA
IT H
RI
Y
ISE
NIT
TH
CA
W
DIG G
EN
PE
TR
AC
ST S
RO BRA
EF
RE
N VE
UL
PU
G
S
G
S
IN
E
D
L
AN
F
T
RS
L
TRUSTING E
E
D
N
S
U
21. THE DIFFERENT ROLES OF
MARY
With so many amazing qualities in one person, it is easy to believe
that Mary is considered an important role model for all of us. She
was many things:
*a mother
*a daughter
*a wife
*a servant
*a christian
*a disciple
22. MARY THE MOTHER
Mary was an amazing mother for Jesus. She was
supportive, caring, loving, compassionate and
loyal.To have Jesus she had to say “YES”to angel Gabriel
which showed her willingness to take on the role of
being the mother of the son of God. She knew this would
be a huge responsibility.
23. MARY THE DAUGHTER
Mary was a daughter to Anne and Joachim. Like all
members of her village her family made a living from
their land and she and her family worked extremely
hard.
24. MARY THE WIFE
Mary was a wife for Joseph and they lived in
Nazareth and she became a bride at a young age
when she was only 14 years old which for us is very
young but for them but then it was the normal age
to get married.
25. MARY THE SERVANT
To be a servant means to be in the
service of another person. Mary was a
servant to God by listening to what
God said to her.
26. MARY THE CHRISTIAN
To be a christian means you have a relationship to
God. Mary did not only believe in God but she lived
her life as a true christian should caring for others
and not judging.
27. MARY THE DISCIPLE
A disciple is a person who is
a follower. Mary was a
disciple because she followed
God’s word. Mary did what
God instructed for her to
do. Mary showed great faith
to do what god told her to
do.
28. WHY MARY IS AN
IMPORTANT ROLE MODEL
FOR ME
There are many reasons that Mary is an important role
model. From the first mention of Mary in the Bible she
shows Faith and Courage when faced with angel Gabriel.
Even though was young and frightened, her belief in God
meant she accepted this role without question.
Whenever Mary could, she happily showed concern for
other people. She didn’t expect anything in return. We saw
this when she visited her cousin Elizabeth when the wine
ran out at the wedding and as she supported her son as he
was crucified. At all times she was selfless.
29. This is an amazing quality to have as a person and
something I would like to be. Her strength that she showed
during times of great difficulty is an important lesson to a
everyone. When things aren’t going well, like Mary, we need
to have Faith that things will get better if we stay strong.
31. PART 2: THE WEDDING IN CANA
Jesus and some friends were invited to a wedding in the town of
Cana. Mary, his mother was there.
Long before the wedding feast was over, the wine was finished.
Mary was concerned and she told Jesus.
Jesus asked his friends to fill up some six huge water jugs that were
nearby with water. Once they did this, they took the water from
the jugs to the ruler of the feast for tasting. He did this and the
water had become wine.
The ruler of the feast then explained with excitement that the best
wine was left until last at this particular feast!
32. HOW MARY WOULD HAVE FELT AT
THE WEDDING AT CANA
Mary was feeling Empathy (understanding how someone
feels) as she knew that the wedding organisers would have
been embarrassed. It was still only early in the wedding
festivities.
In order to fix the situation, Mary turned to Jesus showing
Faith in his ability. She knew that she could not fix the
problem herself but she thought that Jesus could perform a
miracle. And he did!
33. WHEN I FELT THIS WAY:
This year my six year old sister Hollie had a very important
operation, Cochlear Implants in each ear. She has been almost deaf
since she was born and this was a way to make her hear.
She had never been to hospital before and was very scared and
uncertain about what was going to happen.
I felt Empathy as she was so young and it was going to be such a
huge change in her life. The operation was also going to be painful
for her and she needed to be very brave.
My family and I had to show Faith in the Surgeon and Doctors
and Nursers at the Hospital. We also had to have Faith in Hollie
that she would be strong and Brave. And she was!
34. PART 3: HOW DOES THE
CHURCH HONOUR MARY
One way the church honours Mary is by the Feast days. Some
of the feast days are:
*Mary, Mother of God - January 1st
*Presentation of the Lord - February 2nd
*Our Lady of Lourdes - February 11th
*The Annunciation - March 25th
*The Visitation - May 31st
*The Assumption - August 15th
*Birthday of Mary - September 8th
*The Rosary - October 7th
*Immaculate Conception - December 8th
35. Another way that the church honours Mary is with
the various Titles that she has been given. Some of
the titles are:
*Mary Mother of God
*Mary Queen of Heaven and Earth
*Mary Help of Christians
*Mary Queen of Peace
*The Blessed Virgin Mary
*Mary Mother of Jesus
36. The third way the church honours Mary is through prayer:
*Hail Mary
*The Rosary
*Hail Holy Queen
*The Angelus
When we pray The Angelus, The Rosary and Hail Mary we
think about The Annunciation and how Mary obeyed God’s
order. When we pray Hail Holy Queen we think about Mary
being our Queen and how much we love her. These prayers
are called Marian Prayers because they are all about Mary.
There are 2 main types of Prayers, Prayers of Praise and
Prayers of Petition. Prayers of Praise are when you are praying
to thank God for something and Prayers of Petition are when
you pray to ask something of God or the Saints.
37. PART 4 MARY MACKILLOP
Mary Mackillop was a faithful, courageous and spiritual person. She is also
Australian’s first saint. She is a role model for all of us because of her strong
Faith and belief in God.
A time when Mary Mackillop listened to God was when she noticed that poor
couldn’t afford to put their children in school to receive an education. She
responded to God by building schools all over Australia for poor, uneducated
children.
She responded to God by believing everyone is equal, the rich and the poor.
She listened to God by building schools for children and making them happy
because she taught them how much God and Jesus loved them. Mary
Mackillop had a great life she was born in 1892 and died in 1909.
