page_title: Mary, mother of Jesus
section_title: Christian
hierarchical_section_title: Mary, mother of Jesus / Perspectives on Mary / Christian
caption_attribution_description: English: Painting of Chinese Madonna, St. Francis' Church, Macao SANYO DIGITAL CAMERA
context_page_description: Mary was a first-century Galilean Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph, and the mother of Jesus, according to the canonical gospels and the Quran.
  The gospels of Matthew and Luke in the New Testament and the Quran describe Mary as a virgin. In Matthew and Luke she is betrothed to Joseph. According to Christian theology she conceived Jesus through the Holy Spirit while still a virgin. She accompanied Joseph to Bethlehem, where Jesus was born.
  According to Catholic and Eastern Christian teachings, at the end of her earthly life God raised her body directly into heaven; this is known in the Christian West as the Assumption.
  Mary has been venerated since early Christianity, and is considered by millions to be the most meritorious saint of the religion. She is said to have miraculously appeared to believers many times over the centuries. The Eastern and Oriental Orthodox, Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran churches believe that Mary, as mother of Jesus, is the Theotokos. There is significant diversity in the Marian beliefs and devotional practices of major Christian traditions.
context_section_description: Christian Marian perspectives include a great deal of diversity. While some Christians such as Catholics and Eastern Orthodox have well established Marian traditions, Protestants at large pay scant attention to Mariological themes. Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutherans venerate the Virgin Mary. This veneration especially takes the form of prayer for intercession with her Son, Jesus Christ. Additionally it includes composing poems and songs in Mary's honor, painting icons or carving statues of her, and conferring titles on Mary that reflect her position among the saints.
caption: Chinese Madonna, St. Francis' Church, Macao
exif: {"Image Tag 0x000B": "Windows Photo Editor 10.0.10011.16384", "Image ImageDescription": "SANYO DIGITAL CAMERA", "Image Make": "SANYO Electric Co.,Ltd.", "Image Model": "CG9", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image Software": "Windows Photo Editor 10.0.10011.16384", "Image DateTime": "2017:10:23 16:27:54", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "2386", "Image XPTitle": "[83, 0, 65, 0, 78, 0, 89, 0, 79, 0, 32, 0, 68, 0, 73, 0, 71, 0, 73, 0, 84, 0, 65, 0, 76, 0, 32, 0, 67, 0, 65, 0, 77, 0, 69, 0, 82, 0, 65, 0, 0, 0]", "Image XPSubject": "[83, 0, 65, 0, 78, 0, 89, 0, 79, 0, 32, 0, 68, 0, 73, 0, 71, 0, 73, 0, ... ]", "Image PrintIM": "[80, 114, 105, 110, 116, 73, 77, 0, 48, 51, 48, 48, 0, 0, 24, 0, 1, 0, 22, 0, ... ]", "Image Padding": "[]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "96", "Thumbnail YResolution": "96", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "8682", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "16439", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/30", "EXIF FNumber": "7/2", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "290", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2008:07:22 00:55:03", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2008:07:22 00:55:03", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "4", "EXIF BrightnessValue": "-1/10", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "18/5", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash fired, auto mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "34/5", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "00", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "00", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3456", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2592", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "0", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "38", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "High gain up", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "3", "EXIF Padding": "[]", "EXIF OffsetSchema": "4202"}