The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger. (Jeremiah 7:18)

Queen of heaven was a title of the goddess Ishtar; so some anti-Catholics believe that Catholics are really praying to Ishtar because they call Mary Queen of Heaven.

By this line of reasoning we could "prove" that Evangelicals pray to Satan when they call Jesus "the Morning Star", because "morning star" is the literal meaning of the Hebrew word usually translated "Lucifer" in Isaiah 14:12.  It should be obvious that identical titles do not indicate identity of persons; were this so, King Nebuchadnezzar would be Jesus, since both are called "king of kings" (Daniel 4:24; Apocalypse/Revelations 19:16).

Ishtar does not deserve the title Queen of heaven because she is not truly the queen of heaven; she doesn't even exist! But Mary is the queen-mother of Christ, the King of heaven, so she is the true Queen of heaven!

In the Davidic monarchy, the queen-mother, or gevirah ("lady"; feminine form of gevir, "lord") played a very important role. King Solomon instituted this position when he enthroned his mother, Bathsheba, at his right hand (I Kings 2:19), and all his successors followed his example with their own mothers. This was the kings' way of fulfilling the Commandment to honor their mothers (Exodus 20:12)

Each time the Bible records a king of Judah, it mentions his mother (see I Kings 14:21; II Kings 14:2; 21:19; 23:36; 2 Ch 22:2) because she was the gevirah, and so had a special place in his court. The prophet Jeremiah sends a warning to both the king and his mother (Jer 13:18), and the Babylonians took both King Jeconiah and his mother away into captivity (2 Kings 24:15; Jer 29:2).

Jesus is the final Son of David, the rightful heir to King David's throne. He has exalted the Davidic dynasty into heaven itself, thus making it a truly everlasting kingdom (Ps 89:35-37). And, like His earthly forefathers, He has enthroned His Mother, Mary, at His right hand as the Gevirah of the Kingdom of heaven.

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"While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him. Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee. But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother" (Mt 12:46-50; see also Mark 3:31-35; Lk 8:19-21)

Some use this verse to argue that Mary is not Jesus' Mother, that He has no mother. But that view contradictes the Bible, which calls Mary "the Mother of Jesus" numerous times (Matthew. 1:18; 2:11, 13-14, 20-21; 12:46; Luke. 1:43, 2:33-34, 43, 48, 51; John 2:1, 3, 5; 19:25-26; Acts 1:14). God's Word clearly states that Jesus has a Mother! Does God lie or contradict Himself? No; so Jesus is not denying that Mary is His Mother.

Note that He says that whoever does the Father's will is His brother, sister and mother. Didn't Mary do the Father's will? "And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word" (Luke 1:38). So she is truly His Mother, not just by giving birth to Him, but by her obedience to the will of God!

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Coming to his hometown, he began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. "Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?" they asked. "Isn't this the carpenter's son? Isn't his mother's name Mary, and aren't his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? Aren't all his sisters with us?" (Matthew 13:54-56)

Anti-Catholics claim that this verse proves Jesus had younger half-siblings who were children of Our Lady and St. Joseph. They thus hope to refute the Catholic dogma that Mary remained a virgin after Jesus' birth.

Yet the Bible never actually calls these "brothers and sisters" of Jesus the sons and daughters of the Virgin Mary, because they are not in fact her children! Mark 15:40 mentions a woman called "Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses". James and Joses are two of the "brethren" of Jesus mentioned in Matthew 13:55, so this "other Mary" (Mt 28:1) is clearly their mother - not the Virgin Mary! John 19:25 calls this other Mary "Mary the wife of Cleophas", and identifies her as the "sister" of Jesus' mother ("sister" here probably refers to a sister-in-law, since two siblings would not have the same name!).

So James and Joses are the sons of Cleophas and the other Mary, who are most likely Jesus' uncle and aunt. Since Simon and Jude are mentioned with James and Joses, they must also be Jesus' cousins. In fact, a second century Christian named Hegisippus wrote that "Simon son of Cleophas...one of the Lord's kindred" replaced James the Just as bishop of Jerusalem after the latter's martyrdom. He calls Simon the son of Jesus' uncle (Cleophas). This Christian historical document shows that Simon the "brother" of Jesus was really His first cousin and a son of Cleophas, not of Joseph and Mary.

So why does the Bible call them His "brothers"? In that culture, as in many Middle Eastern cultures today, the term "brother" was used for many relatives who were not full siblings, such as half or step-brothers, brothers-in-law, nephews, cousins of various degrees, etc. So Jesus' "brothers and sisters" were really His cousins; Scripture calls them "brothers and sisters" in accord with the custom of the time.

For a thorough discussion of Mary Ever-Virgin, see the Perpetual Virginity article on this website.

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And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my savior" (Luke 1:47)

As a daughter of Adam and Eve, Mary would have contracted original sin had God not saved her from that fate.  But God wanted her to be a holy dwelling, most fitting for the Holy One Whom she would one day bear in her womb.  This is why she was saved beforehand by Christ, at the first moment of her existence.

Though Mary was conceived before Jesus died on the Cross, God is not subject to the limits of time.  He inhabits eternity (Isaiah 57:15) and sees past, present and future all at once; nothing is impossible to Him.  So Jesus could apply the saving merits of His death to Mary a few decades before His Crucifixion as easily as He can apply them to us two thousand years afterward!  So God truly is Mary's Savior, as the Bible says.  Her Immaculate Conception does not contradict Luke 1:47.

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"A certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked.  But he said, Yea rather blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it." (Luke 11:27-28)

In order to understand what Jesus meant by His words, we have to understand what the anonymous woman in the crowd meant by her words, for He was answering her.  Anti-Catholics like to paint this woman as a "proto-papist" trying to establish worship of the Virgin Mary, which, they say, Jesus nipped in the bud with His reply.  That way they can try to use this verse as a prooftext against Marian devotion.

But let's consider this verbal exchange in context.  This woman had just witnessed His miracles (vs. 14) and heard His life-giving words; she must have been very impressed by Him - not by His Mother, who probably wasn't even present at the time.  The most natural sense behind her words isn't:  "Your Mother is really terrific, I just wanna worship her alongside You!".  It is more like:  "Oh, how I wish I could have a son like You!  Your Mother is so lucky!"

At the time, all of Israel was praying for and expecting the coming of the Messiah, and every Jewish woman hoped that she would be the one to bear him.  We know from the Gospels that there was widespread speculation among Jesus' followers that He was indeed the long-awaited Messiah.  This woman could not have been ignorant of that rumor!  So when when she said:  "Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts that you sucked!", I think she was really saying:  "How I wish that MY womb could have born you, that MY breasts could have nursed you - How I wish you were MY son!  How fortunate your Mother is to have been chosen to bear the Messiah!"

And Jesus set her straight, all right; not to denounce Marian devotion but to show the woman that her longing was wrongheaded.  "You don't have to be My mother," He was saying, "that's Mary's perogative alone; why waste your time desiring what you can't have?  But you can and should hear the word of God and keep it, as she did.  That will make you, and anyone else who does so, blessed as well!  Faith and obedience is the root of Mary's Motherhood; she conceived the Word of God in her soul before she conceived Me in her womb.  No one else can be like her by giving birth to Me physically, but everyone can potentially be like her by hearing and obeying God's Word.".

So in a certain sense, even the great honor of being the physical mother of the Messiah (Lk 1:29) is less great than obedience to God's will, since the latter was the basis of the former, and since the latter is accessible to everyone while the former is Mary's perogative alone.  Yet the Bible says that Mary also obeyed God's will (Luke 1:38), so she is doubly blessed: for having believed God and for having borne Him!  This, too, is the teaching of the Catholic Church.

See: Does Jesus dishonor Mary in his response to "Blessed are the breasts..."?

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