Mary mother of Jesus


Let us pray (in silence) [that we may share with Mary in the fulness of Christ's life]

pause

God of love,
you chose the blessed virgin Mary
to be the mother of your only Son;
grant that we who have been redeemed by his blood,
may share with her the glory of your eternal kingdom;

through the same Jesus Christ our Lord
who is alive with with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God now and for ever.
Amen.

NZPB Saint Mary, the Mother of Jesus p.660
15 August

The American and CofE Prayer Book commentators see this as a revision of the collect for South African Modern Collects, 1972, for the Falling Asleep of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Jasper and Bradshaw claim the revision (essentially as above) is the work of the CofE Liturgical Commission. The NZ Revised Calendar 1972, however, already has the collect as above [the only difference being "God, who chose..."]

It appears to be sourced in The Scottish Book of Common Prayer (1929):

O GOD, who as on this day didst take to thyself the Blessed Virgin Mary, the mother of thy Son: Grant that we who have been redeemed by his blood, may share with her the glory of thy eternal kingdom; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

The celebration of this feast on 15 August was not present in previous Prayer Books. CofE did not include this celebration until Common Worship. One will have to decide for oneself the weight of the overtones of the RC understanding of the Assumption in Anglican texts. The BCP (USA) p.243 collect has a stronger "O God, you have taken to yourself the blessed Virgin Mary, mother of your incarnate Son: Grant that we, who have been redeemed..."

The NZ Addition (proper preface) for the Great Thanksgiving for the feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary (p.434) is "...With all generations we call her blessed, and with her we recjoice and proclaim the greatness of your holy name." One has to take care not to accidentally continue "Therefore with the faithful who rest in her,..." :-)

Mary ("Miriam") bears the same name as Moses' sister. A strong woman. She is married to Joseph. The names of the rest of the family are also strong names recollecting their early history of liberation. Jesus (Joshua = "God saves/liberates/sets free"), James (Jacob), Joseph, Simon (Simeon), Judas (Judah), (Matthew 13:55). And, yes, we know Jesus had at least two sisters. It also tells a story that we don’t know their names.

Does your family go in for royal names (George, James, Henry, William, Elizabeth, Anne)? Famous sportspeople? Jesus’ family seemed to choose early liberation names. Jesus’ family chose names from the foundational deliverance stories of their nation. You can imagine what the Roman oppressors thought of people with names like this.

When the new Joshua (Jesus) crosses the Jordan (baptism) from the far side (Jn 1:28), re-entering the Promised Land, one can imagine the emails that hit Pontius Pilate's PC from the equivalent of MI5 or the SIS. The strong Miriam-Mary and her family were a group to keep an eye on.
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