Bible Verses About Mary, Mother of God
The Catholic Church's veneration of Mary — called hyperdulia to distinguish it from the latria (worship) owed to God alone — is rooted entirely in her unique role in salvation history: she is the Mother of God (Theotokos), a title defined at the Council of Ephesus in 431 AD. This title does not mean Mary existed before God or is herself divine; it means that the child she bore was a single divine Person, the second Person of the Trinity, and therefore she is his mother in the fullest sense.
The scriptural witness to Mary is concentrated in Luke's infancy narrative, John 2 (Cana), and Revelation 12. Elizabeth's Spirit-inspired greeting establishes the pattern: Mary is "blessed among women" and "the mother of my Lord." The Magnificat — Mary's own prayer in Luke 1 — is the longest speech given to a woman in the New Testament and one of the great canticles of the Church's Liturgy of the Hours.
Note: 1 verse on this page is from the deuterocanonical books — books included in the Catholic Bible but absent from most Protestant translations (Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, 1–2 Maccabees).
8 verses — Douay-Rheims Bible (1899 Challoner revision) — Public domain
And the angel being come in, said unto her: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.Luke 1:28 — Douay-Rheims
The Annunciation — the angel Gabriel greets Mary with a title unique in Scripture: 'full of grace,' basis for the Catholic doctrine of the Immaculate Conception.
And she cried out with a loud voice, and said: Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?Luke 1:42-43 — Douay-Rheims
Elizabeth's Spirit-inspired greeting — 'the mother of my Lord' (Kyrios) is the scriptural foundation of the title Theotokos, Mother of God.
And Mary said: My soul doth magnify the Lord. And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. Because he hath regarded the humility of his handmaid; for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. Because he that is mighty, hath done great things to me; and holy is his name.Luke 1:46-49 — Douay-Rheims
The opening of the Magnificat — Mary's own prophecy that all generations will call her blessed, prayed daily at Vespers.
And the wine failing, the mother of Jesus saith to him: They have no wine. And Jesus saith to her: Woman, what is that to me and to thee? my hour is not yet come. His mother saith to the waiters: Whatsoever he shall say to you, do ye.John 2:3-5 — Douay-Rheims
Cana — Mary intercedes with Jesus and directs the servants toward obedience; the Fathers read this as the pattern of Marian intercession.
And a great sign appeared in heaven: A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.Revelation 12:1 — Douay-Rheims
The Woman of Revelation 12, identified in Catholic tradition with Mary — the image used in countless representations of Our Lady.
I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel.Genesis 3:15 — Douay-Rheims
The Protoevangelium — the first messianic prophecy, read by the Fathers as referring to Mary and Christ in their enmity with the serpent.
Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel.Isaiah 7:14 — Douay-Rheims
Isaiah's prophecy of the Virgin Birth, cited by Matthew 1:23 as fulfilled in Mary's conception of Jesus.
And Ozias the prince said to her: Blessed art thou, O daughter, by the Lord the most high God, above all the women upon the earth.Judith 13:18Deuterocanonical — Douay-Rheims
A deuterocanonical text — Judith's praise echoes the greeting given to Mary, and the Church Fathers used Judith as a type of Mary.
Related Topics
Related Catholic Prayers
Source
All verse texts from the Douay-Rheims Bible (1899 Challoner revision), public domain. The Douay-Rheims is the traditional Catholic English Bible, translated from the Latin Vulgate.