the disciple standing by whom he loved, he saith unto his
mother, 'Woman, behold thy son.' Then saith he to the disciple, 'Behold
thy mother.' And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own
home." Why was this so if Mary had other living sons? John, who it is
probable was her own sister's son, would immediately lead the Mother
away from the terrible scene, where a sword was also piercing her own
soul, to a place where she could await the announcement of the end. The
fact that there is no record of an appearance to Mary after the
Resurrection must be accounted for by the belief that her faith did not
need this, in its assurance that death could not conquer her divine Son.

Nevertheless, the paucity of the reference to Mary in the New Testament,
after the Nativity, is perplexing. For the other legends concerning her
history and character, which have been cherished by a very large portion
of Christendom, we are wholly indebted to what are known as the
Apocryphal Gospels. These consist of writings which were extant, in some
cases, before the present New Testament books were selected as being
alone authentic, but were not deemed of sufficient worth to be included
in the canon. There is _The Gospel of the Birth of Mary_. In the very
early ages this book was supposed to be the work of Saint Matthew. Many
ancient Christians believed it to be authentic and genuine, and Jerome,
who lived in the fourth century, quotes it entire. Another book, of the
same description, known as the _Protevangelion_ of Saint James, is
mentioned by writers equally ancient. Then there is the _Gospel of the
Infancy_. This, we are told, was accepted by the Gnostic Christians as
early as the second century; but it is full of manifest absurdities,
outrageous even to the most compliant credulity. A fair sample of its
stories--not including the miraculous, which are exceedingly puerile--is
the one which relates that at the circumcision of Jesus an old Hebrew
woman took the part that was severed "and preserved it in an
alabaster-box of old oil of spikenard. And she had a son who was a
druggist, to whom she said, 'Take heed thou sell not this alabaster-box
of spikenard-ointment, although thou shouldst be offered three hundred
pence for it.' Now this is that alabaster-box which Mary the sinner
procured, and poured forth the ointment out of it upon the head and the
feet of our Lord Jesus Christ, and wiped it off with the hairs of her
head."

The _Gospel of Mary_ has been made the basis of much serious belief in
regard to the Blessed Virgin, and especially have Christian artists
drawn from its pages suggestions for their subjects. We will summarize
the account it gives of the Mother of Jesus. "The blessed and ever
glorious Virgin Mary, sprung from the royal race and family of David,
was born in the city of Nazareth, and educated at Jerusalem, in the
temple of the Lord. Her father's name was Joachim, and her mother's
Anna. The family of her father was of Galilee and the city of Nazareth.
The family of her mother was of Bethlehem. Their lives were plain and
right in the sight of the Lord." Nevertheless, for twenty years they
suffered what, in the eyes of the Jews, was one of the greatest of
misfortunes: they were childless. Joachim is taunted with this fact by
Issachar, the high priest. The good man, being much confounded with the
shame of such reproach, retired to the shepherds who were with the
cattle in their pastures; for he was not inclined to return home, lest
his neighbors, who were present and heard all this from the high-priest,
should publicly reproach him in the same manner. Thereupon an angel
appears to him and informs him that his wife Anna shall bring forth a
daughter, and that they shall call her Mary. "She shall, according to
your vow, be devoted to the Lord from her infancy, and be filled with
the Holy Ghost from her mother's womb; she shall neither eat nor drink
anything that is unclean, nor shall her conversation be without among
the common people, but in the temple of the Lord; that so she may not
fall under any slander or suspicion of anything that is bad." The angel
also appears to Anna, giving her the like information. "So Anna
conceived, and brought forth a daughter, and, according to the angel's
command, the parents did call her name Mary."

"And when three years were expired, and the time of her weaning
complete, they brought the Virgin to the temple of the Lord with
offerings. And there were about the temple, according to the fifteen
Psalms of degrees, fifteen stairs to ascend. For the temple being built
on a mountain, the altar of burnt-offering, which was without, could not
be come near but by stairs; the parents of the blessed Virgin and infant
Mary put her upon one of these stairs; but while they were putting off
their clothes, in which they had travelled, and according to custom
putting on some that were more neat and clean, in the mean time the
Virgin of the Lord in such a manner went up all the stairs one after
another, without the help of any to lead or lift her, that anyone would
have judged from hence that she was of perfect age. Thus the Lord did,
in the infancy of his Virgin, work this extraordinary work, and evidence
by this miracle how great she was like to be hereafter. But the parents
having offered up their sacrifice, according to the custom of the law,
and perfected their vow, left the Virgin, with other virgins in the
apartments of the temple, who were to be brought up there, and they
returned home."

Mary, we are told, was ministered unto by angels until her fourteenth
year, and preserved from all suspicion of evil, so that "all good
persons, who were acquainted with her, admired her life and
conversation. At that time the high-priest made a public order, that all
the virgins who had public settlements in the temple, and were come to
this age, should return home; and as they were now of a proper maturity,
should, according to the custom of their country, endeavor to be
married." This, Mary refuses to do, she having vowed her virginity to
the Lord. Then the high priest convenes a meeting of the chief persons
of Jerusalem to seek counsel from Heaven in this matter. A voice from
the mercy-seat directs that all the men of the family of David who were
marriageable and not married should bring their staves to the altar,
"and out of whatsoever person's staff after it was brought, a flower
should bud forth, and on the top of it the Spirit of the Lord should sit
in the appearance of a dove, he should be the man to whom the Virgin
should be given and be betrothed."

Among the rest there was a man named Joseph, of the house and family of
David, and a person very far advanced in years, who drew back his staff,
when everyone besides presented his. Joseph, however, was clearly
pointed out, in the manner described, as being the chosen man.
"Accordingly, the usual ceremonies of betrothing being over, he returned
to his own city of Bethlehem, to set his house in order, and make the
needful provisions for the marriage. But the Virgin Mary, with seven
other virgins of the same age, who had been weaned at the same time, and
who had been appointed to attend her by the priest, returned to her
parents' house in Galilee." Then follows an account of the Annunciation,
similar to that given by Saint Luke, but somewhat elaborated. "Then
Mary, stretching forth her hands, and lifting her eyes to heaven, said,
'Behold the handmaid of the Lord. Let it be unto me according to thy
word.'"

  [Illustration 2: _CHRIST AND THE DAUGHTER OF JAIRUS After the
  painting by Albert Keller.

  The ready faith of the Gospel women is illustrated by many
  narratives of miracles wrought in their behalf. The faith of
  Martha and Mary was rewarded by the restoration to life of their
  brother Lazarus. There was the woman whom physicians could not
  cure, yet her faith led her to touch the hem of the Master's
  garment, and she was made whole. To the widow of Nain, as she
  accompanied the dead body of her son to its sepulchre, was given
  that son restored to life. The despised Syrophenician woman
  proved her humility and her faith, and her daughter was made
  whole. Christ's commiseration was manifested notably to woman,
  though not exclusively, as we see in the case of the raising of
  the daughter of Jairus in answer to the father's faith._]

In the _Protevangelion_ all this is recited, but at greater length. It
is there said of Mary that, while she lived in the temple, "all the
house of Israel loved her." It is related also of her that she was
chosen by the priests to weave the purple veil for the temple. In this
writing, Mary is described as having received the announcement of the
angel as she went to the spring to draw water. There is also a curious
passage in which Joseph is represented as telling the experiences which
came to him as he went to seek a midwife in the village of Bethlehem.
"As I was going," he says, "I looked up into the air, and I saw the
clouds astonished, and the fowls of the air stopping in the midst of
their flight. And I looked down toward the earth, and saw a table
spread, and working people sitting around it, but their hands were upon
the table, and they did not move to eat. They who had meat in their
mouths did not eat. They who lifted their hands up to their heads did
not draw them back; and they who lifted them up to their mouths did not
put anything in; but all their faces were fixed upwards. And I beheld
the sheep dispersed, and yet the sheep stood still. And the shepherd
lifted up his hand to smite them, and his hand continued up. And I
looked unto a river, and saw the kids with their mouths close to the
water, and touching it, but they did not drink."

Notwithstanding all that is said in these ancient writings in the
attempt to do her honor, we must conclude that the glory of the halo
which beautifies the head of the real Mary is derived by reflection from
the moral splendor of her Son. Of what intrinsic greatness of soul she
was possessed it is difficult for us to surmise from the slight
attention given to her in the Gospels. Yet she rightly holds her
position as woman idealized. We need such a poetic creation as Mary; and
her place at the head of all the daughters of earth is the more secure
and effective because her figure in authentic history is but a shadowy
outline. The ideal woman whom all mankind loves and reverences as
Virgin, Mother, and Saint, is objectified by concentrating in Mary of
Nazareth all possible feminine grace, beauty, and purity.

Let us turn now to another Mary who, in the Gospel history, achieved a
fame hardly less renowned than that of her great namesake: Mary of
Magdala, out of whom Christ cast seven devils. Magdala was a town on the
lake of Galilee, as notorious for its profligacy as it was famous for
its wealth, derived from the manufacture of dyes. Mary's affliction was
doubtless as much of a moral as of a mental nature; it may refer to the
abandonment of immoral excess into which she was driven by her
passionate nature. The Jews at the time of Christ were wont to ascribe
every form of evil, physical and also spiritual, to the agency of
demons, who were supposed to have the power of taking possession of
human beings as a habitation. The tradition of the Church has always
identified Mary Magdalene with the woman who, in Simon's house, anointed
Christ's feet with ointment, after washing them with her tears. Still,
it must be confessed that there is no certain foundation for this
belief. On this point, Archdeacon Farrar says: "The Talmudists have much
to say respecting her--her wealth, her extreme beauty, her braided
locks, her shameless profligacy, her husband Pappus, and her paramour
Pandera; but all that we really know of the Magdalene from Scripture is
that enthusiasm of devotion and gratitude which attached her, heart and
soul, to her Saviour's service. In the chapter of Saint Luke which
follows the account of her anointing the Lord's feet