Virgin Mary

Mariy is the name of the young virgin girl who, two thousand years ago, gave birth to Jesus, true man and true God: she is therefore also the Mother of God. In an account dating back to the first century, the evangelist Saint Luke reports that Mary was visited by the angel Gabriel, to obtain her consent to the action of the Holy Spirit. This mystery of a woman who became Mother of God, is linked to the mystery of her virginity before, during, and after the birth of Jesus. As she is the closest human to God, believers pray to her so she can ask God to help them in their ordeals on earth. Saint Dominic shared the devotion of his contemporaries for the Virgin Mary: the monastery of nuns at Prouilhe (Aude, France), which was built up in stages from 1206, was placed under his protection; and he went on pilgrimage to Our Lady of Rocamadour (Lot, France). The texts of the thirteenth century relating to the beginning of the Order of Preachers testify to the Marian piety of the Dominicans. As evidence of this, they wore the scapular, strips of white fabric falling on the chest and back, to complement the religious habit: it is a sign of Marian protection. The concession of this garment to the Order of Preachers is attributed to a miraculous revelation of the Virgin to Reginald of Orleans († 1220).