The Feast Day That Honors the Girl Who Carried God

By: Dr. Rian Adams

Today, the church honors Saint Mary the Virgin, the young woman who became the mother of God—not by might, not by merit, but by her “yes.”

But Mary isn't just a Christmas character. She is one of the most theologically significant people in the Christian story. The one who first bore the Word before a single gospel was written. The one whose womb became more expansive than the Temple. And the one who, through centuries of debate and devotion, still teaches the Church how to carry Christ.

Theotokos: A Title That Changed Theology

The Church calls Mary Theotokos, a Greek word that means God-bearer. It’s a title rooted in the claim that the baby Mary carried in her womb wasn’t just a prophet. Or a revolutionary. Or even a very holy man.

He was God.

Not part God. Not an adopted Son. Not a spiritual vessel.
Theotokos affirms that Mary gave birth to the second person of the Trinity in human flesh.

This might sound like theological hair-splitting, but the early Church didn’t think so. In fact, this one word sparked a Christological crisis.

So... What Was the Nestorian Controversy?

Picture it: The year is 428. Robes are flowing, bishops are debating, and Nestorius—newly-minted Bishop of Constantinople—decides to stir the Christological pot.

His big idea? Mary shouldn’t be called Theotokos (“God-bearer”). Too divine. Too dramatic. Let’s go with Christotokos(“Christ-bearer”), he says, because surely Mary just gave birth to Jesus’ human side. Not God himself.

The Church heard that and basically said:
“Absolutely not. Sit down.”

Why? Because if Jesus is fully God and fully human—one single, undivided person—then you don’t get to pull theological Jenga and remove the divine block from his birth story.

To separate the two natures of Christ? That’s not just bad doctrine. That’s a cosmic faceplant.

So in 431 AD, the Council of Ephesus gathered, raised an eyebrow at Nestorius, and declared loud enough for all eternity to hear: Mary is Theotokos. Period.

Not because we’re obsessed with Mary, but because we’re protecting the mystery at the heart of Christianity:

· That God became human.

· That Jesus is God.

· And that yes, God passed through the birth canal of a Jewish teenager.

It’s not a win for “Mary-worship.”
It’s a mic drop for the Incarnation.

So next time someone says theology is boring, remind them:
A fifth-century bishop got canceled hard over grammar and the maternal title of a peasant girl from Nazareth.

And we’re still talking about it.

Mary’s Song Broke the Silence

And when that angel visited her? She didn’t just whisper obedience.

She sang.

“He has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones.
He has lifted up the lowly.”

That’s the Magnificat, Mary’s canticle of praise. It isn’t a lullaby—it’s a revolution in poetic form. A declaration that the Kingdom of God does not resemble the empire of Caesar.

In fact, Mary's song has been considered so politically disruptive that in the 1980s, it was banned from being read in public in Guatemala during periods of civil unrest.
Governments feared it.

Because Mary believed the promises of God before they came true.
She sang like resurrection was already here.

Church History’s Favorite Mother

Most medieval churches in England were dedicated to Mary, not Jesus. That’s not idolatry. That’s the Church’s way of saying: if God came through her once, maybe he still does.
In ancient liturgies, Mary’s name was sometimes the final word of a hymn. Not because she outranks Christ, but because she echoes him—fully human, fully faithful.
The oldest known prayer to Mary ("Sub tuum praesidium") dates back to at least the 3rd century. It’s still prayed by Christians around the world.

A Theology of Flesh and Faith

Mary’s story reminds us that the mysteries of God often arrive looking inconvenient. Unbelievable. Even scandalous.

But she said yes anyway.

She said yes to being misunderstood. Yes to the long walk to Bethlehem. Yes to the cross. Yes to the resurrection she could not yet see.

She teaches the Church not to cling to certainty, but to cling to God.

Come Celebrate With Us

Join us at St. James Episcopal Church in Port St. Joe on Sundays, where we give thanks to God, Jesus, and yes, even confess that Christ was “…incarnate from the virgin Mary, and made man.” Because Mary didn’t just give God a body. She gave us a blueprint for courageous, contemplative, embodied faith.

“Behold, I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your word.”
— Luke 1:38