martyrdom of guru tegh...

1820 | Martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur

to recant his faith under torture and was eventually be-headed on November 11, 1675. The Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib in Delhi was later built over the spot where the execution took place.

The martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur is now celebrated on Maghar 11 on the Nanakshahi calendar, which was accepted by the administrative authorities of the religion in Amritsar in the 1990. Maghar 11 is equivalent to November 24 on the Common Era calen-dar. Commemoration of Guru Tegh Bahadur’s death is one of 12 Gurpurbs, holidays that recall the birth or death of one of the 10 Sikh gurus. Sikhs celebrate the Gurpurbs by performing an Akhand Path, a public reading of the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh holy scrip-tures, in gurdwaras around the world. It requires two days to read the entire volume from beginning to end. The reading will thus begin two days before the des-ignated holy day and will end early in the morning of the day of commemoration. Each person chosen to participate will read aloud for two to three hours. The day itself will start early in the morning and include the recitation of prayers, the singing of kirtans (holy songs), and speeches on the theme of the day. It will include a communal meal. Though guru for less than two years, Tegh Bahadur made a signifi cant impact on the movement because of his faithfulness under the most severe of circumstances.

J. Gordon Melton

See also: Calendars, Religious; Common Era Calendar; Guru Gobind Singh’s Birthday; Sikhism/Sant Mat.

ReferencesDuggal, K. S. Sikh Gurus: Their Lives and Teachings.

New Delhi: UBSPD, 2005.Kapoor, Sukhbor Sing. Sikh Festivals. Vero Beach,

FL: Rourke Publishing Group, 1989.

Mary, Blessed Virgin

The Blessed Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus of Naza-reth, is one of a half dozen women named Mary who appear in the Christian New Testament. She fi rst ap-pears in the Gospel accounts six months after the conception of John the Baptist when she was visited by the angel Gabriel (whom Muhammad would later

The martyrdom of Guru Arun Dev is credited with changing the basic character of Sikhs from a passive peaceable people into militant group willing to fi ght for its own survival and to protect its members from per-secution. Arun Dev was succeeded by Guru Har Gobind (r. 1606–1644). He rejected the pacifi sm and non-violent stance of previous gurus and organized a small army. He argued that it was necessary to take up the sword in order to protect the weak and the oppressed.

J. Gordon Melton

See also: Calendars, Religious; Pacifi sm; Sikhism/Sant Mat.

References Duggal, K. S. Sikh Gurus: Their Lives and Teachings.

New Delhi: UBSPD, 2005.Kapoor, Sukhbor Sing. Sikh Festivals. Vero Beach,

FL: Rourke Publishing Group, 1989.

Martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur

Guru Tegh Bahadur (1621–1675), the ninth guru of Sikhism, assumed his offi ce on March 20, 1665. He succeeded to the task from his grand-nephew, Guru Har Krishan (1656–1664), who was only fi ve years old when he became the guru and died before his eighth birthday.

Guru Har Krishan did not name a successor, only delivering an ambiguous message that he would be found in Bakala. Several proclaimed themselves the new guru, but eventually the unassuming Tegh Baha-dur was singled out and received the support of the community.

He was named guru during the reign of the em-peror Aurangzeb (1618–1707), who had the goal of turning India into a Muslim land. He initiated a pro-gram of forced conversion in Kashmir. A group of re-ligious leaders agreed, on the advice of the guru, to tell the Mughal authorities that they would willingly embrace Islam if Guru Tegh Bahadur did the same. Aurangzeb ordered his arrest and before leaving for Delhi, Tech Bahadur selected his son, Gobind (later Guru Gobind Singh), as his successor, should it be necessary. He was arrested, detained for three months, and then sent to Delhi in November 1675. He refused

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Mary, Blessed Virgin | 1821

under the most humble of circumstances but was soon afterward visited by people to whom his birth had been revealed. Among these were three Wise Men (Zoroas-trian astrologers) who had come to Judea looking for someone whose birth had been heralded by a star that had suddenly appeared in the night sky. The Judean King Herod, learning of the child’s birth from the Wise Men, decided to kill all the male infants in his realm as he saw the birth of Jesus threatening his throne. Being warned in a dream about this plan, Mary, Joseph, and Jesus left Judea and spent time in Egypt.

When conditions allowed, the family returned to Nazareth and Jesus grew up there. Little is heard of him for the next few decades. One incident stands out. When he was 12 years old, while the family was visiting Jerusalem for the Passover holy day, Jesus disappeared. Mary and Joseph eventually found him discussing serious issues with the elders in the temple.

Elsewhere in the Gospels, Jesus is mentioned as having brothers (James, Joses [or Joseph], Simon, and Judas) and sisters whose names are not mentioned (Matthew 13:55–56; Mark 6:3). Protestants generally assume that while Mary was a virgin when Jesus was conceived and given birth, she later lived a normal married life with Joseph and had additional children. This idea confl icts with the understanding of Mary’s perpetual virginity, a doctrine held by the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. They believe that Mary and Joseph never consummated their mar-riage and that those spoken of as Jesus’ brothers and sisters were cousins or even more distant relatives.

Mary appears several times during Jesus’ adult ministry. She is, for example, present when he turned water into wine at a wedding (John 2:1–10). She is also seemingly rebuffed when attempting to see Jesus; he refuses by stating that those who do the will of his heavenly Father are his real brothers, sisters, and mother.

Mary fi nally appears among those who keep watch at Golgotha after Jesus is crucifi ed. While Jesus is hanging on the cross, he commends his mother to the care of his disciple John. She seems to have gone to his home to live from that time. She makes one last appearance, among the disciples in the days following Jesus’ resurrection and ascension, but prior to the giv-ing of the Spirit at Pentecost.

announce as having visited him with the content of the Koran). At the time Mary was as yet unmarried but was engaged to a carpenter named Joseph. Gabriel told Mary that she was highly honored and would be-come the mother of Jesus, the Son of the Most High. Given that Mary was a virgin, she would become preg-nant by the power of the Holy Spirit. Gabriel also informed her that her cousin Elizabeth was already pregnant (with the future John the Baptist) and Mary proceeded to visit her and share the good news of her situation. Her pregnancy was initially a problem for her future husband, who thought of backing out of the engagement, until the special circumstances were re-vealed to him in a dream. Following the instructions he had received, Joseph married her.

Shortly before Jesus’ birth, the couple traveled to Bethlehem to be counted in a census ordered by Rome. Joseph was descended from King David and thus Beth-lehem was his family’s home. Mary gave birth to Jesus

Small child next to a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Our Lady of Japan, Tokyo. ( J. Gordon Melton)


1822 | Mary, Blessed Virgin

A second tradition traces Mary to Ephesus, near which she was taken by the Apostle John to a house on Mount Koressos, in what is today western Turkey, and maintains that she lived there the remaining years of her earthly life. Roman Catholics believe that she did not die but was taken up into heaven. Orthodox and Muslims believed that she died in this house. The site was lost, but was described in visions by 19th-century nun and seer Anne Catherine Emmerich (1774–1824). Using the Emmerich materials, a house was found in the 1890s by two members of the Vincentian Order, founded by Saint Vincent de Paul (1581–1660). They subsequently discovered that people from a nearby village who considered themselves descendants of the Ephesian Christians venerated the house as Mary’s fi nal resting place.

Over the centuries, thousands of people have claimed to have been visited by the Virgin Mary, the number rising signifi cantly since early in the 19th cen-tury. Several hundred of these apparitions have risen above the mundane and become the basis of new forms of Catholic piety, the source of new revelations, or a new site for pilgrimages. The Roman Catholic rosary, for example, is traced to a 13th-century apparition of Mary to Saint Dominic. The Miraculous Medal was given to Saint Catherine Labouré in her vision of Mary in Paris in 1830.

The scapular is a narrow cloth with an opening for the head that hangs down a person’s front and back. Evolving from the aprons worn by agricultural labor-ers over their clothes, in the medieval period they be-came the identifying mark of monastic garb. They were later worn by laypeople who wished to show their sup-port for a particular order. In 1251, the Blessed Virgin appeared to Simon Stock, the superior general of the Carmelite Order. She gave him a brown scapular and promised that any who wore it would be saved from eternal damnation. In 1617, Ursula Benincasa (1547–1618), founder of the Congregation of the Oblates of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, had a vision of the Blessed Virgin who showed her a multitude of angels distributing blue scapulars. Her order subsequently made the distribution of the scapular one of its unique activities. Subsequent ap-paritions have been identifi ed with scapulars of differ-ent colors.

In the early years of Christianity, Mary plays into the debates over the way of salvation and the nature of Jesus. In the Apostles’ Creed, the earliest statement of Christian belief in creedal form, Jesus is affi rmed as having been “born of a virgin.” This position is reaf-fi rmed in the fourth-century Nicene Creed and Chace-donian Creed, which nailed down belief of Jesus’ dual nature as God and man. Mary’s status relative to the Virgin Birth of Jesus would be debated at the Council of Ephesus (451), which affi rmed her as Theotokos, or Mother of God. Especially since the visit of Constan-tine’s mother Helena to the Holy Land, relics of Mary have been valued. The beliefs of both Eastern and Western Christians prevent the existence of any bodily remains of Mary, but several items associated with her are held at the cathedral at Prado (a piece of ribbon identifi ed as her belt), the cathedral at Chartres (her veil), and the cathedral at Aachen (her shroud).

During the 14th century, in Italy, a house at Lo-retto was put forth as the house of in which the angel Gabriel made the Annunciation (told Mary that she was to bear Jesus). According to the story, the house was miraculously transported to Tersato, Dalmatia, in 1291 and then to Loretto in 1294. It remains a popular pil-grimage site.

Several traditions have developed concerning Mary’s death. Most Eastern Orthodox Christians be-lieve that the Virgin Mary died a natural death, at which time her soul was received by Christ. Her body was buried and three days later was resurrected and taken into heaven as a symbol of the future general resurrec-tion of all believers. They also recognize a site near the Mount of Olives just outside Jerusalem as her burial spot. A small church was built over this site in the fi fth century. It was destroyed in the seventh century when Jerusalem was invaded by the Persians. Over the next centuries it was rebuilt and destroyed on multiple oc-casions, though the crypt remained intact. Though Mus-lims hold Mary in high respect as the mother of the Prophet Isa (Jesus), in 1187, Saladin destroyed the church that had been erected over the crypt by the Cru-saders. Finally in the 14th century, some Franciscans (Roman Catholics) again erected a church over the site. That church is today owned by the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, though space in the church is shared with the Armenian Apostolic Church.


Mary, Blessed Virgin | 1823

veneration of Mary into a major aspect of Roman Catholic devotion in the modern world. In addition, Mary has been named as the patroness—protector and intercessor—for a number of organizations, profes-sions, and even countries. She has been named as the patroness of more than 60 countries, not all by any means having a Catholic majority.

Mary has been a primary subject of Christian art-ists. In the East, a number of sacred icons have Mary as their subject. Several of these have become famous as “weeping” icons. One icon traced back to Helena is called Our Lady of Czestochowa, an icon now located in Poland. In the 1380s, Prince Ladislaus, the regent for King Louis of Poland, prayed to the Virgin asking where her image should be placed, and in a dream she pointed to a hill at Czestochowa. Ladislaus endowed a monastery and left the image with the monks. In the 1430s, when the monastery was attacked, a soldier slashed the cheek of the image three times. He died as he made the third cut. Since that time, attempts to re-pair the image have been unsuccessful.

In the West, statues of the Virgin have been popu-lar, many depicting the image of the virgin as she ap-peared in various apparitions. Most of these statues developed special names. Mary also became the sub-ject of 20th-century attempts to build Christina mega-statues. The largest statue of Mary, at 151 feet, is the Virgen de la Paz, located at Trujillo, Venezuela. Other mega statues are the Holy Mother of God the Protec-tress of the town of Haskovo, Bulgaria, and Our Lady of the Rockies, which sits on the Continental Divide overlooking Butte, Montana.

Mary in Islam In Islamic thought, Jesus is one of the prophets preceding Muhammad, and his mother is given special attention in the Koran. It is noted by Mus-lim scholars that Mary is granted more attention than any woman mentioned in the Koran. She is in fact the only woman mentioned by name and one of eight per-sons to have a chapter (the 19th) devoted to her. She is called Mariam, Arabic for Mary. According to the Koran, Mary’s mother dedicated her to God while Mary was still in her womb. The angel Gabriel visited Mary to announce her pregnancy with Jesus, though she was a chaste virgin. She has Jesus, alone under a tree, neither Joseph, the visiting Wise Men, nor a manger being

Anne Catherine Emmerich is but one of many peo-ple who had apparitions of the Virgin and left behind a body of work that included messages to humanity from the Blessed Virgin. Many of the apparitions have rela-tively brief messages to communicate, most often cen-tered on more fervent devotion or a particular action. But some seers have brought forth lengthy commu-nications delivered over a period of time, some being published as multi-volume texts. Very few of these materials, received in a Roman Catholic context and resembling volumes received by New Age channelers, have received any recognition by church authorities.

The site of many of the 19th- and 20th-century ap-paritions, from Guadalupe, Mexico; to Lourdes, France; to Fatima, Portugal; to Knock, Ireland, have, especially when given the least bit of approval by church authori-ties, become popular pilgrimage sites. Even those mar-ginalized by the church—Necedah, Wisconsin; Bayside, New York; and Conyers, Georgia—have been able to sustain a following to the present.

Doctrinal Development The spread of popular piety supported the development of Mariology, a theology of the Virgin Mary, as a subdiscipline of Christian the-ology. Mariology would explore and defi ne a set of doctrinal affi rmations that would become offi cial dogma, that is, a doctrine to which all Roman Catholics are supposed to grant assent. The dogma of the Perpetual Virginity of the Virgin Mary, that Mary remained a virgin throughout her earthly life, was defi ned quite early and was clearly stated by Augustine and Thomas Aquinas and reaffi rmed by the Second Vatican Coun-cil (1962–1965). The dogma of the Immaculate Con-ception, that from her conception, Mary was preserved from original sin, was defi ned as dogma in 1854 by Pope Pius IX in his encyclical Ineffabalis Deus. The dogma of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, which states that Mary did not die a bodily death but was taken to heaven at the end of her earthly life and now spends her time working for the salvation of all, was put forth in 1950 by Pope Pius XII in his apostolic constitution, Munifi centissimus Deus.

In addition to these dogmas, there are a number of titles that have been given to Mary—Queen of Heaven, Co-Redemptrix, Mystical Rose—which indicate ad-ditional popular beliefs that together have elevated the


1824 | Mary I

came to power as the Protestant Reformation made a signifi cant impact on the country and she used her power to attempt to bring England back into the Roman Catholic fold. In the process she had a number of Prot-estant leaders arrested and executed, and drove many more into exile. For centuries afterward, Mary was portrayed as a villain in Protestant literature.

Mary I was born February 18, 1516. She was the only surviving offspring of Henry’s brief marriage to Catherine of Aragon (1485–1536), a member of the Catholic Spanish ruling family. While Henry still hoped that he would have a son with Catherine, Mary was generally recognized as the current heir to the throne. However, once Henry moved to annul his marriage to Catherine, Mary fell from his favor. Henry subse-quently, in 1533, had a second daughter, Elizabeth, whose mother was Anne Boleyn (ca. 1501–1536).

Catherine died in 1536, and Henry forced Mary to sign a statement renouncing her loyalty to Catholi-cism. Though having to still endure remarks about her legitimacy, she otherwise enjoyed a brief respite from Henry’s anger. The pressure on her was further re-lieved the following year when Edward VI was born of Henry’s next wife, Jane Seymour (1508–1537). In Henry’s fi nal will, Mary was named as second in suc-cession to her half-brother Edward VI (1537–1553).

Following her father’s death in 1547, she lived quietly away from London, though after the prohibi-tion of the Mass by the Protestant-controlled Council that ran the government given Edward’s youth, she de-fi ed the Council’s leaders and continued Roman Cath-olic practice in her home. The issue did not prevent her from occasionally paying formal visits to Edward.

Following Edward’s death on July 6, 1553, John Dudley, duke of Northumberland (ca. 1502–1553), who as the lord president of the Council had virtually run the country during the reign of the juvenile Edward, attempted to bypass both of Henry’s daughters and have his daughter-in-law Lady Jane Grey (ca. 1537–1554) placed on the throne. Mary acted quickly after learning of the plot. She gathered her supporters and arrived in London, where she was acknowledged as the new queen on July 19. She turned on Northumberland and had him arrested and soon afterward executed.

As queen, Mary systematically began the reversal of all the laws and actions taken by her father and then

mentioned in the Koran. The birth of Jesus has been seen as more like Allah’s creation of Adam de novo, rather than as miracle demonstrating Jesus’ divinity. Mary is seen as the type of a pious believer who submits to Allah and is told, “O Mary! God hath chosen thee and purifi ed thee—chosen thee above the women of all nations. O Mary! worship thy Lord devoutly: Prostrate thyself, and bow down with those who bow down.”

J. Gordon Melton

See also: Augustine of Hippo; Devotion/Devotional Traditions; Islam; Jerusalem; Muhammad; Passover; Statues—Christian; Thomas Aquinas.

ReferencesBall, Ann. The Other Faces of Mary: Stories, Devo-

tions, and Pictures of the Holy Virgin from Around the World. New York: Crossroad Pub-lishing Company, 2004.

Dodds, Monica, and Bill Dodds. Encyclopedia of Mary. Huntington, IN: Our Sunday Visitor, 2007.

Durham, Michael S. Miracles of Mary: Apparitions, Legends, and Miraculous Works of the Blessed Virgin Mary. San Francisco: Harper, 1995.

Galvan, John. “Jesus and The Virgin Mary in Islam.” Islam for Today. http://www.islamfortoday.com/galvan03.htm. Accessed July 1, 2004.

Heintz, Peter. A Guide to Apparitions of Our Blessed Virgin Mary. Sacramento: Gabriel Press, 1995.

“The Mary Page (University of Dayton).” http://www.udayton.edu/mary/marypage21.html. Accessed July 1, 2009.

Pelikan, Jaroslav. Mary through the Centuries: Her Place in the History of Culture. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1998.

Rubin, Miri. Mother of God: A History of the Virgin Mary. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2009.

Zimdars-Swartz, Sandra. Encountering Mary: From La Salette to Medjugorje. New York: Harper Perennial, 1992.

Mary I

1516–1558

Mary I (Mary Tudor), queen of England (r. 1553–1558), was the daughter of Henry VIII (1491–1547). She


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