Nazareth: The Hidden Life of Mary and Jesus
Nazareth, the Hidden Life of Mary and Jesus
Nazareth is the village in Galilee where Mary and Joseph lived, where Jesus grew up for 30 years, and where the house of Mary stands, over which the Basilica of the Annunciation was built. For Mariology, Nazareth is the shrine of the hidden life: the place of silence, of work, and of hidden holiness.
The Annunciation at Nazareth
It was at Nazareth that the Angel Gabriel announced the divine motherhood to Mary. The house identified with Mary’s home lies today beneath the great Basilica of the Annunciation, built by the Franciscans. It is one of the most visited places in the Holy Land and a center of Marian pilgrimage of enormous importance.
Thirty Years of Silence
The Gospel keeps almost complete silence about the 30 years that Jesus spent at Nazareth. From this silence the Fathers of the Church drew a spirituality: Nazareth is the school of the interior life, of fidelity in little things, of the sanctification of daily work. Paul VI, on a visit to the Holy Land, gave a remarkable address on the “lesson of Nazareth”.
The Holy Family as a Model
At Nazareth the Holy Family lived: Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. This family of Nazareth is, for the Church, the model of every Christian family. Their daily life of prayer, work, and mutual love is the concrete proposal of how to live the Gospel in the ordinary circumstances of existence.
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Magisterium of the Church
In Nazaret, in familia Mariae et Ioseph, Iesus proficiebat sapientia et aetate et gratia apud Deum et homines.
Luke 2:52 (Vulgata Clementina)
📚 Literal translation: At Nazareth, in the family of Mary and Joseph, Jesus grew in wisdom, age, and grace before God and men.
Nazaret, schola vitae evangelicae per excellentiam, ubi Maria et Ioseph nos docent quid sit amor, silentium et oboedientia.
Paulus VI, Allocutio in Nazaret (5 ianuarii 1964)
📚 Literal translation: Nazareth, school of the life of the Gospel par excellence, where Mary and Joseph teach us what love, silence, and obedience are.
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This article grows out of the works in the Locus Mariologicus library. The Postgraduate Program in Mariology takes you to the same source, with academic guidance: Scripture, the Fathers of the Church, and the Magisterium, from the first dogma to contemporary questions.
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