Mary’s Biblical and Syncretic Roots

Abstract

Across borders of language and culture, a special kinship has linked millions of women for the past thousand years. They are related not through a surname but through the resonant variations of the name of the Blessed Virgin: Mary, Maria, Marie, Marija, Marianne, Marijanka, Marilyn, Marie Therese, Maria Elena, Mary Beth, Marian, and many more. In Central Europe, Catholic families sometimes gave their sons the middle name of Maria, as well, especially in Austria, Germany, and the Netherlands. Examples are the poet Rainer Maria Rilke, the novelist Erich Maria Remarque, and the actor Klaus Maria Brandauer. An Austrian friend of mine told me that his grandmother walked into town from their farm every week for some forty years to have coffee with her three best friends—who, like her, were all named Maria. I, too, was enrolled in that spiritual sorority, for my middle name is Marie, in honor of her.