Mary of Nazareth

by Francisco Suárez

Since it was first published in English in 1959, this work has stirred the hearts of thousands of readers with the author's insights into the vocation of the mother of God and how that calling translates into our own lives. It is filled with insights into the ordinary life of the Blessed Mother that lead us to be grateful for our calling and mindful of our responsibility to seek holiness in the very place that God has put us.

Genres: Religion, Spirituality, Christianity, Catholic, Nonfiction, Theology, Biography

218 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1979

About the author

Francisco Suárez (5 January 1548 – 25 September 1617) was a Spanish Jesuit priest, philosopher and theologian, one of the leading figures of the School of Salamanca movement, and generally regarded among the greatest scholastics after Thomas Aquinas. His work is considered a turning point in the history of second scholasticism, marking the transition from its Renaissance to its Baroque phases. According to Christopher Shields and Daniel Schwartz, "figures as distinct from one another in place, time, and philosophical orientation as Leibniz, Grotius, Pufendorf, Schopenhauer, and Heidegger, all found reason to cite him as a source of inspiration and influence."

Reviews

[Michael Vidrine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mary of Nazareth turned out to be really a book about discerning and living the various Christian vocations, that all have Mary as they model and guide. To give full disclosure: Suarez spends too much space paraphrasing scripture passages that he has already quoted, building upon scriptural stories with material that apparently isn’t based on anything other than his own imaginative whim, and he oftentimes operates out of a hermeneutic of starting with his own spiritual ideas and sprinkling scripture on top as a confirmation. But even though 4 starts is rounding up, there were parts of this book that I found to be very insightful and inspiring. Overall it was a good read.

[Sskous · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is absolutely amazing. It brings forth an understanding of Mary that had completely escaped me, makes me love her all the more, and helps me see how I can become more loving in my own life. My daughter-in-law suggested it for our book group, and we were all so overwhelmed that we are breaking it into sections to discuss. Our first discussion, last month, was the longest we have ever had, and we all left after 11 on a weeknight, thrilled and sorry to stop talking. are there 10 stars somewhere?

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is written by an Opus Dei priest.who quotes St. Jose Maria liberally (hence my love for it). The first chapter is about finding one's vocation and is a bit long, especially for someone who has already found hers. But there is a lot of wisdom in that chapter and the rest of the book is fantastic.

[Erik]

Included in the "Holy Men and Women" section of Fr. John McCloskey's 100-book Catholic Lifetime Reading Plan.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was about much more than the life of Mary. It delved into the importance of our own vocations in relation to the Blessed Mother, and how we discern and live out these vocations. Highly recommend!

[Andrew Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an interesting read. For some reason, I really did not like the first chapter. But I persisted: and the rest, I found excellent; so I am interested to go back to that first chapter and see if it was just me...

One of the (many) insights was the contrast between Mary's prayer of supplication at Cana: 'They have no wine,' (few words, and no trying to tell Him how to solve the problem) and her prayer of praise at the Magnificat; when the woman of few words overflows in her outpouring of praise and gratitude. And the meditation on the Passion, and Mary standing at the foot of the Cross was particularly powerful reading for Holy Week.

And of course her message to us, as to the servants at Cana, is always simple: 'Do whatsoever He tells you...'

Highly recommended.