reality, and that she is truly his mother: no one else is the mother of the Son of God, and he has no mother but her; her son, they say, has no father but God, and God has no child but him. They claim that God chose her for Himself and for the birth (1) of His child—His son—above all other women. Had she been like ordinary women, they add, she would have conceived only through a man’s intercourse with her; yet she was set apart from all women in that she conceived the Son of God and bore His son, of whom in truth He has no other, and who in truth has no father but Him. They further assert that she is seated upon the Throne, to the left of the Lord—glorified be He—the father of her son, while her son sits to His right.

The Christians invoke her, asking her for abundant provision, bodily health, long life, forgiveness of sins, and that she be for them—with her son and his father, whom most of them regard as her husband and do not reproach them for it—a rampart, a support, a treasure, an intercessor, and a refuge. In their supplications they say, “O Mother of God, intercede for us!” They venerate her, exalting her above the angels and above all the prophets and messengers, and they request of her what should be asked only of God—well-being, sustenance, and forgiveness!

Indeed, the Jacobites (2) whisper in their devotions to her: “O Mary, O Mother of God, be for us a rampart, a support, a treasure, and a refuge!” By contrast, the Nestorians (3) say: “O Mother of the Messiah, be so for us!” and they tell the Jacobites, “Do not say, ‘O Mother of God’; rather say, ‘O Mother of the Messiah.’”