Although considered by people of all faiths as one of the most important people who ever lived, the Blessed Virgin Mary remains for most of the world a vague and distant figure chiefly associated with Christmas carols, the rosary, and the "Ave Maria". This extensive and beautifully written study is designed to provide renewed insight into Mary as the dynamic and compassionate woman, who not only gave birth to the God of history but who, all through the centuries, in word, deed, and apparition, has continued to bring heaven's imortal grace to the mortal tribes of earth.

Beginning with Mary's significance in the early Church and the writings of the Church Fathers, the author moves on through Church history showing her inspirational role in the building of vast numbers of cathedrals; the history and power of Mary's rosary and scapular; the story of her intercession in the critical battle of Lepanto in 1571; Mary in the writings of poets like Dante and Donne, in the music of great composers like Schubert, in the paintings of the great masters and in the sculpture of Michelangelo.

Finally, this book gives an in-depth look at the story and message of each of Mary's eight great apparitions in the period from 1830 to 1933. This is truly a work of inspiration that will leave the reader in awe and wonder at the incredible grace, mercy, and love that God has bestowed on mankind through the person of Mary, his mother.

John Martin is a vetran professional writer whose works include A Chosen Vessel: An Evening with St. Paul and Troubadour, a musical about Francis of Assisi, for which he was lyricist and co-librettist. Hes is a graduate of Santa Clara University. His poems and essays have appeared in First Things, Chronicles, The Sewanee Review, The Christian Century, and The Chesterton Review.