The earliest imagery of Mary is found in the Roman catacombs: mother and child and the three wise men. In the first three centuries there were other representations of Mary, of which later icons are probably copies.
431 AD Council of Ephesus, teaches that Mary is the "Theotokos", Mother of God: Byzantine Queen Mother imagery is popular also early icons and mosaics of the "Virgo orans", the praying Virgin, Mary on her own with her hands raised in prayer, similar to the gesture priests adopt at Mass today. In the East, she is depicted
© Published by permission of Msgr. Peter Elliott 2001