Prayer and the Blessed Virgin Mary (Acts 1:14)

Acts 1:14 They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

Prayer in today’s churches is often relegated to the few. It is certainly not the main event and often not a significant event at all. In stark contrast, the believers in the early church were constantly in prayer.

It should be noted that our lack of prayer is not simply a fault in our practice, but a symptom of our lack of faith. In the parable of the unrighteous judge Jesus gave a parable about a woman begging a judge for justice and he granted it to her just so she’d leave him alone. It is clearly a parable on prayer, but in the very end, he ties in a lack of prayer to a lack of faith.

Luke 18:1-8 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up… “I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” NIV

A separate topic brought up in this verse is the issue of Jesus’ brothers. In Catholic tradition, it is believed that Mary did not have union with Joseph even after Jesus’ birth. (Catechism of the Catholic Church #499)

This may not seem doctrinally significant, but it does run contrary to Matthew 1:25, and may cast doubt on the legitimacy of normal marital relations.

Matthew 1:25a But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. NIV

James, Joseph, Simon and Judas (not Iscariot) are listed as being Jesus’ brothers in Matthew 13:55. Mark 6:3 also lists them as such and also mentions his sisters.

Mark 6:3 “Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.

In this context it would be a stretch to interpret the use of brothers and sisters as anything but siblings. In Acts 1:14 it also seems clear that “his brothers” refers to his siblings. His followers were referred to as “they” in the first part of the verse, so “his brothers” could not refer to them. In addition, using “his brothers” immediately after mentioning His mother Mary makes it clear that these are his biological kin.