Mary is known by many different titles (Blessed Mother, Virgin, Madonna, Our Lady), epithets (Star of the Sea, Queen of Heaven, Cause of Our Joy), invocations (Theotokos, Panagia, Mother of Mercy) and other names (Our Lady of Loreto, Our Lady of Guadalupe).

All of these titles refer to the same individual named Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ (in the New Testament) and are used variably by Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and some Anglicans. (Note: Mary Magdalene, Mary of Clopas, and Mary Salome are different individuals from Mary, mother of Jesus.)

Many of the titles given to Mary are dogmatic in nature. Other titles are poetic or allegorical and have lesser or no canonical status, but which form part of popular piety, with varying degrees of acceptance by the clergy. Yet more titles refer to depictions of Mary in the history of art.

Historical and cultural context

There are several stories on the significance of the relatively large number of titles given to Mary. Some titles grew due to geographic and cultural reasons, e.g. through the veneration of specific icons. Others were related to Marian apparitions.

In the culture and practice of some Christian churches — mainly, but not solely, the Roman Catholic Church — a shrine to the Virgin Mary (or Marian shrine) is a shrine marking an apparition or other miracle ascribed to the Blessed Virgin Mary, or a site on which is centered a historically strong Marian devotion. Such locales are often the destination of pilgrimages.

Some of the largest shrines arose from reported Marian apparitions to young and simple people on remote hilltops that had hardly been heard of prior to the reported apparition. The story of Saint Juan Diego's reported vision of Our Lady of Guadalupe in 1531 is similar to that of Saint Bernadette Soubirous' vision in 1858 of Our Lady of Lourdes. Both saints reported a miraculous woman on a hilltop who asked them to request that the local priests build a chapel at the site of the vision. Both visions included a reference to roses and led to large churches being built at the sites. Like Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico, Our Lady of Lourdes is a major Catholic symbol in France. Both visionaries were eventually declared saints.

An angel is a supernatural being in many religions.

Angel(s) may also refer to:

People

Surname

Places

The Angels are an American girl group, best known for their 1963 No. 1 hit single, "My Boyfriend's Back".

History

The group originated in New Jersey as the Starlets which consisted of sisters, Barbara "Bibs" and Phyllis "Jiggs" Allbut, Bernadette Carroll, and Lynda Malzone. They had some minor local hits and wound up doing back-up work in the studio. When Lynda Malzone left, Linda Jankowski (later Jansen) became the new lead singer. Their manager, Tom DeCillis, turned his focus to Bernadette Carroll and dropped the rest of the group. Carroll would find solo success in 1963 with her Laurie single "Party Girl." After a failed attempt at record deal with producer Gerry Granahan, the Allbut sisters turned their focus to education. Phyllis Allbut was in teacher's college at the time and Barbara Allbut was accepted into the Juilliard School for her abilities as a musical arranger. Soon Granahan, who had previously rejected the group, suddenly saw hit potential in the song they had performed for him in their audition, a version of "Till," and wanted them to record it in the studio. "Til" became their first single under their new name, the Angels, and also their first hit (#14 US) released by Granahan's Caprice label in 1961. The song was followed up with a less-successful single, "Cry Baby Cry." The Angels had one album on Caprice, titled ...And the Angels Sing in 1962.

The Angels is the first album by Australian hard rock band, The Angels, which was released in August 1977. It was produced by Vanda & Young (AC/DC) at Sydney's Albert Studios. It included a re-recorded version of their debut single, "Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again" (March 1976) and provided their second single, "You're a Lady Now", in July 1977. By the mid-1980s "Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again" had developed a cult status with the audience responding with "No way, get fucked, fuck off!"

Background

The Angels is the eponymous debut album by Australian hard rockers, The Angels, which was issued in August 1977. The group's line up, from January that year, were Chris Bailey on bass guitar; Graham Bidstrup (aka Buzz Throckman) on drums; John Brewster on rhythm guitar and backing vocals; his brother, Rick Brewster on lead guitar; and Bernard "Doc" Neeson on lead vocals.

The group had supported AC/DC in early 1976 and were signed by their producers, Vanda & Young, to Albert Productions record label. On 1 March that year The Angels had issued their debut single, "Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again", which was produced by Vanda & Young. The band then recorded their debut album at Albert Studio with Vanda & Young producing, again. Six of the ten tracks were co-written by the Brewster brothers with Neeson.