Journey through Scripture with a 12-part series on FORMED about our Blessed Mother. “The Bible and the Virgin Mary” is an excellent 12-part series that examines the role of Mary in salvation history, including her role as the New Eve, Ark of the Covenant and Queen Mother.

Episode 1: A Biblical Introduction to Mary
If ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ, as St. Jerome famously stated, then ignorance of Scripture is also ignorance of Mary. This is because "what the Catholic faith believes about Mary is based on what it believes about Christ, and what it teaches about Mary illumines in turn its faith in Christ" (CCC 487). In other words, we can't fully understand Christ without understanding Mary.
Following the interpretive pattern of the authors of Scripture and the Fathers of the Church, The Bible and the Virgin Mary examines the role of Mary in salvation history. Through a method called typology (see CCC 128–130), we'll study her role as the New Eve, the Ark of the New Covenant, and the Queen Mother. This study also examines Catholic doctrine with regard to the Blessed Virgin, answering common objections along the way. As a bonus, we'll also explore the Vatican-approved apparitions of Our Lady that have occurred over the last two millennia.
Episode 2: Handmaid of the Lord
In this session, we're going to continue in the same thread, but zoom in on the story of the Annunciation in the Gospel of Luke. We're also going to learn about an important tool for Scripture study called 'typology.'
Episode 3: Wedding at Cana, Garden in Eden
In this session, we're going to dive into the famous story of the Wedding at Cana and see how this event in the Gospel of John is directly connected to the events of the Garden of Eden. We're also going to respond to the accusation often made by non-Catholics that Jesus scolds Mary in a passage in Matthew 12.
Episode 4: Journey Through Scripture: The New Eve
In this session, we're going to learn why Jesus only refers to his mother as "woman" in the Gospel of John. The answer lies in the connection between Eden, Cana, and Revelation. We'll also discuss Mary's title as the New Eve and discover who the real Bridegroom is at the wedding at Cana.
Episode 5: The Ark of the New Covenant
In this lesson we're going to focus on the connections between Mary and the Ark of the Covenant in the Old Testament. This is going to lead us to see why she is referred to as the Ark of the New Covenant.
Episode 6: Born of a Virgin
In this lesson we're going to talk about dogmas. In particular, we're going to focus on the dogma of Mary's perpetual virginity, one of the oldest defined dogmas of the Church. We're also going to deal with the common claims that Jesus had brothers and that Joseph and Mary had marital relations after the birth of Jesus.
Episode 7: The Promised Mother
In this session, we're going to examine the role played by the queen mothers of the Davidic Kingdom in the Old Testament and how they point forward to Mary's role as Queen Mother. As we're about to see, Mary's queenship is alluded to in Matthew's genealogy, which opens the entire New Testament.
Episode 8: Mother Crowned in Glory
In this session we’re going to discuss Mary’s royal title a little further and then move into another of the Marian dogmas: Mary’s status as Mother of God. For those of us who pray the Rosary, this is a familiar title, though perhaps we’ve never given it much thought. If not, now is the opportunity.
Episode 9: Full of Grace
In this session we're going to discuss another of the Marian dogmas—the Immaculate Conception. We're going to see how the Church's belief that Mary was unstained by Original Sin is related to three different passages in Sacred Scripture. It's also going to become clear that, given God's plan of salvation, the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady makes sense.
Episode 10: All Holy
In this session we're going to discover some new significance to the way that the angel Gabriel addresses Mary at the Annunciation. We're also going to see more of why the Immaculate Conception fits salvation history, and refute some of the common objections to this dogma.
Episode 11: The Assumption
This session is packed with all kinds of great material. We're going to examine the dogma of the Assumption of Mary, as well as the many facets of the identity of the woman in the Apostle John's vision in Revelation 12. We'll also learn how John's vision in Revelation is the dramatic fulfillment of the promise God made back in the Garden of Eden: the "first gospel."
Episode 12: Always a Mother
In this session we'll wrap up our discussion of the dogma of the Assumption of Mary by discussing its history in the early Church and how it is celebrated in the Church's liturgy. We'll also learn why we can call Mary Co-redemptrix, Mediatrix, and Advocate without undermining Christ's role as the "one mediator between God and men" (1 Tim 2:5).