[Salvation]

From Matthew: Conceived by the Holy Spirit:

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⁶ Now this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, ⁷ but before they lived together, she was found with child through the holy Spirit.

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Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, ⁸ yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly.

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Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord ⁹ appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her.

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She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, ¹⁰ because he will save his people from their sins."

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All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:

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¹¹ "Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel," which means "God is with us."

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When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home.

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He had no relations with her until she bore a son, ¹² and he named him Jesus.

From Luke: "highly favored one"-- spoken by the angel, "Mother of my Lord" -- spoken by Elizabeth, "Most blessed are you among women" -- spoken by Elizabeth, "Blessed are you who have believed" -- spoken by Elizabeth, "For he has looked upon his handmaid's lowliness; behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed." -- spoken by the virgin Mary.

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¹⁰ In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth,

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to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary.

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And coming to her, he said, "Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you."

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But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.

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Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.

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Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus.

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He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, ¹¹ and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father,

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and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end."

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But Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?" ¹²

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And the angel said to her in reply, "The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.

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And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived ¹³ a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren;

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for nothing will be impossible for God."

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Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word." Then the angel departed from her.

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During those days Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah,

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where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.

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When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the holy Spirit,

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cried out in a loud voice and said, "Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.

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And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord ¹⁴ should come to me?

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For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy.

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Blessed are you who believed ¹⁵ that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled."

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And Mary said: ¹⁶ "My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;

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my spirit rejoices in God my savior.

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For he has looked upon his handmaid's lowliness; behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed.

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The Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.

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His mercy is from age to age to those who fear him.

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He has shown might with his arm, dispersed the arrogant of mind and heart.

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He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones but lifted up the lowly.

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The hungry he has filled with good things; the rich he has sent away empty.

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He has helped Israel his servant, remembering his mercy,

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according to his promise to our fathers, to Abraham and to his descendants forever."

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Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her home.

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¹⁷ When the time arrived for Elizabeth to have her child she gave birth to a son.

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Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy toward her, and they rejoiced with her.

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I think that is even more than four times that Mary is referred to as "blessed."

PS. And I think my Bible reads quite a bit like yours, correct?

[Joshua]

" Luke 1:42 42 In a loud voice she exclaimed: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! (NIV)

Luke 1:45 45 Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!" (NIV)

Luke 1:30 30 But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. (NIV) "

There you go three times.

Your original post said that Protestants should read the Bible and see how many times she was called blessed. A grand total of three.

We are told by Catholics that her importance is proved by Jesus giving her to John as his mother and mother of all. Funny if John knew of her importance to the church that he failed to mention her by name in his gospel or the three letters he wrote.
We don't see any reference of her from Peter,James,Jude, or even Paul. No mention of her by name after the first chapter of Acts. Don't you think this a little strange for such an important icon of your church?

Maybe they were warned not to bring attention to her until everything was in place after her assumption into heaven. It's possible she was busy setting up her Catholic Prayer Answering Service and working on Rosary designs and didn't want to assume her role as "Queen of Heaven" until things were just right.