Virgin Mary in three christian traditions

Christianity today has a impressive number of followers that come from a variety of social and ethnic backgrounds , being associated with most of Europe's  powerful nations that later colonized most of the world that we know today , the religion of Christ, managed to adapt to almost any cultural environment in which it was introduced both by apostles  or by common missionaries. 

 Having a huge geographic area of spread , Christianity adapted its ceremonial aspects and sacred art in order to fit the cultural realities of the communities in which it was introduced.In many cases , christian figures such as the  Saints , Virgin  Mary or the three personas of the Holly Trinity , were associated with pre-existing deities in order to make their acceptance among people more effective. 

  Virgin Mary is the christian figure that gained a huge popularity among the new converts , having a profile that was similar to a number of pagan goddesses and by the fact that She was the only feminine christian figure with a higher statute within the church's dogmas and ceremonies. 

  Depending on the tradition that a christian follows , the image of the Blessed Virgin can be painted in great number of ways and some of the ceremonies , chants and titles can vary in structure and content.In order to understand this differences we must make a comparative analysis of cult of Mary from various christian traditions:

1. Mary in the Roman Catholic tradition  -  The roman rite of the Catholic Church puts great importance  on the cult of Blessed Virgin, being translated in to  a rich tradition of prayers , chants , holidays and ceremonies . In roman catholicism , Her name is synonymous with concepts of femininity , purity ,forgiveness and motherhood  . In sacred art , She is often displayed as a monumental heavenly  figure with beautiful and  delicate round features . 

  Unlike the eastern christian tradition of byzatine roots , the roman tradition gives a great freedom when it comes to the depicted of holly figures , thus, Mary's representation can vary depending on the artist or art school. 

  Compared to any of the other christian tradition , roman catholicism outlined over time a very solid cult around Mary , being the subject of a theology  branch named mariology that has as main research focus all aspects regarding the Blessed Virgin . One of the most distinctive elements of catholic marian worship is the usage of the Rosary as prayer object , being charged with a high and well defined spiritual and ceremonial meaning .

  Mary holds a number of titles within the roman catholic tradition, the most important are  : Queen of Heaven , God-bearer and The Immaculate . Popular representations : Mary of Fatima , Mary of Guadalupe , Mary of Lourdes ,Mary the Immaculate 

2. Mary in the Eastern Orthodox (Byzantine) tradition : Similar with the roman catholic tradition in some aspects , the eastern orthodox tradition has its own well defined marian cult. 

 The main defining characteristic is its sober and highly canonical nature , with very strict rules when it comes to the representation not only of Mary but of all religious figures.

 Feminine traits are more toned down do to the usage of the byzantine depiction canons , the image being highly stylized , unlike the roman catholic tradition where  the garments have a light chromatic scheme attached to them , in the eastern orthodox tradition more pigmented colors are used like shades of red, dark brown , black and dark blue .

   The depictions  of Mary follow a common layout , variations are given by the usage of colors and minor decorative elements . It is also very common to see images of Mary with her garment made from thin gold or silver foils . A other major difference between the two traditions is the preference of the eastern one of two dimensional (picture type) representations of holly figures in contrast with the usage of three dimensional depictions (statues) in the roman tradition. The most common titles associated to Mary are : God-bearer and Mother of God. 

3.  Mary in the Anglican tradition - Even though it is branch of  Protestantism , the anglican tradition didn't erased the cult of the Blessed Virgin Mary as the other protestant churches did.

   Even so , the marian tradition suffered some transformations in the Church of England , the main one being the position that the Holly Virgin in contrast with the Father , Son and Holly and the other holly figures of the church . We can see a tendency to lower Mary's role as a intermediate between the believer and the personas of the Holly Trinity , this principal effecting saints as also .

 Her position as  Bearer of God being left unchanged but the role of intermediate being neutralized , this change being the consequence of the protestant influence that concentrates the direct connection of the believer with God. This practice is quite controversial do to the fact that the two currents within anglicanism - High Church and Low Church - have different view points of marian worship , the anglican churches that subscribe to High Church doctrines may worship Mary in the same way roman catholics do and those who subscribe to Low Church doctrines may not worship Her at all or significantly lower her importance within the believer-God connection. 

  The image of Mary is mostly represented through statues and the titles held are identical to the ones from the roman catholic tradition.