Mary in Islam

by Edgardo C. de Vera

When Indira Gandhi, President of the largest democracy in the world, was assassinated, the entire world mourned. What no one outside her circle of intimates knew was that she greatly respected the Christian veneration of the Mother of Jesus.

Her private secretary, Dr. Alexander, tells us of this incident when she gave a garden party for her personal staff. As she went around shaking hands with her guests, she pulled Dr. Alexander's wife close to her and whispered: "You're an Orthodox Christian, aren't you? Tell me: what is your Church's attitude towards the Blessed Virgin? Does your Church venerate her as much as the Catholic Church does? Or do you Orthodox Christians have a more reserved attitude?"

The secretary's wife answered "Mary is also highly venerated in our Orthodox Church. We pray to her; we lay before her all our needs; we address her as Mother of God."

A few days after the garden party, a parcel was delivered at the home of the secretary. It contained a small statue of Mary with the Child Jesus. It was a personal gift from Indira Gandhi.