Whoever venerates the Virgin is in effect venerating Christ Himself. If to honour one's mother is the first commandment with a promise (Eph.6: 2); (Ex.20: 12); (Deut.5: 16), should we not venerate our mother the Virgin, the mother of the Lord Jesus Christ and the mother of the Apostles? The Virgin is the one to whom the angel said: " The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God" (Lk1: 35). She is the one who was praised by Elizabeth who said: "Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfilment of those things which were told her from the Lord" (Lk.1: 45).