For many women throughout Christian history, Mary's presence in the church, represented by icons or statues, affirmed their own unique Christian vocation. These representations made clear that church is a place for men and women equally. Some say that women play an insignificant role in the Bible, but this is not the case.

Even in the Genesis account, it is Eve who first tastes the forbidden fruit and in so doing changes the world. In the New Testament, Mary is chosen as the gate to paradise, the anti-Eve. Christ's death is witnessed by women, and it is the myrrh-bearing women who go to the tomb to anoint Jesus' body while everyone else sleeps. It is these women who are the first to witness the miracle of the Resurrection,and these women who, like Mary, become bearers of the message.

Mary's significant placement in the liturgy of the Church also speaks to her role among believers. Every commemoration and image of her speaks to the ongoing memory of the Church that women shape the world in small and large ways.