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50 free Virgin Mary trivia questions with answers — trivia quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Mary of Nazareth gets only a handful of lines in the Gospels, yet two thousand years of devotion have grown around her: a council that argued over her title, four Catholic dogmas, a prayer said billions of times a day, apparitions that built basilicas in Mexico, France and Portugal, and a chapter of the Quran that bears her name. These 50 trivia questions about Mary, mother of Jesus move from Scripture to tradition. The biblical Mary: Gabriel's visit in the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, the Magnificat, Bethlehem, the flight to Egypt, the wedding at Cana, the foot of the cross and the upper room in Acts. Then the Church's Mary: Theotokos at Ephesus in 431, Aeiparthenos in 553, Ineffabilis Deus in 1854, Munificentissimus Deus in 1950, the feast days of December 8, March 25, August 15 and October 7, Pius V's fifteen mysteries and John Paul II's five more. Then the apparitions: Juan Diego's tilma, Bernadette's grotto, the three shepherds of Fátima and the silent vision at Knock. The easy questions cover Joseph, Gabriel and Bethlehem; the hardest ask about the Sub tuum praesidium, Anne Catherine Emmerich and the Lateran Synod of 649. There is Catholic trivia about Mary here for a parish night or a religion class, and enough general history for any pub quiz. Every answer is cited to a page we checked, with a short explanation. Play it online or print it.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01In which town did Mary live when the angel announced she would bear Jesus?
Nazareth
She and Joseph later raised Jesus there after his birth in Bethlehem.
Q 02Which angel told Mary she would conceive through the Holy Spirit?
Gabriel
Her reply: 'I am the handmaid of the Lord. Let it be done unto me according to your word.'
Q 03Mary's Hebrew name is usually rendered in English as what?
Miriam
The English 'Mary' comes via the Greek Maria, a shortened form of Mariam.
Q 04According to the apocryphal Gospel of James, who were Mary's parents?
Joachim and Anne
The same text says she was given to Temple service at age three.
Q 05Elizabeth, Mary's relative, descended from Aaron and so belonged to which tribe?
Levi
Some argue Mary herself, like Joseph, was of the royal Davidic line of Judah.
Q 06Which canticle did Mary speak after Elizabeth called her 'the mother of my Lord'?
Magnificat
It is named from the first word of its Latin version.
Q 07How did Joseph learn that Mary's child was conceived by the Holy Spirit?
An angel in a dream
He had planned to divorce her quietly.
Q 08To which country did the family flee to escape King Herod, according to Matthew?
Egypt
They returned to Nazareth rather than Bethlehem after Herod died in 4 BC.
Q 09In John's Gospel, Mary first appears at which event?
The wedding at Cana
John never mentions her name; she is 'the mother of Jesus'.
Q 10In Acts 1, where is Mary named among those gathered after returning from Mount Olivet?
The upper room
She is the only person besides the eleven apostles named there.
Q 11According to John's Gospel, Mary went to live with which figure after the crucifixion?
The beloved disciple
Tradition identifies him as John the Evangelist.
Q 12The claim that Mary's last home was in Asia Minor rests on the visions of which 19th-century nun?
Anne Catherine Emmerich
Pilgrims now call the site the House of the Virgin Mary.
Q 13What does the Greek title Theotokos mean?
God-bearer
Latin renders it Dei Genitrix or Deipara.
Which council in 431 decreed that Mary is the Theotokos?
Q 21Which pope defined the Assumption of Mary as dogma in 1950?
Pius XII
The apostolic constitution was Munificentissimus Deus.
Q 22On which date is the Assumption celebrated?
15 August
Eastern churches keep the Dormition the same day.
Q 23What do Eastern Christians call the feast of Mary's death and taking up into heaven?
Dormition
The word means 'falling asleep'.
Q 24Which council in 553 gave Mary the title Aeiparthenos, 'Perpetual Virgin'?
Ephesus
The council reasoned that her son is one person, both God and man.
Q 15Which ancient prayer, the oldest known to Mary, already used the phrase 'Mother of God'?
Sub tuum praesidium
Its text dates to around 250 and was found on papyrus.
Q 16The Church of the East historically called Mary by what title instead of Theotokos?
Christotokos
The Assyrian Church of the East still uses the term in its liturgy.
Q 17The Immaculate Conception holds that Mary was free from what from the moment she was conceived?
Original sin
It is often confused with the virginal conception of Jesus.
Q 18Which pope defined the Immaculate Conception as dogma in 1854?
Pius IX
He did so in the bull Ineffabilis Deus.
Q 19On what date is the feast of the Immaculate Conception kept?
December 8
It falls exactly nine months before the September 8 feast of Mary's nativity.
Q 20In the medieval dispute over the Immaculate Conception, which order's 'Scotists' argued in favour?
Franciscans
Dominican Thomists were on the other side.
Second Constantinople
Pope Martin I stressed 'before, during and after' at the Lateran Synod of 649.
Q 25How many Marian dogmas does the Catholic Church hold?
Four
Mother of God, Perpetual Virginity, Immaculate Conception and Assumption.
Q 26On what date is the feast of the Annunciation kept?
25 March
It sits nine months before Christmas; in England it was long known as Lady Day.
Q 27Until 1752, the Annunciation marked the start of the year in which country?
England
France had moved New Year to 1 January with the 1564 Edict of Roussillon.
Q 28Luke says the Annunciation happened in which month of Elizabeth's pregnancy?
Sixth
Elizabeth was carrying John the Baptist.
Q 29In the revised Western calendar, the Visitation is now usually kept on which date?
31 May
The traditional Western date was 2 July; the East keeps 30 March.
Q 30By what Latin name is the Hail Mary also known?
Ave Maria
It is also called the Angelic Salutation.