Pope John Paul II once wrote: "Speaking of the Churches of the East, the council acknowledged their great liturgical and spiritual tradition, the specific nature of their historical development, the disciplines coming from earliest times and approved by the Holy Fathers and ecumenical councils, and their own particular way of expressing their teaching" (Ut Unum Sint, 50).  This course will explore the wisdom of this statement examining the ancient Marian liturgies, Byzantine iconography, spiritual traditions, patristic writings, and Eastern doctrines of the Theotokos -- the woman who bore God, including a discussion of the ecumenical implications in Ecumenical Mariology between the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches.