Some years ago a vandal attacked Michelangelo's Pietà with a hammer, seriously damaging the face and arm of the figure of Mary. A magazine article suggested that the act was a parable of the violence done Mary by the church by Roman Catholics who have idolized her and by Protestants who have ignored her. While Protestants have criticized Catholics for coming close to ascribing to Mary the lead role in God's salvation drama, Protestants could be accused of making her into a prop. But we can be thankful that Luke's witness to the annunciation stands as a corrective.