the cult of mary was a christian movement that began in the early middle ages
and spread across europe, in which mary, the blessed virgin and
the mother of god, was the focus
of intense veneration.
that devotion to the virgin mary spilled over into
the flurry of church and
cathedral constructions, which in turn,
spread across the globe with colonization.
this led to many churches of the time being dedicated and
named after saint mary.