According to king Benjamin, an angel had declared unto him that the Lord would come, and that "his mother shall be called Mary" (Mosiah 3:8). Hugh Nibley offers some interesting insights on the name Mary: "Well, imra'a means a human being, but it also means a woman. He shall be born of a woman, or Mary or of Miriam, at Jerusalem [or 'his mother shall be called Mary' or woman]. She's a special woman, and her name is Mary. [Hugh W. Nibley, Teachings of the Book of Mormon, Semester 2, p. 296]
Note* The earliest scriptural allusion to Mary is found in the writings of Moses. The Father, speaking to the serpent in the Garden of Eden after the transgression of Adam and Eve, says: "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, between thy seed and her seed; and he shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." (Moses 4:21; compare Genesis 3:15). [Alan C. Miner, Personal Notes]
“Mary”
According to Robert Matthews, just as Jesus was selected for his redeeming mission in the premortal world, his prophets were also preappointed for their earthly missions, according to their faithfulness. (See Abraham 3:22-23; Alma 13:2-10.) It was in the premortal life that faithful sons and daughters of God received their first lessons in righteousness and became followers of Jesus. Some were foreordained to be prophets; others no doubt were appointed to be the fathers, mothers, and wives of prophets. There is no impropriety, then, in believing that Mary and Joseph were selected in those ancient councils by the Father to be the earthly guardians of Jesus.
Such specific details about Mary (as mentioned in 1 Nephi 11:13-15, 18, 20-21, Mosiah 3:8, and Alma 7:10) couldn't have been known so long beforehand unless she had been appointed to that calling in the premortal life.
Apocryphal writings of the early Christian era present a significant and recurring theme about a substantial period of spiritual preparation in Mary's life in the years before she conceived Jesus. They speak of her being tutored by angels and having other spiritual manifestations. (See Chapters 1 and 4-9, The Lost Books of the Bible, New York, The World Publishing Company, 1926. See also "The Gospel of Bartholomew," part 2, The Apocryphal New Testament, M. R. James, translator, Oxford, The Clarendon Press, 1969, pp. 170-72.) These manifestations were said to have occurred prior to the visit of the Angel Gabriel.
Although many of the details of these writings assuredly are not accurate, the idea is probably correct that Mary received spiritual preparation and education for some time prior to the personal manifestation of the Father to her. [Robert J. Matthews, "Mary and Joseph: Heirs of David, Highly Favored, Guardians of Our Lord," in the Ensign, December 1974, pp. 14-17]
“Shall Be Called Mary”
If an angel of the Lord told king Benjamin that the Lord's "mother shall be called Mary" (Mosiah 3:8) many years before the actual event was to occur, then the event must have been planned or foreordained. That this was the case is born out by Hugh Nibley in his discussion of the early use of prayer circles:
Still older are some documents designated as the Gospel of Bartholomew, belonging to that growing corpus of very early writings believed to contain instructions and teachings given to the Apostles in secret by the Lord after his resurrection. On one occasion when the apostles were met together, "Bartholomew . . . said to Peter, Andrew, and John, 'Let us ask [Mary] the favored one how she conceived the Lord and bore him.' " This was an embarrassing question, and no one was willing to approach Mary on the subject. "And Bartholomew said to Peter, 'You are the President and my teacher, you go and ask her!" But Peter says Bartholomew himself should ask, and after much hesitation he approaches Mary on behalf of the other apostles, and she agrees to enlighten them.
They form a prayer circle, "and Mary, standing before them, raised her hands to heaven" and began to call upon the Father in an unknown language, a number of versions of which are given.
When she finished the prayer, she said, "Let us sit on the ground[or stand quietly, kathisomen, at the prepared place, edaphos--since it is plain that they remain standing]; come Peter, you are in charge. Stand at my right hand and place your left hand under my forearm; and you, Andrew, you do the same thing on my left side."
In a variant version [of early writings believed to contain instructions and teachings given to the Apostles in secret by the Lord after his resurrection], when the brethren are met together on the Mount of Olives, "Peter said to Mary, 'Blessed one, please ask the Lord to tell us about the things that are in heaven.' " But Mary reminds Peter that as Adam has precedence over Eve, so it is his business to take the lead in such things. Having taken position in the circle, Mary begins to speak:
When I was in the Temple of God [a number of early sources report that Mary served in the Temple, like Samuel, as a child] . . . there appeared to me one day a manifestation like an angel of unfamiliar aspect. . . . And suddenly the veil of the Temple was rent and there was a great earthquake and I fell on my face unable to bear the sight of him. But he stretched forth his hand and raised me up, and I looked up to heaven and a dewy cloud came and [lacuna] moistened me from head to foot; and he wiped me off with his stole (robe, shawl) and said to me, "Greetings, thou favored one, chosen vessel!" and he grasped my right hand. And there was bread in abundance and he set it out on the altar of the Temple [cf. the shewbread], and he ate first and then gave to mel. And he put forth his hand from his garment and there was wine in abundance, and he drank first and then gave to me, and I beheld and saw a full cup and bread. And he said to me, "In three years' time I shall send to you my Logos and you will bear a son, and through him all the creation will be saved. . . . Peace to thee, my beloved, forever and ever." And suddenly he was gone from me, and the Temple was as it was before.
At this point the Lord himself appeared and commanded Mary "to utter no more of this mystery," while "the Apostles were sore afraid that the Lord would be angry with them." [Hugh W. Nibley, "The Early Christian Prayer Circle," in Mormonism and Early Christianity, pp. 49-51] [See the commentary on 1 Nephi 11:20; 2 Nephi 25:19]