The answer
The Brethren tend to use the word 'brother' to apply to everybody, even the apostles and prophets, and while we are all children of Adam and Eve, there are still differences between us. Some are children, some are fathers and mothers, and the Bible says: "Honour your father and your mother". (Ex. 20..12) So we don't call our parents our brothers or sisters, even though they, like us, are still children of Adam and Eve.
Just as physical sonship exists, so does spiritual.
See how St John the Beloved said: " My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin." (1 John 2:1) Since we look to St John as a spiritual father to us, we can hardly call him our 'brother'.
If St John as a father and apostle could say to us 'dear children', what about the Virgin Mary then?
The Lord called her a mother to His disciple John, who was himself a father to us, and so Mary has become through this situation a mother to us all.
Would it then be courteous for anyone to call her a 'sister'?
If no-one could call their own real mother by the title of 'sister' because the Bible instructs them to respect his mother then how much more should they respect the Virgin and call her mother, since she is the mother of all?
St Mary is not only a mother to us, but is also a mother to the Lord Himself.
St Elizabeth, who was an old woman, old enough to be St. Mary's mother, humbled herself before St. Mary and said to her: "But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?" (Luke 1:43) And it happened, when St Elizabeth heard the greeting of St Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. (Luke 1:41)
If St Mary was a mother to the Lord, and He submitted obediently to her, as the Bible says (Luke 2:51), how can we call her a 'sister'? After all there is something known as priority
The Lord Christ called us His brothers, and said that He was the first born among many brothers, and He addressed the two Marys after the Resurrection, saying: " Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me " (Matt. 28:10), just as He also said: " For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother. " (Matt. 12:50)
So according to this, are we entitled to call Christ our 'brother', or treat Him like a brother, or address Him like a brother?
When speaking about St Mary, therefore, we must do so with the proper respect due to her. After all the angel Gabriel spoke to her with respect when he said: " Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women! " (Luke 1:28) And St Elizabeth addressed her with even more reverence and humility when she said: "why am I so favoured, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?"
So, when talking about St Mary we should do the same. Put before you the words of the Bible:
" Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor. " (Rom. 13:7)
That particular 'Brother' who regarded the Virgin Mary as a sister of his - when she was and is in fact the mother of Christ - is, if you think about it, actually putting himself in the position of Christ's uncle! (((
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Thrice-Blessed Pope Shenouda III of Blessed Memory