Because the Blessed Virgin Mary’s maternal care for Jesus and his Church has been recognized for centuries, she has earned the title Mother of the Church.
Mary not only accompanied Jesus during the most important events in his life but worked alongside the Apostles to fulfill their mission after his Ascension into Heaven.
She accompanied the first Christians, praying and giving witness with them until her body and soul were assumed into Heaven where she continues to pray for us.
Pope Paul VI formally declared Mary as Mother of the Church in 1964 and Pope Francis established an obligatory memorial in 2018.
The Church celebrates The Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church on the Monday after Pentecost, one day after the Church was born.
Mary is the mother of the Body of Christ:
God gave us the mother of his Son:
Mother of everlasting life:
When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, He said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then He said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.
John 19: 26-27
The woman who is mother of all the redeemed:
Jesus gave his mother to the Church:
Her role in relation to the Church and to all humanity goes still further. “In a wholly singular way she cooperated by her obedience, faith, hope, and burning charity in the Savior’s work of restoring supernatural life to souls. For this reason she is a mother to us in the order of grace.”
Catechism of the Catholic Church 968
A mother to us in the order of grace:
We have a relationship with Mary through Jesus:
It is because she is Mother of the Church that the Virgin is also the Mother of each one of us, members of the Mystical Body of Christ. From the Cross, Jesus entrusted his Mother to all his disciples and at the same time entrusted all his disciples to the love of his Mother. The Evangelist John concludes the brief and evocative account with these words: “Then he said to the disciple, ‘Behold, your mother!’. And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home”. This is the [English] translation of the Greek text “εiς tά íδια”, he welcomed her into his own reality, his own existence. Thus, she is part of his life and the two lives penetrate each other. And this acceptance of her (εiς tά íδια) in his own life is the Lord’s testament. Therefore, at the supreme moment of the fulfilment of his messianic mission, Jesus bequeathes as a precious inheritance to each one of his disciples his own Mother, the Virgin Mary.
Pope Benedict XVI, Homily, 2 January 2008
She is the image of what the Church should be:
We are all one Church and Mary is our mother:
The Truth, Goodness, and Beauty of the Catholic Church
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