Mary is the Mother of God. One of the oldest and most common titles for Mary is Theotokos, which means “the God-bearer” in Greek. Of all of Mary’s titles, Mother of God is the greatest.
After being conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and until He was born, Jesus was carried in Mary’s womb.
Calling Mary the Mother of God reinforces the belief that Jesus is both God and Man. His human nature and divine nature are united in one person. Mary gave birth to that person.
If Jesus is God and Mary is his mother, then Mary must be the Mother of God.
The Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God is celebrated on January 1, a holy day of obligation for Catholics.
The highest title for Mary:
The second most important person in the manger scene:
“Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give Him the throne of David his father, and He will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” But Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” And the angel said to her in reply, “The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God”
Luke 1: 31-35
The angel Gabriel announced that Mary would be the Mother of God:
The Creeds refer to Mary, the Mother of our Lord:
Jesus is God and He had a mother:
Called in the Gospels “the mother of Jesus”, Mary is acclaimed by Elizabeth, at the prompting of the Spirit and even before the birth of her son, as “the mother of my Lord”. In fact, the One whom she conceived as man by the Holy Spirit, who truly became her Son according to the flesh, was none other than the Father’s eternal Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity. Hence the Church confesses that Mary is truly “Mother of God” (Theotokos).
Catechism of the Catholic Church 495
A mother conceives and gives birth to a person:
Jesus is Son of God and Son of Man:
Mary gave birth to a person:
The Churches which profess the doctrine of Ephesus proclaim the Virgin as “true Mother of God,” since “our Lord Jesus Christ, born of the Father before time began according to his divinity, in the last days, for our sake and for our salvation, was Himself begotten of Mary, the Virgin Mother of God according to his humanity.” The Greek Fathers and the Byzantine tradition contemplating the Virgin in the light of the Word made flesh, have sought to penetrate the depth of that bond which unites Mary, as the Mother of God, to Christ and the Church: the Virgin is a permanent presence in the whole reality of the salvific mystery.
Pope John Paul II, Redemptoris Mater, March 25, 1987
God created his own mother to bring him into the world for our salvation:
Truly the Mother of God:
The Truth, Goodness, and Beauty of the Catholic Church
Catholicism in context:
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