If Jesus is God and Mary is his mother, then Mary must be the Mother of God. After being conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and until He was born, Jesus was carried in her 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.
As the Mother of God, one of the oldest and most common titles for the Blessed Virgin Mary is Theotokos, which means “the God-bearer” in Greek. Of all of Mary’s titles, Mother of God is the greatest.
The Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God is celebrated on January 1, a holy day of obligation for Catholics.
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 has a mother:
“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
A mother conceives and gives birth to a person:
Jesus is Son of God and Son of Man:
Mary gave birth to a person:
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
God created his own mother to bring him into the world for our salvation:
Truly the Mother of God:
The Virgin Mary, who at the message of the angel received the Word of God in her heart and in her body and gave Life to the world, is acknowledged and honored as being truly the Mother of God and Mother of the Redeemer. Redeemed by reason of the merits of her Son and united to Him by a close and indissoluble tie, she is endowed with the high office and dignity of being the Mother of the Son of God, by which account she is also the beloved daughter of the Father and the temple of the Holy Spirit. Because of this gift of sublime grace she far surpasses all creatures, both in heaven and on earth.
Pope Paul VI, Lumen Gentium, 21 November 1964
The second most important person in the manger scene:
The highest title for Mary:
The Truth, Goodness, and Beauty of the Catholic Church
Working tirelessly to lead souls back to Christ:
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