Mary, Mother of the Church
Lead us to heaven
Monday after Pentecost is the Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church.
Pope Francis instituted this feast in 2018 acknowledging, “This celebration will help us to remember that growth in the Christian life must be anchored to the Mystery of the Cross, to the oblation of Christ in the Eucharistic Banquet, and to the Mother of the Redeemer, the Virgin who makes her offering to God.”
In his formal decree, Pope Francis wrote Mary “standing beneath the cross (cf. Jn 19:25), accepted her Son’s testament of love and welcomed all people in the person of the beloved disciple as sons and daughters to be reborn unto life eternal. She thus became the tender Mother of the Church which Christ begot on the cross handing on the Spirit. Christ, in turn, in the beloved disciple, chose all disciples as ministers of his love towards his Mother, entrusting her to them so that they might welcome her with filial affection.”
The title – Mary Mother of the Church – is not a new one. It dates back to the 4th century and St. Ambrose who referred to Mary as such. In 1980, Saint John Paul II, invited the faithful to venerate Mary as Mother of the Church. Significantly, Pope Saint Paul VI, on the conclusion of the third Session of the Second Vatican Council (Nov. 21, 1964) declared Mary as the “Mother of the Church” to affirm the ancient title.
“It is therefore with a soul full of trust and filial love that we raise our glance to her, despite our unworthiness and weakness. She, who has given us in Jesus the fountainhead of grace, will not fail to succour the Church, now flourishing through the abundance of the gifts of the Holy Spirit and setting herself with new zeal to the fulfillment of its mission of salvation.” – Pope St. Paul VI wrote.
