By Leon Bent –
On Saturday, March 3, 2018, the Vatican announced Pope Francis’ decision that the Church celebrate the Blessed Virgin Mary in her role as “Mother of the Church” every year on the Monday after Pentecost, as a way to foster Marian piety and the maternal sense of the Church.
The promotion of devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary under this particular title might encourage growth in “the maternal sense of the Church” and in “genuine Marian piety.” “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 and Mother of the Redeemed,”
The “joyous veneration given to the Mother of God by the contemporary Church, in light of reflection on the mystery of Christ and on his nature, cannot ignore the figure of a woman, the Virgin Mary, who is both the Mother of Christ and Mother of the Church.”
Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church
The memorial of the “Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church”, has been added to the General Roman Calendar, the Roman Missal, and the Liturgy of the Hours. The Latin text has been published, and the translations will be prepared by the Bishops’ Conferences and approved by the Congregation.
A celebration of a memorial generally means that prayers and readings specific to the day’s memorial are used in the Mass.
The Marian title of “Mother of the Church,” was given to the Blessed Mother by St. Pope Paul VI at the Second Vatican Council. It was also added to the Roman Missal after the Holy Year of Reconciliation in 1975.
Pope John Paul II stated that overall the title indicates the Blessed Virgin Mary’s maternity of Christ’s faithful, as deriving from her maternity of Christ in that, “Mary is present in the Church as the Mother of Christ, and at the same time as that Mother whom Christ, in the mystery of the Redemption, gave to humanity”.
On February 11, 2018, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments inscribed. . . a new obligatory Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, into the General Roman Calendar. This memorial is celebrated every year on the Monday after Pentecost.
“The Church is feminine,” Pope Francis said in his homily, on Monday, “she is a mother.” When this trait is lacking, the Pope continued, the Church resembles merely “a charitable organization, or a football team”; when it is “a masculine Church,” it sadly becomes “a church of old bachelors,” “incapable of love, incapable of fruitfulness.”
That was the reflection offered by Pope Francis during the Mass celebrated in the chapel of the Casa Santa Marta for the Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church. The feast is being celebrated this year for the first time, after the publication in March of the decree Ecclesia Mater (“Mother Church”) by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. Pope Francis himself decided the feast should be celebrated on the Monday immediately following Pentecost, in order “to encourage the growth of the maternal sense of the Church in the pastors, religious and faithful, as well as a growth of genuine Marian piety.”
The “Motherliness” of Mary
In his homily, Pope Francis said that in the Gospel, Mary is always described as “the Mother of Jesus,” instead of “the Lady” or “the widow of Joseph”: her motherliness is emphasized throughout the Gospels, beginning with the Annunciation. This is a quality that was noted immediately by the Fathers of the Church, a quality that applies also to the Church.
The Church is feminine, because it is “Church” and “Bride” [both grammatically feminine]: it is feminine. And she is mother; she gives life – Bride and Mother. And the Fathers go further and say that even your soul is the bride of Christ and Mother.” And it is with this attitude that comes from Mary, who is Mother of the Church, with this view we can understand the feminine dimension of the Church, which, when it is not present, the Church loses its identity and becomes a charitable organization or a football team, or whatever else, but not the Church.
In Mary everything is referable to the human race, in all times and all places. She has a universal and permanent value. She is “our true sister,” (Marialis Cultus 56) and “because she belongs to the offspring of Adam she is one with all human beings in their need for salvation” (Lumen Gentium 53). Mary does not disappoint the expectations of contemporary man. Because she is the “perfect follower of Christ,” (Marialis Cultus 35) and the woman most completely realized as a person, she is a perennial source of fruitful inspiration (Intellectual and Spiritual Formation 21).
The promotion of knowledge, research and piety with regard to Mary of Nazareth, is not to be restricted to the Marian Year, but must be permanent, since the exemplary value and the mission of the Virgin are permanent. The Mother of the Lord is a “datum of divine Revelation” (fact of divine revelation), and a “maternal presence” always operative in the life of the Church (Redemptoris Mater, 1, 25).
It is also important to remember the influence of several “movements” which, in numerous ways and from various points of view, raised interest in the person of the Virgin and considerably influenced the composition of the Constitution Lumen Gentium: the biblical movement, which underlined the primary importance of the Sacred Scriptures, for a presentation of the role of the Mother of the Lord, truly consonant with the revealed Word; the patristic movement, which put Mariology in contact with the thought of the Fathers of the Church, so that, its roots in Tradition could be more deeply appreciated; the ecclesiological movement, which contributed abundantly to the reconsideration and deepening appreciation of the relationship between Mary and the Church; the missionary movement, which progressively discovered the value of Mary of Nazareth, the first to be evangelized (cf. Lk. 1:26-38) and the first evangelizer (cf. Lk. 1:39-45), fount of inspiration in her commitment to the spreading of the Good News; the liturgical movement, which initiated a rich and rigorous study of the various liturgies, and was able to document the way the rites of the Church, testified to a heartfelt veneration towards Mary, the “ever-Virgin, Mother of Jesus Christ, our Lord and God” [Missale Romanum, Prex Eucharistica I, Communicantes.]; the ecumenical movement, which called for a more exact understanding of the person of the Virgin in the sources of Revelation, identifying more exactly the theological basis of Marian piety.
In Relation to the Mystery of the Church
For Christ, and therefore also for the Church, God willed and predestined the Virgin from all eternity. Mary of Nazareth is:
• “Hailed as a pre-eminent and altogether singular member of the Church” [LG, 53.] because of the gifts of grace which adorn her and because of the place she occupies in the mystical Body;
• Mother of the Church, since she is Mother of Him who, from the first moment of the Incarnation in her virginal womb, unites to Himself as Head His Mystical Body which is the Church [Paulus PP. VI, Allocutio tertia SS. Concili periode exacta (21 November 1964): AAS 56 (1964), 1014-1018.];
• Figure of the Church, being virgin, spouse and mother, for the Church is virgin because its fidelity is whole and pure, spouse by its union with Christ, mother of the innumerable children of God [Cf. ibid., 64];
• Virtuous model of the Church, which is inspired by her in the exercise of faith, hope and charity [Cf. ibid., 53, 63, 65.], and in apostolic work [Cf. ibid., 65];
• Through her manifold acts of intercession, continuing to obtain the gifts of eternal salvation for the Church. By her maternal charity she cares for the brethren of her Son on their pilgrim way. Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked by the Church with the titles of Advocate, Auxiliatrix, Adjutrix and Mediatrix [Cf. LG, 62];
• Assumed body and soul into heaven, “the eschatological image and first flowering” of the Church [Cf. LG, 68.] which sees and admires in her “that which she herself wholly desires and hopes to be” [Sacrosanctum Concilium, 103] finding in Mary “a sign of sure hope and solace.” [LG, 68]
Post-Conciliar Marian Developments
During the years immediately following the Council, work by the Holy See, by many Episcopal Conferences, and by famous scholars, illustrating the teaching of the Council and responding to the problems that were emerging gradually, gave a new relevance and vigour to reflection on the Mother of the Lord.
The Apostolic Exhortation Marialis Cultus and the Encyclical Redemptoris Mater have made a particular contribution to this Mariological reawakening.
This is not the place to list completely all the various sectors of post-conciliar reflection on Mary. However, it seems useful to illustrate some of them in summary as example and stimulus to further research.
Biblical exegesis has opened new frontiers for Mariology, ever dedicating more attention to the inter-testamental literature. Some texts of the Old Testament, and especially the New Testament parts of Luke and Matthew on the infancy of Jesus and the Johannine pericopes, have been the object of continuous and deep study, the results of which have reinforced the biblical basis of Mariology and considerably enriched its themes.
In the field of dogmatic theology, the study of Mariology has contributed in the post-conciliar debate to a more suitable illustration of dogmas brought about in: the discussion on original sin (dogma of the Immaculate Conception), on the Incarnation of the Word (dogma of the virginal conception of Christ, dogma of the divine maternity), on grace and freedom (doctrine of the cooperation of Mary in the work of salvation), on the ultimate destiny of man (dogma of the Assumption). This has required critical study of the historical circumstances in which these dogmas were defined, and of the language in which they were formulated, understanding them in the light of the insights of biblical exegesis, of a more rigorous understanding of Tradition, of the questions raised by the human sciences and with a refutation of unfounded objections.
The study of Mariology has taken great interest in the problems connected with devotion to the Blessed Virgin. There has been research into the historical roots of the devotion, [six International Marian Congresses, organized by the Pontificia Accademia Mariana Internazionale, held between 1967 and 1987, systematically studied manifestations of Marian piety from the first to the twentieth centuries], study of its doctrinal foundation, of its place in the “one Christian devotion,” [Paulus PP. VI, Adh. Ap. Marialis Cultus, (February 2, 1974) Intr.: AAS 66 (1974), 114] evaluation of its liturgical expression and its multiple manifestations of popular piety, and a deepening appreciation of their mutual relationship.
Mariology has also been especially considered in the field of ecumenism. With regard to the Churches of the Christian East, John Paul II has underlined “how profoundly the Catholic Church, the Orthodox Church and the ancient Churches of the East feel united by love and praise of the Theotokos” [Redemptoris Mater, 31.], on his part, Dimitrios I, the Ecumenical Patriarch, has noted that “our two sister Churches have maintained throughout the centuries unextinguished the flame of devotion to the most venerated person of the all-holy Mother of God’, [Dimitrios I, Homily given on December 7, 1987 during the celebration of Vespers at St. Mary Major(Rome): L’Osservatore Romano (Eng. Ed. Dec. 21-28, 1987), p. 6.], and he went on to say that “the subject of Mariology should occupy a central position in the theological dialogue between our Churches … for the full establishment of our ecclesial communion.” [ibid., 6]
The Encyclical “Redemptoris Mater” of John Paul II, illustrates the “maternal presence” of the Virgin in the pilgrimage of faith according to two lines of thought, one theological, the other pastoral and spiritual:
• The Virgin was actively present in the life of the Church at its beginning (the mystery of the Incarnation), in its being set up (the mystery of Cana and of the Cross) and in its manifestation (the mystery of Pentecost)
• She is an “active presence” throughout the Church’s history, being “at the centre of pilgrim Church,” [Title of part II of the Encyclical Redemptoris Mater] performing a multiple function: of cooperation in the birth of the faithful in the life of grace, of exemplarity in the following of Christ, of “maternal mediation” [Title of part III of the Encyclical Redemptoris Mater];
• The deed by which Christ entrusted the disciple to the Mother and the Mother to the disciple (cf. Jn 19:25-27) has established the very closest relationship between Mary and the Church. The will of the Lord has been to assign a “Marian note” to the physiognomy of the Church, its pilgrimage, its pastoral activity; and in the spiritual life of each disciple, says the Holy Father, a “Marian dimension” is inherent [Cf. Redemptoris Mater, 45-46].
The study of Mariology holds as its ultimate aim the acquisition of a sound Marian spirituality, an essential aspect of Christian spirituality. On his pilgrim way to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (Eph 4:13), knowing the mission which God has entrusted to the Virgin in the history of salvation and in the life of the Church, the Christian takes her as “mother and teacher of the spiritual life” [Cf. Marialis Cultus, 21; Collectio missarum de b. Maria Virgine, form. 32.].
The Tenderness of a Mother
The virtue that primarily distinguishes a woman, Pope Francis said, is tenderness, like the tenderness of Mary, when she “gave birth to her first-born son and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger.” She cared for Him, with meekness and humility, which are the great virtues of mothers.
A Church that is a mother goes along the path of tenderness. It knows the language of such wisdom of caresses, of silence, of the gaze that knows compassion that, knows silent. It is, too, a soul, a person who lives out this way of being a member of the Church, knowing that he or she is [like] a mother [and] must go along the same path: a person [who is] gentle, tender, smiling, full of love.
The decree reflects on the history of Marian theology in the Church’s liturgical tradition and the writings of the Church Fathers.
It says Saint Augustine and Pope Saint Leo the Great both reflected on the Virgin Mary’s importance in the mystery of Christ.
“In fact the former [St. Augustine] says that Mary is the mother of the members of Christ, because with charity she cooperated in the rebirth of the faithful into the Church, while the latter [St. Leo the Great] says that the birth of the Head is also the birth of the body, thus indicating that Mary is at once Mother of Christ, the Son of God, and mother of the members of his Mystical Body, which is the Church.”
The decree says these reflections are a result of the “divine motherhood of Mary and from her intimate union in the work of the Redeemer”.
Scripture, the decree says, depicts Mary at the foot of the Cross (cf. Jn. 19:25). There she became the Mother of the Church when she “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.”
In 1964, the decree says, Pope Paul VI “declared the Blessed Virgin Mary as ‘Mother of the Church, that is to say of all Christian people, the faithful as well as the pastors, who call her the most loving Mother’ and established that ‘the Mother of God should be further honoured and invoked by the entire Christian people by this tenderest of titles’”.
Now, this gold nugget! Mary is present in the Church as the Mother of Christ, and at the same time as that Mother whom Christ, in the mystery of the Redemption, gave to humanity in the person of the Apostle John. Thus, in her new motherhood in the Spirit, Mary embraces each and every one in the Church, and embraces each and every one through the Church. In this sense Mary, Mother of the Church, is also the Church’s model. Indeed, as Paul VI hopes and asks, the Church must draw “from the Virgin Mother of God the most authentic form of perfect imitation of Christ.”
And, this final flourish! In the 1895 encyclical Adjutricem populi (Helper of the People), Pope Leo XIII wrote, “She is invoked as Mother of the Church and the teacher and Queen of the Apostles”. Following the title’s usage by Leo XIII, it was later used many times in the teachings of John XXIII and Paul VI, John Paul II and Benedict XVI.
Leon Bent is an ex-Seminarian and studied the Liberal Arts and Humanities, and Philosophy, from St. Pius X College, Mumbai. He holds Masters Degree in English Literature and Aesthetics. He has published three Books and have 20 on the anvil. He has two extensively “Researched” Volumes to his name: Hail Full of Grace and Matrimony: The Thousand Faces of Love. He won The Examiner, Silver Pen Award, 2000 for writing on Social Issues, the clincher being a Researched Article on Gypsies in India, published in an issue of the (worldwide circulation) Vidyajyoti Journal of Theological Reflection, New Delhi. On April, 28, 2018, Leon received the Cardinal Ivan Dias Award for a research paper in Mariology.
Leon Bent regularly writes for 9 Catholic Magazines, Journals and Web Portals, worldwide – occasionally, the reach is over 5 million readers.