Memory Mary, Mother of the Church 2024

On the Monday after Pentecost Sunday, the Church celebrates the memory of the ‘Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church’.

Today, strengthened by the presence of the Holy Spirit, we have the opportunity to delve deeper into a very important dimension of our faith: the Church that Christ founded is intimately linked to his Mother and the role that She plays within God’s saving plan. Mary watches over each of her children with maternal love, she protects them from the snares of the Evil One and accompanies them during their pilgrimage through this land.

The maternal face of the Church

The incorporation of the celebration of the ‘Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church’ in the General Roman Calendar It is relatively recent. It was established on February 11, 2018 by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, by decree signed by its then Prefect, Cardinal Robert Sarah.

According to the document, “the Supreme Pontiff Francis carefully considered that the promotion of this devotion can increase the maternal sense of the Church in the Pastors, in the religious and in the faithful, as well as genuine Marian piety.”

With this, the Pope encourages us to pay more attention to “the figure of the Virgin Mary, who is Mother of Christ and, at the same time, Mother of the Church,” because by knowing her motherhood more closely we will also be able to internalize her sense, in the circumstances of our passage through this world. That is to say, united filially to the Mother of God we will be more capable of caring and working for the good of those around us, welcoming them and serving them.

May Christ be born in all hearts

Just like Mary, who offered her Son, each Christian must also offer him to those around him. Within us is the possibility of showing the Church for what she is, an authentic mother who watches over her children.

The aforementioned decree of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments adds that “this celebration will help us remember that the growth of Christian life must be based on the mystery of the Cross, on the offering of Christ in the Eucharistic banquet. , and in the offering Virgin, Mother of the Redeemer and of the redeemed.”

On repeated occasions, the place given to the Virgin has been questioned – from outside the Church and sometimes from within. These questions have no place if we consider that everything in Mary is referred to Jesus. Mary would not be Mother of the Church if she were not first Mother of Christ.

“The joyful veneration granted to the Mother of God by the Church in current times, in the light of reflection on the mystery of Christ and his own nature, could not forget the figure of that Woman, the Virgin Mary, who is Mother of Christ and, at the same time, Mother of the Church,” the decree states.

The Church, true Mother

In one of his contributions to ACI Prensa, the Archbishop of Los Angeles, USA, Bishop José Gomez, stressed years ago that the first Christians “had a deep awareness that the Church was their spiritual ‘mother’, that gave birth in baptism, constituting them as children of God through the sacraments.”

Bishop Gomez also recalled that “the apostles often referred to the faithful as their spiritual children, thus again reflecting their understanding that the Church is our mother and our family (…) And in this, the first Christians understood that Mary “It was the perfect symbol of the spiritual motherhood of the Church.”

In that sense, the memory we celebrate can be considered “a prophetic rediscovery of an ancient devotion” (Mons. José Gomez).

Church Day

Dedicating a day to the celebration of “Mary, Mother of the Church” could be understood as a corollary of the ecclesiology of the Second Vatican Council. During the Council, Pope Saint Paul VI explicitly declared that Mary Most Holy is Mother of the Church, a conviction that would be reflected in the final document (See chapter VIII of the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, The light), with the consent of the council fathers.

The memory of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church remembers that She is Mother of all men, especially of the members of the Mystical Body of Christ, by virtue of the Incarnation of the Word. Jesus himself confirmed it this way from the Cross: «When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing there near him, he said to his mother: “Woman, behold your son! ” Then he said to the disciple: “Behold your mother!” And from that hour the disciple received her into her own house »(Jn 19, 26-27).

It is clear that the Church’s veneration of the Blessed Virgin should not only not be ignored, but, on the contrary, should be preserved and strengthened as an intrinsic element of Christian worship. This will fulfill the words of the Virgin: “All generations will call me Blessed” (Lk 1:48).

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If you want to know more about the spiritual motherhood of Mary, we recommend the following article from the Catholic Encyclopedia: https://ec.aciprensa.com/wiki/Maternidad_espiritual_de_Mar%C3%ADa_en_el_pasado,_presente_y_futuro_de_la_Iglesia.