MARY, MOTHER OF THE CHURCH

March 6, 2018

MARY, MOTHER OF THE CHURCH

Pope Francis has added a new memorial to the liturgical calendar: The Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary Mother of the Church, which will be celebrated on the Monday after Pentecost each year.

Early Christians recognized Mary as the Mother of the Church, but the title was officially bestowed to her by Pope Paul VI at Vatican II.

Saint Leo the Great once explained that since Mary is mother of Jesus, who is the head of the Church, she is also mother of the body. Just as we become adopted children of God through baptism, we also become her children. Jesus Himself facilitated the adoption of the Church when on the cross he told Mary, “Woman, behold, your son,” and to the Apostle John “Behold, your mother.”

Then at Pentecost - the birthday of the Church - Mary was with the disciples in the upper room when they were baptized by the Holy Spirit. So it is fitting we celebrate the Mother of the Church the day after its birth.

Cardinal Robert Sarah, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship, announced the Pope's decree and said the memorial is meant to encourage growth in the "maternal sense of the Church" and in "genuine Marian piety."