Mary Mother of God S

Mary, Mother of God S

"What the Catholic faith believes about Mary is based on what it believes about Christ, and what it teaches about Mary illumines in turn its faith in Christ." (CCC #487)

Feast: 01 January

The Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God is a feast day of the Blessed Virgin Mary under the aspect of her motherhood of Jesus Christ, whom Christians see as the Lord, Son of God. It is celebrated by The Latin Rite of the Catholic Church on 1 January, the Octave 8th day of Christmas.

CCC # 964: Mary's role in the Church is inseparable from her union with Christ and flows directly from it. "This union of the mother with the Son in the work of salvation is made manifest from the time of Christ's virginal conception up to his death", it is made manifest above all at the hour of his Passion:

Thus the Blessed Virgin advance in her pilgrims of faith, and faithfully persevered in her union with her Son unto the Cross. There she stood, in keeping with the divine plan, enduring with her only begotten Son the intensity of his suffering, joining herself with his sacrifice in her mother's heart, and lovingly consenting to the immolation of this victim, born of her; to be given, by the same Christ Jesus dying on the Cross, as a mother to his disciple, with these words. "Woman, behold your son."

History:

The Second Vatican Council stated: "Clearly from the earliest times the Blessed Virgin is honoured under the title of Mother of God and at an early stage the Church in Rome celebrated on 1 January a feast that it called the anniversary (Natale) of the Mother of God. When this was overshadowed by the feasts of the Annunciation and the Assumption, adopted from Constantinople at the start of 7th Century, 1 January began to be celebrated simply as the Octave day of Christmas, the "eight day" on which, according to Luke 2:21, the child was circumcised and given the name Jesus.

in 13th and 14th century, 1 January began to be celebrated in Rome, as already in Spain and Gaul, as the feast of the Circumcision of the Lord and the Octave of the Nativity, while still oriented towards Mary and Christmas, with many prayers, antiphons and responsories glorifying the maternity of Mary. Pope John XXIII's 1960 rubical and calendrical revision removed the mention of the circumcision of Jesus and called 1 January simply the Octave of Nativity.

Resources from:

  1. "Catechism of the Catholic Church", section 2 chapter 3", www.vatican.va
  2. "Compendium Catechism of the Catholic Church", HERALD - The Catholic Weekly
  3. "The Four Marian Dogma", Catholic News Agency
  4. References from WIKIPEDIA