Feast day · January 1
Mary, Mother of God
Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God
“Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.”
The Theotokos, God-bearer, whose title was defended at the Council of Ephesus in 431.
The story
On the octave of Christmas the Church honors the Virgin under her greatest title. Because the child she bore is one divine Person, Mary is truly Mother of God (CCC 495). The Council of Ephesus proclaimed this against Nestorius, and the crowds carried the bishops home by torchlight. Everything the Church says of Mary it says because of Christ.
What Mary, teaches
Mary's motherhood is the guarantee that God really became one of us. Honor her, and you honor the Incarnation.
Patronage
the Church, mothers, all humanity.
Prayer
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
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