Mother of the Church
Mother of the Church (
St. Ambrose and Hugo Rahner
Part of a series on the |
Mariology of the Catholic Church |
---|
Catholicism portal |
The Church has traditionally portrayed the Blessed Virgin Mary together with the apostles and disciples gathered at that first Pentecost, joined in prayer with the first members of the Church. The title Mater Ecclesiae is found in the writings of Berengaud, bishop of Treves (d. 1125).
The use of the Mater Ecclesiae title to the Virgin Mary goes back to
Pope Paul VI
The Blessed Mother of God, the New Eve, Mother of the Church, continues in heaven her maternal role with regard to Christ's members, cooperating with the birth and growth of divine life in the souls of the redeemed. – Pope Paul VI's "Credo of the People of God".[10]
A former archbishop of Milan, Paul VI used similar language to that of Saint Ambrose of Milan, calling Mary Model of the Church in light of her faith, love and complete unity with Christ and Mother of the Church because she gave birth to Christ.[11] During his speech upon the closing of the third session of the Second Vatican Council on November 21, 1964, Paul VI said: "We declare Mary Most Holy Mother of the Church, that is, of all the Christian people"[9]
In Redemptoris Mater Pope John Paul II referred to Paul VI's "Credo of the People of God" as a reaffirmation of the statement that Mary is the "mother of the entire Christian people, both faithful and pastors" and wrote that the Credo "restated this truth in an even more forceful way":[12]
Pope John Paul II
In 1980, during the UNIV Forum,
In 1987, John Paul repeated this title Mother of the Church in his encyclical Redemptoris Mater and at a general audience on September 17, 1997.[15]
With regard to the title "Mother of the Church", John Paul used Redemptoris Mater as an opportunity to explain how the Blessed Virgin Mary's maternity of Christ's faithful derives from her maternity of Christ, as well as how Mary serves as a "type", or model, of the Church as a whole.
- 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."[16]
On September 17, 1997, Pope John Paul II devoted a Wednesday general audience to the title "Mother of the Church" with regard to its application to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
- The faithful first called upon Mary with the title "Mother of God", "Mother of the faithful" or "our Mother" to emphasize her personal relationship with each of her children. Later, because of the greater attention paid to the mystery of the Church and to Mary’s relationship to her, the Blessed Virgin began more frequently to be invoked as "Mother of the Church"."[17]
- The title "Mother of the Church" thus reflects the deep conviction of the Christian faithful, who see in Mary not only the mother of the person of Christ, but also of the faithful.[18]
Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI referred to the Credo of Paul VI and stated that it sums up all of the scriptural texts that relate to the matter.[19]
Benedict addresses the issue, why Roman Catholic Mariology is related to ecclesiology, the teaching about the Church. On first sight, he argues, it may seem accidental, that the Council moved Mariology into ecclesiology. This relation helps to understand what "Church" really is. The theologian Hugo Rahner showed that Mariology was originally ecclesiology. The Church is like Mary.[20] The Church is virgin and mother, she is immaculate and carries the burdens of history. She suffers and she is assumed into heaven. Slowly she learns, that Mary is her mirror, that she is a person in Mary. Mary on the other hand is not an isolated individual, who rests in herself. She is carrying the mystery of the Church.[20]
Pope Francis
In 2018, Pope Francis decreed that the Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church be inserted into the Roman Calendar on the Monday after Pentecost (also known as Whit Monday) and to be celebrated every year, outranking even obligatory memorials.[5] The decree was signed on February 11, 2018, the memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes, on the 160th anniversary of the Lourdes apparitions. It was issued on March 3, 2018.
See also
- Mystical Rose – Mother of the Church
- Roman Catholic Mariology
- Titles of Mary
- Mater Ecclesiae Abbey, Benedcitine abbey in Italy
- Mater Ecclesiae Monastery, monastery in the Vatican City
Notes
- ^ a b c Hugo Rahner, "Mater Ecclesia - Lobpreis der Kirche aus dem ersten Jahrtausend", Einsiedeln/Köln 1944
- ^ Bullarium Romanum,series 2, t. 2, n. 61, p. 428
- ^ Acta Leonis XIII, 15, 302
- ^ "Mary, Mother of Christ, Mother of the Church." Catechism item 963 at the Vatican web site
- ^ a b "Decreto della Congregazione per il Culto Divino e la Disciplina dei Sacramenti sulla celebrazione della beata Vergine Maria Madre della Chiesa nel Calendario Romano Generale". press.vatican.va. Retrieved 2020-07-01.
- ^ "Mauriello, Matthew R., "Mary, Mother of the Church", Fairfield County Catholic, January 1996". Archived from the original on 2016-03-21. Retrieved 2016-04-04.
- ^ Pope John Paul II General Audience. September 17, 1997. "The Blessed Virgin is Mother of the Church", no. 2
- ^ Lumen Gentium Chapter eight,
- ^ a b CONCLUSIONE DELLA III SESSIONE DEL CONCILIO VATICANO II ALLOCUZIONE DEL SANTO PADRE PAOLO VI, paragraph no. 30
- ^ http://www.vatican.va/content/paul-vi/en/motu_proprio/documents/hf_p-vi_motu-proprio_19680630_credo.html "Credo of the People of God"
- Ambrose of Milan, De inst. Virg 98, PL 16, 328 and IV, 3,4,PL17,876
- ^ John Paul II, Redemptoris Mater, no. 47, citing Pope Paul VI, Solemn Profession of Faith (30 June 1968), 15: Acta Apostolicae Sedis 60 (1968) 438f.
- ^ "History | Univforum". univforum.org. Archived from the original on 2018-06-13. Retrieved 2018-05-20.
- ^ Javier Martinez (2011-07-14), La historia del mosaico de la Virgen María "Mater Ecclesia" de la plaza de San Pedro, archived from the original on 2021-12-21, retrieved 2018-05-20
- ^ Blessed Virgin Is Mother Of The Church
- ^ Redemptoris Mater, no. 47, citing Pope Paul VI, Discourse of 21 November 1964: AAS 56 (1964) 1016
- ^ John Paul II. General Audience. September 17, 1997. "Blessed Virgin is Mother of the Church," no. 2
- ^ John Paul II. General Audience. September 17, 1997. "The Blessed Virgin is Mother of the Church," no. 5
- ISBN 158617018Xpages 58-59
- ^ a b Joseph Kardinal Ratzinger: Weggemeinschaft des Glaubens. Kirche als Communio. Festgabe zum 75. Geburtstag, hg. vom Schülerkreis, Augsburg (2002)