Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church
Memorial,
Liturgical Cycle: A, B, C | Lectionary Cycle: I, II
Introduction
On 11 February 2018, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments inscribed a new obligatory Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, into the General Roman Calendar. This memorial will be celebrated annually on the Monday after Pentecost. Latin liturgical texts were also promulgated on the same day.
First taught by Saint Ambrose in the fourth century, the title of “Mother of the Church” for the Virgin Mary was proclaimed by Blessed Paul VI on 21 November 1964, at the conclusion of the third session of the Second Vatican Council. Since then, a devotional memorial to Mary has appeared on various proper religious, diocesan, and national calendars. To better focus the Church’s attention on the maternal care of the Blessed Mother for the disciples of Christ throughout the ages, Pope Francis chose to inscribe this memorial for the universal Church.
Opening Prayer
O God, Father of mercies,
whose Only Begotten Son, as he hung upon the Cross,
chose the Blessed Virgin Mary, his Mother,
to be our Mother also,
Grant, we pray, that with her loving help
Your Church may be more fruitful day by day
and, exulting in the holiness of her children,
may draw all the families of the peoples to her embrace.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity
of the Holy Spirit,
God, forever and ever.
First Reading
The Lord God called the man, saying:
“Where are you?”
The Lord God called the man, saying:
“Where are you?”
God said:
“Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree I ordered you not to eat?”
The man answered:
“The woman you put with me gave me fruit from the tree and I ate it.”
God said to the woman:
“What have you done?”
The woman said:
“The serpent deceived me and I ate.”
The Lord God said to the serpent:
“Since you have done that,
be cursed among all the cattle and wild beasts!
You will crawl on your belly
and eat dust all the days of your life.
I will make you enemies, you and the woman,
your offspring and her offspring.
He will crush your head and you will strike his heel.”
The man named his wife Eve because she was the mother of all living things.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (3) Glorious things are said of you, O city of God!
His foundation upon the holy mountains
the LORD loves:
The gates of Zion,
more than any dwelling of Jacob.
R. Glorious things are said of you, O city of God!
Glorious things are said of you,
O city of God!
And of Zion they shall say:
“One and all were born in her;
And he who has established her
is the Most High LORD.”
R. Glorious things are said of you, O city of God!
They shall note, when the peoples are enrolled:
“This man was born there.”
And all shall sing, in their festive dance:
“My home is within you.”
R. Glorious things are said of you, O city of God!
Alleluia Verse
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
O joyful Virgin, who gave birth to the Lord;
O blessed Mother of the Church,
who nurture in us the Spirit
of your Son Jesus Christ!
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
The Hour of the Ecclesial Community
Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary of Magdala.
When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother:
“Woman, here is your son.”
Then he said to the disciple:
“Here is your mother.”
And from that moment the disciple took her to his own home.
Fulfillment of Scripture
Jesus knew that everything was now finished, and to fulfill the scripture, he said:
“I am thirsty.”
A jar full of bitter wine was there; so, placing a sponge soaked in the wine on a hyssop branch, they raised it to his mouth.
When Jesus had taken the wine, he said:
“It is finished.”
Then he bowed his head and handed over the spirit.
Jesus, Source of Life
As it was Preparation Day, the Jews didn’t want the bodies to stay on the crosses during the sabbath, because this sabbath was a very sacred day. They asked Pilate to have the condemned men’s legs broken so the bodies could be taken down.
The soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and the other who had been crucified with Jesus.
When they came to Jesus, they saw that he was already dead, so they didn’t break his legs.
However, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.
Prayers of the Faithful
Prayer Over The Offerings
Receive our offerings, O Lord,
and transform them into the mystery of salvation,
so that by its power we may be set aflame
with the charity of the Virgin Mary,
Mother of the Church,
and with her may be united more closely
to the work of redemption.
Through Christ our Lord.
PREFACE Mary, Model and Mother of the Church
It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation,
always and everywhere to give you thanks,
Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God,
and to proclaim your greatness with due praise,
as we honor the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Receiving your Word in her Immaculate Heart,
she was found worthy to conceive him
in her virgin’s womb
and, giving birth to the Creator,
she nurtured the beginnings of the Church.
Standing beside the Cross,
she received the testament of divine love
and took to herself as sons and daughters
all those who by the Death of Christ
are born to heavenly life.
As the Apostles awaited the Spirit you had promised,
she joined her supplication to the prayers of the disciples
and so became the pattern of the Church at prayer.
Raised to the glory of heaven,
she accompanies your pilgrim Church
with a mother’s love
and watches in kindness over the Church’s
homeward steps,
until the Lord’s Day shall come in glorious splendor.
And so, with all the Angels and Saints,
we praise you, as without end we acclaim: Holy...
Communion Antiphon
Cf. Jn 19:26-27
As he hung upon the cross,
Jesus said to the disciple whom he loved:
Behold your mother.
Prayer After Communion
Having received the pledge of redemption and of life,
we humbly pray, O Lord,
that, with the Blessed Virgin’s motherly help,
your Church may teach all nations
by proclaiming the Gospel
and, through the grace of the outpouring of the Spirit,
fill the whole earth.
Through Christ our Lord.
REFLECTIONS
Bl. V. Mary, Mother of the Church
John 19: 25-34
I am not leaving you orphans, but give you a mother!
On 3 March 2018, Pope Francis added the Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church to the liturgical calendar. We honour Mary as Mother of the Church on the day after Pentecost, reminding us that Mary was present with the disciples on Pentecost. She prayed with the first Christian community, awaiting the gift of the Holy Spirit. And Mary, our dear Mother, continues to pray for us.
This celebration will help us remember that our life must be anchored to the Mystery of the Cross, the Eucharist, and the Blessed Virgin Mary, who is both “Mother of the Redeemer” and “Mother of the Redeemed."
The Gospel presents the image of the Blessed Mother witnessing the death of her beloved Son. While standing there, she heard Jesus say, "I thirst.” Before his final breath, Jesus entrusted His mother with the task of being the “Mother of all those who believe in him,” that is, the mother of each member of the Church.
As we celebrate this new memorial within the Church, let us reflect on our relationship with the Cross, our commitment to the Eucharist and our fidelity to our heavenly mother. If we are willing to stand by the Cross, gaze at it with our Blessed Mother, and witness Jesus pour forth His precious blood for the salvation of the world, then we are also privileged to hear Him say to us, “Behold, your mother.” Let us stay close to our heavenly mother. Let us also seek her maternal care and protection and allow her to draw us closer to her Son daily.
Explaining this Gospel passage, Pope Francis said, "In these times in the world, when there is a deep sense of being an orphaned world, today's Gospel has great importance, as Jesus promises us: ‘I am not leaving you as orphans, I’m giving you a mother.’ And this is also a (source of) pride for us: we have a mother who protects us, accompanies us, and helps us in difficult or terrible times.
The Church is our mother. She is our 'Holy Mother Church' who nurtures us. Our Mother Mary and our Mother Church know how to caress their children and show tenderness. To think of the Church without that motherly feeling is to think of the Church as a rigid association without human warmth, an orphan." (Santa Marta 15 Sept 2015)
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In 1964, Pope Saint Paul VI promulgated the Vatican II document Lumen Gentium (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church). After presenting a complete picture of the mystery of the Church, the final chapter of that constitution presents “The Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God in the Mystery of Christ and the Church.” That chapter highlights her unique and maternal role within the Church. Lumen Gentium did not go so far as to ascribe the title “Mother of the Church” to the Blessed Mother, but it did elaborate in great detail on her maternal role within the Church. Four years later, in a motu proprio letter, Pope Paul VI referenced Lumen Gentium and took it a step further by bestowing upon the Mother of God the title “Mother of the Church.”
…we believe that 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 (Solemni Hac Liturgia #15).
Since that time, Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI, and Pope Francis have continually referred to the Mother of God as the Mother of the Church. What does the title “Mother of the Church” mean? On September 17, 1997, Pope John Paul II defined it this way in a Wednesday catechesis:
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. She who is recognised as mother of salvation, life and grace, mother of the saved and mother of the living, is rightly proclaimed Mother of the Church. (#5).
On March 3, 2018, Pope Francis announced that a new memorial would be added to the General Roman Calendar and celebrated on the Monday after Pentecost Sunday, entitled “The Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church.”
In the decree instituting this memorial, Cardinal Robert Sarah, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship, said:
This celebration will help us to remember that growth in the Christian life must be anchored to the Mystery of the Cross, to the oblation of Christ in the Eucharistic Banquet and to the Mother of the Redeemer and Mother of the Redeemed, the Virgin who makes her offering to God.
It is significant that the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, was entrusted to the Church in the person of Saint John the Apostle at the foot of the Cross. From the Cross, the Church was conceived by the outpouring of grace that flowed from Jesus’ Sacred Heart. At Pentecost, our Blessed Mother was present as the Church was born.
Today, the Mother of the Church reigns in Heaven next to her Son; from there, she continues to nurture the Church as a loving mother. She not only intercedes for us but also mediates her Son’s saving grace, making her the ongoing instrument of grace and mother of all.
Because our understanding of the role of the Blessed Virgin Mary has continually unfolded over the centuries, it is fair to say that we do not yet fully understand her glorious role in the Father’s plan of salvation. Some have proposed that she be given the dogmatic titles “Mediatrix of All Grace” and “Co-Redemptrix.” Regardless of what comes next in our ever deepening understanding of the role of the Blessed Mother, we can be certain that those who one day gaze upon the essence of God Himself as he reveals all truth will immediately become aware of the most profound mysteries of Mary’s hidden life.
As we honor the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, know that she is your spiritual mother insofar as you are a member of Christ’s Body, the Church. By giving birth to the Head, she gives birth to the members. As members of that Body, it is essential that we seek spiritual nourishment from the Blessed Virgin Mary. She is our mother and queen. From her, we are born into God’s grace. She is the chosen instrument and mediatrix of grace. Rely upon her motherly intercession and mediation, and entrust yourself more fully to her care.
Most glorious Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, to you I entrust myself just as Jesus entrusted John to your care. Receive me as your spiritual child, and nurture me with your Son’s divine grace. Thank you for your “Yes” to the Father’s plan, for your life, and for your continuous “Yes” through time and eternity. May my “Yes” echo yours as I surrender fully to God’s plan. Mother Mary, Mother of the Church, pray for me. Jesus, I trust in You