Celebrating Mary, Mother of God

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On New Year’s Day, the Church celebrates the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. We can easily let this feast day slip by, but in truth it has profound meaning; the different solemnities and feasts of Mary always set before the Church very important truths about the Christian vocation to discipleship.

That is why the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy of Vatican II declared that in Mary the Church “joyfully contemplates, as in a faultless image, that which she herself desires and hopes wholly to be.”

The Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God in particular celebrates and sets before the Church its vocation to “give birth” to Christ in the model of Mary. This is the most profound meaning of this Solemnity.

Christian spirituality has reflected powerfully on the theme of Christians as Mother of Christ over the centuries. One of the great theologians of Catholic tradition writing in the 12-century declared: “The holy Church is striving with all her might to do the will of the Father, in order to become the mother of Christ. For the Church all-holy becomes Christ’s mother, whenever she strives to do what is pleasing to the Father: She conceives him in her womb through the power of grace in the faith, she gives him birth through her holy desire, and she has him as her child through her good works.”

The Christian Fathers of the early centuries proclaimed that the vocation of the Church to be the “mother of Christ” determines the vocation of every Christian believer.  He or she is called to hear and enflesh the Word within the particular circumstances of their lives and to bear fruit in virtuous and charitable actions.

An anonymous 4th-century writer put this point very beautifully: “Every soul carries Christ within herself as in her womb.  But if she is not transformed through a holy life, she cannot be called Christ’s mother.  Yet whenever you receive Christ’s word within you, and let it live in your heart, and build it up with your thoughts as in the womb, then you can be called Christ’s mother.”

Gregory of Nyssa pointed out that “what happened historically with the Virgin Mary, when the fullness of the Godhead in Christ Jesus shone into the world through the Virgin, is also fulfilled in every soul leading a chaste life.”

St. Gregory the Great wrote in similar fashion:  “He is above all the mother of Christ, who preaches the truth; for he gives birth to our Lord, who brings him into the hearts of his hearers; and he is the mother of Christ who through his words inspires a love of our Lord in the Spirit of his neighbor.”

The description of the Church itself and of Christians as “mothers of Christ” may seem a little strange to modern ears. Yet it represents a powerful and deeply authentic theme and it provides the proper point of entry into an appreciative celebration of the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God.

During the Christmas season (12 days!), visual images of Mary and her child are everywhere. We are invited to approach these images with imagination and to place ourselves in the role of Mary, seeing her, in the language of Vatican II, as our spiritual “model” and “exemplar.” In so doing, we can come to understand in a truly personal way the relevance of Mary to Christian faith. Everything that Christians are called to be and to do is beautifully summarized in the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God.