Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God

From Pope Benedict XVI's homily on January 1, 2008:

"The Apostle Paul refers to the mystery of the divine motherhood of Mary, the Theotokos, in his Letter to the Galatians.

"'When the time had fully come', he writes, 'God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law' (4:4).

"We find the mystery of the Incarnation of the Divine Word and the Divine Motherhood of Mary summed up in a few words: the Virgin's great privilege is precisely to be Mother of the Son who is God.

"The most logical and proper place for this Marian feast is therefore eight days after Christmas. Indeed, in the night of Bethlehem, when 'she gave birth to her first-born son' (Lk 2:7), the prophesies concerning the Messiah were fulfilled.

"'The virgin shall be with child and bear a son', Isaiah had foretold (7:14); 'Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son', the Angel Gabriel said to Mary (Lk 1:31); and again, an Angel of the Lord, the Evangelist Matthew recounts, appeared to Joseph in a dream to reassure him and said: 'Do not fear to take Mary for your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit; she will bear a son' (Mt 1:20-21).

"The title 'Mother of God', together with the title 'Blessed Virgin', is the oldest on which all the other titles with which Our Lady was venerated are based, and it continues to be invoked from generation to generation in the East and in the West.

"A multitude of hymns and a wealth of prayers of the Christian tradition refer to the mystery of her divine motherhood, such as, for example, a Marian antiphon of the Christmas season, Alma Redemptoris mater, with which we pray in these words: 'Tu quae genuisti, natura mirante, tuum sanctum Genitorem, Virgo prius ac posterius —You, in the wonder of all creation, have brought forth your Creator, Mother ever virgin'.

"Dear brothers and sisters, let us today contemplate Mary, ever-virgin Mother of the Only-Begotten Son of the Father; let us learn from her to welcome the Child who was born for us in Bethlehem. If we recognize in the Child born of her the Eternal Son of God and accept him as our one Saviour, we can be called and we really are children of God: sons in the Son.

"The Apostle writes: 'God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons' (Gal 4:4)."


Today we begin a new year by honoring the Mother of God, Mary. I pray that this year Our Blessed Mother will lead us ever closer to her Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, and continue to pray for and guide His Church.

Hail, holy Queen, mother of mercy,
our life, our sweetness, and our hope.
To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve.
To thee do we send up our sighs
mourning and weeping in this valley of tears.
Turn then, most gracious advocate,
thine eyes of mercy toward us,
and after this our exile
show us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.

Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God.
That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

The Week Ahead - Keeping Up With All The Feasts

There are a number of important feast days in the upcoming week. I would like to make posts about each one, but I am predicting that I will not end up having the time due to this being a very busy week for me. I will try, but I figured that, just in case, I would write one quick post here mentioning them and encourage everyone to take some time each day to observe the celebrations of these Holy men and women.

Monday, December 7th is the Feast of St. Ambrose, Bishop and Doctor of the Church.

Tuesday, December 8th is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a holy day of obligation in the United States.

Wednesday, December 9th is the Feast of Blessed Juan Diego, the man to whom Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared.

Saturday, December 12th is the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas.

A great way to keep up with all of these wonderful feast days is to check out the website Catholic Culture. Visit their site and click the link "Liturgical Year" at the top of the homepage. They have tons of great information about the liturgical celebrations of the Church. One feature I especially like on their site is their "Things To Do" section for some feast days. They give ideas for ways of celebrating the feast days, including cultural traditions, links to websites, and even recipes.

Another great way to keep up with all of these Feasts is to have a book, such as a Lives of the Saints book to read daily. I have been very lucky lately to obtain a couple of great books that have a vast amount of information about the Church's liturgical traditions. Both of the books are pretty old, so they may not be easy to acquire, but if you can get your hands on them, I would highly recommend them.

The first is titled Handbook of Christian Feasts and Customs; The Year of the Lord in Liturgy and Folklore by Francis X. Weiser. Originally published in 1952, my copy was printed in 1958. It is filled with historical and cultural facts about the Church's liturgical celebrations.

The second is the first volume of the set of books called The Church's Year of Grace by Dr. Pius Parsch. A good friend recently gave me this book. I haven't read much of it yet, but I can tell you that it has a ton of great information about the Church's liturgical life. The volume I have spans from Advent to Candlemas. Each day has its own entry with information about the prayers and mass for the day. It does, of course, not follow the modern Roman calendar exactly since it was written before the Second Vatican Council, but the information it contains is still wonderful.

I believe that we as Catholics are called to more than just attending mass on Sundays. We need to be a part of the liturgical life of the Church, which will lead us, as St. Paul exhorted us, to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17). By observing the feasts of the Church and sharing the traditions of the Church with our families, we will be learning more about our faith and strengthening our relationship with Our Lord.

Have a great week!