Reflections on MARY MOTHER of the CHURCH

Reflections on . . .

On Nov. 21, 1964, in his address ending the Third Session of the Second Vatican Council, . . .

. . . Pope Paul VI said in part, “The knowledge of the true Catholic teaching on the Blessed Virgin Mary will always be an efficacious help for a correct understanding of the mystery of Christ and of the Church.”

Referring to the Council document, “The Constitution on The Church,” which had been officially promulgated that same day, he went on to say: “As we consider these close relations by which Mary and the Church are joined, which were so clearly expounded in the present Constitution of the Council, we are persuaded to think that this moment in time is very solemn and opportune for fulfilling the wish We expressed at the end of the past Session (namely) that, during this Council, the role of Mother which the Blessed Virgin Mary exercises toward the Christian People would be openly proclaimed.”

The Holy Father then proceeds to give his reasons. “It seemed proper to Us, then, that in this public assembly We fittingly introduce the title—which would bring honor to the Blessed Virgin Mary—which is postulated by various regions of the Catholic world, and which is especially welcome to Us, since by a certain wonderful conciseness it expresses the privileged place in the Church that is proper to God’s Mother, as this Council has acknowledged.” Then came the official proclamation.

. . . MARY MOTHER of the CHURCH

“Therefore, to the glory of the Blessed Virgin and to our solace, We declare that the most Holy Mary is the Mother of the Church, that is, of the whole Christian People, both of the faithful and of the Pastors, who call her their most loving Mother. We also decree that the whole Christian People give still greater honor to God’s Mother from now on through this sweetest name, and make supplication to her.”

Almost 60 years have elapsed since this promulgation was made, . . .

. . . not only for the Council Fathers but for the whole Church. Before we can begin to understand the importance of this “relatively new” title, “Mother of the Church;” before can begin to share in some of Pope Paul VI’s great enthusiasm for this title; before we can hope to experience the fruitfulness and the riches contained in this title, it may be well for us to explore how theology views it in the light of the Scriptures and Tradition.

A RELATIVELY NEW TITLE

As I have already mentioned, the title, “Mother of the Church, is a “relatively new” title, since to our knowledge, the first one to make use of it was a 9th Century author, Bérengaud, a French Benedictine monk. The first Pope to make use of it, on several occasions, was Pope John XXIII; and it was only after Vatican II that it gained general acceptance in Marian devotion.

One might think that if it took so long to gain acceptance, it can’t be too important.  Yet serious theological reflection will bring us to realize that it expresses an essential quality in Mary, one that is needed to account for her rightful place in the work of salvation. If it has come to the fore very slowly and only in recent years, it is because the personal qualities and role of Mary in salvation history have come to light progressively in the Tradition and life of the Church. Like Mary herself who “pondered all these things (about Christ) in her heart, so the Church, over the centuries, ponders over her relationship with Christ and His Mother.

Now that the title “Mother of the Church” has come into its own, so to speak, in the doctrinal and devotional life of the Church, is proving itself to be more and more indispensable to express Mary’s mission. Without it, her mission would be incomplete. The maternity granted her at Nazareth would have stopped half-way on the mission she was to undertake the objective she was pursuing. This maternity was given to her for a unique collaboration in the work of the salvation of mankind.

HER MATERNAL ROLE

Now if Mary were not ‘Mother of the Church,” she would not have collaborated fully, as mother, to this work and, in fact, neither would she now be collaborating in that work according to her specifically maternal role. If in God’s plan, Mary has been given a fully maternal role, her maternity had to extend to the Church. She can be a perfect mother only bv being Mother of the Church.

On the other hand, the title, “Mother of the Church,” . . .

. . . is no less important, and even necessary, to express the mystery of the Church itself. And the reason is that, just as the 5th Century Church stressed Mary’s divine Maternity to express the perfect identity of the Man, Jesus, and the Divine Person of the Word, in the mystery of the Incarnation, so, for us to understand the Church as the extension of the Incarnation we must focus our attention on Mary by calling her, “Mother of God” and “Mother of the Church.”

VATICAN II’S MESSAGE

To be more specific: one cannot fully comprehend the importance of the Church’s motherhood unless it is viewed in the light of, and in relationship to, Mary’s motherhood. The Church is mother in the sense of a community which dispenses life. She takes on her maternal countenance – a personal countenance- which reflects all the sentiments and spiritual dispositions of a mother. In a word, the Church herself needs Mary’s maternal image to manifest her own maternity.

The Fathers of Vatican II expressed this beautifully when they wrote:

“Now, by the gift and role of divine motherhood, by which she is united with her Son the Redeemer, the Blessed Virgin is also closely united with the Church through her singular graces and functions. God’s Mother is the type of the Church, as already St. Ambrose taught. Namely, in the order of faith, love and perfect union with Christ.

For in the mystery of the Church, who herself is rightly called mother and virgin, the Blessed Virgin Mary took the lead, giving an excellent and singular example as Virgin and as Mother. For, she believed and was obedient, and so gave birth on this earth to the very Son of the Father, and indeed without knowing man, but overshadowed by the Holy Spirit. As the New Eve she did not believe the ancient Serpent but believed God’s messenger with unadulterated faith. Then she gave birth to her Son, whom God had designated the Firstborn among many brethren (cf. Rom. 8:29): namely, the faithful in whose birth and rearing she cooperates with motherly love”. (Constitution on Church, No. 63).

OUR LADY’S ROLE . . .

Pointing out how the Church looks to Mary to accomplish her own motherly role, the Council went on to say:

“The Church too becomes a mother as she, having faithfully accepted God’s word, contemplates Mary’s mysterious holiness, imitates her charity, and fulfills the Father’s Will faithfully. For, by her preaching and by Baptism she gives birth unto a new and immortal life to children who are conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of God, etc. . .” (No. 64).

In his “Bull of Indiction,” announcing the Jubilee for the (1983) Anniversary of Redemption, Pope John Paul Il expressed Mary’s motherhood of the Church in his own beautiful way:

“As Mary preceded the Church in faith and in love at the dawn of the age of Redemption, so today may she precede the Church in this Jubilee, as she goes forward towards the new millennium of Redemption.

“More than ever in this new season of her history, the Church exalts and admires in Mary, ‘the most excellent fruit of the Redemption, and joyfully contemplates, as in a faultless model, that which she herself wholly desires and hopes to be’; (Const. on the Liturgy, No. 43) in Mary she recognizes, venerates and invokes the ‘first redeemed’ and, at the same time, the first to be associated so closely to the work of Redemption.

. . . IN REDEMPTION

“The whole Church should, therefore, seek to concentrate, as Mary did, with undivided love on Jesus Christ her Lord, bearing witness by teaching and life that nothing is possible without him, since in no other can there be salvation (ibid, No. 44). And as Mary by consenting to the divine Word became the Mother of Jesus, and totally consecrated herself to the person and work of her Son, thus serving the mystery of Redemption (ibid, No. 45), so the Church should proclaim today and always, that she knows nothing, among men, except Jesus Christ Crucified, who has become for us our wisdom, justification, sanctification and Redemption (ibid, No. 46).

“By this witness to Christ the Redeemer, the Church too, like Mary, can light the flame of a new hope for the whole world.”

And, finally, as the visible head of the Church on earth, Pope John Paul Il ended his Letter to the Whole Church with this prayer addressed to Mary, the Mother of the Church:

“I implore Mary Most Holy, Mother of the Redeemer and Mother of the Church, to intercede for us and to obtain for us the grace of a fruitful celebration of the Jubilee Year, twenty years after the 2nd Vatican Council. May she “show again to the whole Church, indeed to all of humanity, the blessed fruit of her womb, Jesus, Who is the Redeemer of each and everyone” (Dec. 24, 1982). Into her hands and to her maternal heart, I commend the success of this Jubilee Celebration.”

Yes, Mary is indeed Mother of all the Redeemed and “Mother of the Church. “