The Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God

The meaning of the celebration

+ To honor Mary as the Theotokos, the Mother of God, is to celebrate the unique role that she played (and continues to play) in God’s plan of salvation.

+ The Solemnity of Mary Mother of God—the Octave Day of Christmas—also recalls the circumcision and naming of Jesus on the eighth day after his birth (see Luke 2:21).

+ Since 1968, the Church has also celebrated the World Day for Peace on January 1. In his Message for the first World Day of Peace, Blessed Pope Paul VI declared, “It is Our desire that, every year, this commemoration [of “The Day of Peace”] be repeated as a hope and as a promise… that Peace with its just and beneficent equilibrium may dominate the development of events to come.”

For prayer and reflection

“At the beginning of the year, let us implore from Mary the grace to be amazed at the God of surprises. Let us renew the amazement we felt when faith was first born in us. The Mother of God helps us: the Mother who gave birth to the Lord, now presents us, reborn, to the Lord. She is a mother who generates in her children the amazement of faith, because faith is an encounter, not a religion.”—Pope Francis, January 1, 2019

Vocations

The Benedictine Sisters of Mother of God Monastery (Watertown, SD): www.watertownbenedictines.org

Carmelite Nuns of Mother of God Carmel (San Rafael, CA): www.motherofgodcarmel.org

Carmelite Nuns of the Carmel of Mother of God (Pewaukee, WI): www.pewaukeecarmel.com

Dominican Nuns of Mother of God Monastery (West Springfield, MA): www.vocationws.com

Missionary Sisters of the Mother of God (Ukrainian Catholic): www.facebook.com/MSMGNUNS

Poor Servants of the Mother of God: www.smgsisters.com

Spiritual bonus

On this day we also remember the monk and martyr Saint Telemachus. On January 1, 404 (or 391, according to some sources), Telemachus tried to stop a gladiatorial battle in an amphitheater in Rome (sometimes thought to be the famed Colosseum). In retaliation, he was killed by the crowds who were infuriated by the interruption of the games. The martyrdom of Telemachus is said to have moved the Emperor Honorius, a Christian, to outlaw gladiatorial combat in the Roman Empire

Prayer

O God, who through the fruitful virginity of Blessed Mary
bestowed on the human race
the grace of eternal salvation,
grant, we pray,
that we may experience the intercession of her,
through whom we were found worthy
to receive the author of life,
our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son.
Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.

(from The Roman Missal)

Saint profiles prepared by Brother Silas Henderson, S.D.S.