Mary, Mother of the Church
This is a feast day that you may not know much about. Here are some interesting facts.
Eve is known as the mother of all the living. Early Church fathers and theologians spoke of Mary as the New Eve, the Mother of the Church. She is the Mother of all the baptized and who keep God’s commandments. In 2018 Pope Francis added this feast day to be celebrated the Monday following Pentecost, which is considered the birthday of the Church. It is linked to the Pentecost celebration because for the faithful we see Mary as more than just the Mother of Jesus, but recognizing Jesus as the head of the Church and we are the Mystical Body, then it makes sense to think of Mary as the Mother of all. From the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 964-965:
Mary’s role in the Church is inseparable from her union with Christ and flows directly from it. “This union of the mother with the Son in the work of salvation is made manifest from the time of Christ’s virginal conception up to his death”; it is made manifest above all at the hour of his Passion:
Thus, the Blessed Virgin advanced in her pilgrimage of faith, and faithfully persevered in her union with her Son unto the cross. There she stood, in keeping with the divine plan, enduring with her only begotten Son the intensity of his suffering, joining herself with his sacrifice in her mother’s heart, and lovingly consenting to the immolation of this victim, born of her: to be given, by the same Christ Jesus dying on the cross, as a mother to his disciple, with these words: “Woman, behold your son.”
After her Son’s Ascension, Mary “aided the beginnings of the Church by her prayers.” In her association with the apostles and several women, “we also see Mary by her prayers imploring the gift of the Spirit, who had already overshadowed her in the Annunciation.”
This is not a holy day obligation. But with these thoughts in mind, it would be good to reflect upon Mary and how she interacts with her Son and you.
May the Lord bless you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen