Mary, Mother of the Church

“Mother of the Church” is a title that Mary richly deserves.  Her fiat at the Annunciation drew down the Son of God from the Father to become our Redeemer.  She was the Mother of Christ in Nazareth and during His public ministry.  On Calvary, she stood at the foot of the cross and heard the words, “Behold your Mother,” addressed to John the apostle, who represented us.  Thus it was the dying wish of Jesus Christ that we have her for our Mother and she accept us as her children.  After Christ rose from the dead, Mary remained on earth for years before she was assumed into heaven.  Just as she was the mother of Christ’s physical body, she continued her work as mother of the Mystical Body in the nascent Church.

That Mary is the Mother of the Church is venerated tradition in the Church.  This title of the Mother of God was first used by Berengaud, Bishop of Treves (d. 1125) when he writes “By the Woman (Revelation 12:1), we may understand Blessed Mary, for she is Mother of the Church for having engendered the one who is head of the Church." Rupert of Deutz (d.1135) in his Canticum Canticorum refers to Mary as the "Mother of Churches"; and Denis the Carthusian (d.1471) refers to Mary as "Mother of the whole Church."  Others who use this title of Our Blessed Mother include St. Antoninus, Archbishop of Florence (d.1458), St. Lawrence Justinian (d.1455), St. Peter Canisius (d. 1597) and St. John Bosco (d. 1888). 

In recent times the title of Mary, Mother of the Church has received much recognition.  "She is invoked as Mother of the Church and the teacher and Queen of the Apostles," wrote Pope Leo XIII (d. 1903) in his September, 1895 encyclical, Adjutricem Populi. Pope Paul (d.1971), in his encyclical Christi Matri echoed this thought: “We want constant and devout prayers to

to be offered to Her whom We declare Mother of the Church." And again Pope John Paul II in the first encyclical of his pontificate Redemptor Hominis declares: “Mary is Mother of the Church because, on account of the Eternal Father's ineffable choice and due to the Spirit of Love's special action, she gave human life to the Son of God, ‘for whom and by whom all things exist’ and from whom the whole of the People of God receives the grace and dignity of election.”