Mary, the Holy Mother of God
Feast day: January 1 · Solemnity; Holy Day of Obligation in the United States
Patron of mothers, motherhood, families, peace, world day of peace, new year, expectant mothers
Their story
On the eighth day of Christmas, the Church turns to Mary and honors her with her greatest title: Mother of God. The title is ancient. Christians were already praying to Mary as the Theotokos, the "God-bearer," in the third century. In the year 431 the bishops gathered at the Council of Ephesus solemnly affirmed it. They were defending the truth about Jesus. The child Mary carried and bore is not only a holy man but the eternal Son of God made flesh, one divine Person who is truly God and truly man. If that is so, then Mary is truly the Mother of God. The title says more about Jesus than about Mary, and Mary would want it that way. Everything she is points to her Son. Yet it also shows us something wonderful about her. God chose to need a mother. He was carried in her womb, nursed at her breast and taught to walk and pray in her home. Mary said yes to God with her whole life, and kept all these things in her heart, pondering them, as St. Luke tells us. The solemnity falls on January 1, the octave day of Christmas. Since 1968 the Church has also kept it as the World Day of Peace, praying that the Prince of Peace born of Mary will reign in our hearts and in the world. In the United States it is a holy day of obligation. Beginning the new year with Mary is a gift: we place the days ahead in the hands of the one who brought Christ into the world, and we ask her to bring Him to us again.
A prayer for intercession
Holy Mary, Mother of God, you carried the Son of God in your womb and held Him in your arms. At the start of this new year we place ourselves, our families and our parish in your care. Teach us to say yes to God as you did, to treasure His word in our hearts, and to bring Christ to everyone we meet. Pray for mothers and for all who are expecting a child. Pray for peace in our homes, in our nation and in the world, and lead us always to your Son, Jesus, the Prince of Peace. Amen.