The Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church

On Pentecost Sunday, we celebrate the birthday of the Church, and on the Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, Catholics celebrate Mary, as the mother of Jesus, who is inherently linked to the Church as her mother.

In 2018, Pope Francis decreed that the ancient devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, under the title of Mother of the Church, be inserted into the Roman Calendar. The liturgical celebration, B. Mariæ Virginis, Ecclesiæ Matris, will be celebrated annually as a Memorial on the day after Pentecost. He said the Holy Father wishes to promote this devotion in order to “encourage the growth of the maternal sense of the Church in the pastors, religious and faithful, as well as a growth of genuine Marian piety”.

What is the Blessed Virgin Mary’s role?

In the book of Revelation 12:17, St. John says that this Woman’s offspring are “those who keep the commandments of God and bear witness to Jesus.”

Also defined in the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

963-964: The Blessed Virgin Mary is the Mother of the Church in the order of grace because she gave birth to Jesus, the Son of God, the Head of the body which is the Church. When he was dying on the cross Jesus gave his mother to his disciple with the words, “Behold your mother” (John 19:27).

How can we honor the Blessed Virgin Mary on this day?

Praying The Rosary and The Litany of Loreto aka The Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary and making a Daily Consecration to the Blessed Virgin Mary are great devotions to stay under her protective mantle and honor her because by her saying yes to God, she became the means to our salvation through her son Jesus and as the Mother of the Church.