Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church

Background on the Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church

Decree establishing the Memorial

“Virgin Enthroned
between Saints John the Baptist and Anthony of Padua”
by Pietro Paolo Agabiti,1528

 
Readings for the Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church [1]
 
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [2]
 
Readings and Commentary: [3]
First Reading
 
First Option
Genesis 3:9-15, 20
 
The LORD God then called to the man and asked him, “Where are you?”
He answered, “I heard you in the garden;
but I was afraid, because I was naked,
so I hid myself.”
Then he asked, “Who told you that you were naked?
You have eaten, then,
from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat!”
The man replied, “The woman whom you put here with me
she gave me fruit from the tree, and so I ate it.”
The LORD God then asked the woman,
“Why did you do such a thing?”
The woman answered, “The serpent tricked me into it, so I ate it.”
 
Then the LORD God said to the serpent:
“Because you have done this, you shall be banned
from all the animals
and from all the wild creatures;
on your belly shall you crawl,
and dirt shall you eat
all the days of your life.
I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he will strike at your head,
while you strike at his heel.”
 
The man called his wife Eve,
because she became the mother of all the living.
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Commentary on Gn 3:9-15, 20
 
Adam and Eve are confronted by God after having eaten the fruit which was forbidden to them from the tree of Wisdom. Adam blames Eve, and Eve blames the serpent. Thus, the identity of the serpent is now synonymous with the Devil. This passage, because of that linkage, can now be classified as the first prediction of the messianic struggle with evil and ultimate victory.

Contained here is the scriptural evidence of original sin. The story is also called “the fall,” as God’s human creation (personified in Adam and Eve) falls from grace and is condemned to suffer the struggle to regain the blessed state throughout history. Mankind has disobeyed God and defied his will. Through disobedience, sin and death enter the world.
 
CCC: Gn 3:9-10 399; Gn 3:9 410, 2568; Gn 3:11-13 400; Gn 3:11 2515; Gn 3:12 1607; Gn 3:13 1736, 2568; Gn 3:14-19 2427; Gn 3:15 70, 410, 489; Gn 3:20 489
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Second Option
Acts 1:12-14
 
After Jesus had been taken up to heaven the apostles
returned to Jerusalem
from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem,
a sabbath day’s journey away.
 
When they entered the city
they went to the upper room where they were staying,
Peter and John and James and Andrew,
Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew,
James son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot,
and Judas son of James.
All these devoted themselves with one accord to prayer,
together with some women,
and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.
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Commentary on Acts 1:12-14
 
This passage provides part of the introductory comments of St. Luke as he begins the Acts of the Apostles. Like any well-written story, he connects the events that have just taken place in his first volume – The Gospel of Luke – with what will follow. In the first verses Jesus ascended and told them to expect the gift of the Holy Spirit. In this selection the disciples with Mary the Mother of Jesus and his extended family return to Jerusalem and enter the locked room. It is important that not just the Apostles are present, but so is Mother Mary, ever faithful to her son.
 
"Here we see Mary as the spiritual center round which Jesus' intimate friends gather: tradition has meditated on this 'tableau', and found it to depict our Lady's motherhood over the whole Church, both at its beginning and over the course of the centuries." [4]
 
CCC: Acts 1:14 726, 1310, 2617, 2623, 2673
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Responsorial Psalm
 
Judith 13:18bcde, 19
 
R. (15:9d) You are the highest honor of our race.
 
Blessed are you, daughter, by the Most High God,
above all the women on earth;
and blessed be the LORD God,
the creator of heaven and earth.
R. You are the highest honor of our race.
 
Your deed of hope will never be forgotten
by those who tell of the might of God.
R. You are the highest honor of our race.
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Commentary on Judith 13:18bcde, 19
 
This short hymn of praise from Judith (who at the time of its writing represented the faithful people) is predictive of the blessed role Mary will play in human salvation. In the story immediately preceding these verses Judith offers to sacrifice herself for salvation of the people and is here found praiseworthy for her willingness to do so.
 
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Gospel
 
John 19:25-34
 
Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother
and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas,
and Mary Magdalene.
When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved,
he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son."
Then he said to the disciple,
"Behold, your mother."
And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.
 
After this, aware that everything was now finished,
in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled,
Jesus said, "I thirst."
There was a vessel filled with common wine.
So they put a sponge soaked in wine on a sprig of hyssop
and put it up to his mouth.
When Jesus had taken the wine, he said,
"It is finished."
And bowing his head, he handed over the spirit.
 
Now since it was preparation day,
in order that the bodies might not remain on the cross on the sabbath,
for the sabbath day of that week was a solemn one,
the Jews asked Pilate that their legs be broken
and they be taken down.
So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first
and then of the other one who was crucified with Jesus.
But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead,
they did not break his legs,
but one soldier thrust his lance into his side,
and immediately Blood and water flowed out.
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Commentary on Jn 19:25-37
 
Here is Jesus’ last address to his mother. Although the address sounds unnecessarily formal ("Woman, behold, your son.") this would have been considered a polite address in biblical times. The reference, “Woman,” is possibly to Genesis 3:15 which describes the mother of the Messiah as the “woman” whose offspring conquers the devil (CCC 726, 2618). [5] The Lord, nearing the end of his life, commends the care of his mother to the disciple whom he loved. It is presumed this is done because Jesus has no brothers or sisters, and his adoptive father, Joseph, has already died.
 
 In this instance, while it can be assumed that the disciple referred to is St. John, the author of the Gospel, the tender consignment of the care of the Lord’s mother is seen as iconic. That is, she is given into the care of all of the disciples, whom Jesus loves. Seeing her son dying upon the cross is one of the seven sorrows the Blessed Mother endured in faith.
 
The narrative continues describing the Lord's last moments of life on the cross.  The prophecy to which John refers when saying "in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled" was Psalm 69:22.  While Matthew and Mark speak about this event, only John relates it specifically to the prophetic literature.  After this final act, the Lord "handed over his spirit."
 
What happens after Jesus' death demonstrates to the Jews the nature of his sacrifice. "Jesus dies on the Preparation day of the Passover - Parasceve- that is, the eve, when the paschal lambs were officially sacrificed in the temple.  By stressing this, the Evangelist implies that Christ's sacrifice took the place of the sacrifices of the Old Law and inaugurated the New Alliance in his blood (cf. Hebrews 9:12)." [6] Typically, when the executioners wished to speed up the death of one crucified, the legs would be broken. This would force the victim to suffocate quickly.  In the case of Jesus, this was not done. (see Psalm 34:20-21)  Instead we are told the guards pierced his side with a lance and "immediately Blood and water flowed out."
 
While the outflow of water and blood have a natural explanation, there has been great theological importance placed upon it in numerous sources (St. Ambrose, St. Thomas Aquinas, and St. Augustine).  Water and blood have already been established as signs of salvation (John 3:5 and John 6:53ff).  "With Christ's death and the giving of the Spirit already signified in v. 30, the life-giving work of the Church begins, and hence the Church can be said in a sense to have been born from the wounded side of Christ." [7]
 
CCC: Jn 19:25-27 726, 2618; Jn 19:25 495; Jn 19:26-27 501, 964, 2605; Jn 19:27 2677, 2679; Jn 19:28 544, 607, 2561, 2605; Jn 19:30 607, 624, 730, 2605; Jn 19:30b 2605; Jn 19:31 641; Jn 19:34 478, 694, 1225
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Reflection:
 
On February 11, 2018, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, in the persons of Archbishop Arthur Roche, Secretary, and Cardinal Robert Sarah, Prefect, decreed that this new memorial be established to honor the Blessed Virgin Mary’s role as mother of the Church.  This decree follows our long tradition of honoring the Mother of Christ and her role as first in faith and exemplar to all generations of Christians who hunger for her Son’s gift of salvation. 

It is not by accident that the decree was issued on the Memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes, and it is appropriate that it is established for the day following Pentecost, the birthday of the Church. St. Mary has, from the beginning, been given to the Church as our mother. In the Gospel proclaimed today we hear our Savior, as he hung upon the Cross of our redemption, present his mother as a gift to the Church as he said to the Beloved Disciple: “‘Behold, your mother.’” From that time onward, the Church has reflected upon her example of love and faith in God.  Indeed, as a mother teaches her children by example and encouragement, she has been our guide, exhibiting fidelity and love for the Son of God, and her own son, Jesus.
 
She shares with us the joys and sorrows of discipleship.  Even as the Gospel reminds us of the passion our Lord suffered for our salvation, we recall the words of Simeon, speaking to her on the day she followed the Jewish law, presenting Jesus at the temple. 
 
“’Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted (and you yourself a sword will pierce)* so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.’” (Luke 2:34-35)
 
How could we not be reminded of these words as the Roman soldier pierced the heart of the Lord, knowing that same lance pierced the heart his mother, Mary, standing nearby?
 
And what does our veneration of Mary command us to do?
 
She accepted the difficult role God offered to her in the Annunciation as she accepted her role as vessel of God’s Only Begotten Son.  (Luke 1:26-38) She reminds us that we must accept our own call to proclaim Christ, crucified and risen, to those we meet.
 
She reminds us of obedience to the word of the Lord as we recall her command to the servants at the Wedding Feast at Cana as she instructed them to: “Do whatever he tells you.” (John 2:5)
 
She is the ultimate example of humility before the Lord, always directing us toward the Father’s will. (Luke 1:46-55)
 
Just as any earthly mother, Our Blessed Virgin wishes only for our happiness, knowing the path to a contented life on earth and eternal happiness in the Heavenly Kingdom depends upon our acceptance of the path leading to God’s will.  The Mother of Christ and Mother of the Church constantly invites us to join her in worshiping God and especially her son, the source of life.
 
Pax,
 
In other years on this date: Monday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time

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[1] The picture used is “Virgin Enthroned between Saints John the Baptist and Anthony of Padua” by Pietro Paolo Agabiti,1528.
[2] S.S. Commemoratio
[3] The readings are taken from the New American Bible, with the exception of the psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
[4] The Navarre Bible, "Gospels and Acts," Scepter Publishers, Princeton, NJ, © 2002, p. 722.
[5] Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, © 2010, Ignatius Press, San Francisco, CA. p. 198.
[6] The Navarre Bible, “Gospels and Acts,” Scepter Publishers, Princeton, NJ, © 2002, p. 695.
[7] Jerome Biblical Commentary, Prentice Hall, Inc., © 1968, 63:172, p. 462.