Feast of Mary Mother of God

Why January 1 is a special celebration and Holy day of obligation for all Catholics? Aside from welcoming the New Year, the Catholic Church also celebrates the Feast of Motherhood of Mary.

The first Marian dogma which, was defined by the Counsel of Ephesus in 431, states that “The Blessed Virgin is the Theotokos.” This Marian title which was compound of the Greek words Teos (God) and Tokos (bearer), literally translate as “God’s bearer” or “The One Who Gives Birth to God”. However, in liturgical use it is paraphrased as “Mother of God”. Nonetheless, the church has never meant to refer to Mary as Mother of God the Father from eternity, lest she herself would be God, but only as Mother of the Incarnate Son of God.


Some objected that Mary should be called Mother of Christ (Christotokos) and not Mother of God, since God is eternal and cannot have any beginning, However the Council of Ephesus asserted that the title Christotokos would reduce Christ into a mere man, no longer as God. Therefore, as Mary was the Mother of Jesus, who is God, she can be truly venerated as Mother of God. Moreover, the Council clarified that the Divine nature of Jesus Christ is begotten of God the Father from eternity; while his human nature was conceived in the womb of Mary in time.

The Dogma of Immaculate Conception

The Dogma of the Immaculate Conception as one of the Feast celebrate of the Catholic specially who devotee to the Blessed Virgin.

The dogma of the Immaculate Conception was solemnly declared by Pope Pius IX on December 8, 1854 with the Bull Ineffabilis Deus. It state: “We firmly believe that the Blessed Virgin Mary in the first instant of her conception was, by unique grace and privelege of Almighty God in view of the merits of Jesus Christ the Savior of human race, preserved exempt from all stain of original sin”. We celebrate the Immaculate conception on December 8, exactly nine months before the Nativity of Mary (September 8).

The incompatibility between the Blessed Virgin and Satan, which was anticipated in the book of Genesis- “I will put enmity between you and woman” (Genesis 3:15) – was confirmed by the Archangel Gabriel at the Annunciation: “Hail Mary, full of Grace, the Lord is with you” (Luke 1:28).

Since the Middle Ages, the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin was at the center of a theological debate, which was closed by Pius IX in 1854, when he declared that the universal redemption of Jesus was anticipated for Mary at the moment of her conception in view of her divine motherhood. The dogmatic definition received a heavenly endorsement during the apparitions at Lourdes in 1858. When Bernadette asked her name, the Blessed Virgin replied: “ I am the Immaculate Conception”

The Assumption of Mary in the Bible

What is the biblical basis of the Catholic Church for the Dogma of Assumption of Mary?

The Assumption is closely related to the dogma of Resurrection of the Body. We believe at death, the immortal soul proceed for the personal judgment, and thence to hell, Purgatory or to the Paradise of heaven; meanwhile, the body is corrupted and goes back to dust whence it was taken. At the end of time, there will be the resurrection of the body- meaning that the body will be reunited with soul, and together the risen body and soul will proceed to the universal judgment. In the case of our Blessed Virgin, her body did not experience corruption but was assumed immediately together with her soul to Paradise.



The dogma of the Assumption of Mary is the implicitly based on the Book of Revelation: " A great sign appeared in the sky; a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars" (Revelation 12:1 ). The woman is the Blessed Virgin. She is crowned with 12 stars, representing the 12 apostle, because she is the Mother of the Church; she is clothed with the sun, representing the Holy Spirit, because she is full of grace. The moon under her feet, symbolizing the firmament, indicates that she is the Queen of Heaven.
The feast of the Queenship of Mary, celebrated on August 22, was instituted in 1954 by Pius XII with the encyclical letter Ad Caeli Reginam. The feast is closely related to the Assumption, since the Blessed Virgin after beingg assumed into Paradise, was crowned Queen of Heaven and Earth.

Our Lady of the Rosary

The feast of the Our Lady of the Rosary was established in 1571 by St. Pius V to commemorate the naval battle of Lepanto. The victory of the Christian fleet over the Turks was attributed to the Blessed Virgin, whose help through praying the Holy Rosary.

According to the venerable tradition the rosary was revealed to St. Dominic by the Blessed Virgin. In the year 1214, as St. Dominic withdrew into a forest near Toulouse, France, for three days of prayer and penance, the Virgin Mary appeared to him accompanied by three angels and gave him the Holy Rosary. She said " Dear Dominic, do you know which weapon the Blessed Trinity wants to use to reform the world? I want you to know this warfare, the principal weapon always been the Angelic Psalter (the Hail Mary), which is the foundation-stone of the New Testament. Therefore, if you want to reach these hardened souls and win them over to God, preach my Psalter."





Our Lady said that anytime people recite the Hail Mary they are giving her a beautiful rose, and that each complete Rosary makes her a crown of roses, in Latin Rosarium. Accordingly, St. Dominic promoted the Rosary for the rest of his life, witnessing an outpouring of graces and conversions.

The mysteries of the Holy Rossary, divided into Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful and Glorious, reflects the principal events of the life of Jesus and the Blessed Virgin Mary. Pope Paul VI said that the rosary, without the mediation on these mysteries is like a dead person with out life.

The Perfect Virginity of Mary

How is the perfect Virginity of the Blessed Virgin explain in the Gospel?

The Blessed Virgin before the birth of Jesus is clearly stated at the Annunciation: Gabriel was sent to "a virgin betrothed to a man, whose name was Mary" (Luke 1:26-35). Afterwards, an angel appeared in a dream to St. Joseph said: "Do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 1:20).




The Virginity of Mary during the birth of Jesus is denied by some theologians because it will support the heresy of Docetism, which says that the body of Jesus was only apparent. However, the Lateran Council (649)), the Council of Trent (1555), and the Catechism of the Catholic Church (1992) profess that the physical virginity of the Blessed Virgin did not end with the birth of Christ: consequently, that Mary gave birth to Jesus painlessly without opening the womb.

The Virginity of Mary during the birth of Jesus is doubted by several Protestants because of the Gospel passage mentioning the "brothers of and sisters" of Jesus (Mark 3:32); the fact that Jesus was Mary's "firstborn son" and that Joseph " had no marital relations with her until she had borne son" (Mathew: 1:25). However, the Greek word adelphoi, used in the Gospel, could mean either "brothers" or " relatives". Furthermore, the legal title firstborn son does not require the existence of siblings: neither the particle until specifies whether after the birth of Jesus Joseph had relationship with Mary.

The Dogma of the Virginity of Mary

The dogma of the Perpetual Virginity of the Blessed Virgin declares that "The Blessed Mary remained virgin for the whole of her life". This implies that Jesus was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary, without the intervention of the man. The virginity of Mary guarantees that Jesus is real God and real man. The virginity of Mary was prophesised by Isaiah: " Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son" (Isaiah 7:14).

The dogma of the Perpetual Virginity of Mary implies that she was virgin before, during, and after the birth of Jesus. In many icon, Mary's Perpetual virginity is signified by three stars that appear on her left, her right and above her head, which represent her virginity before,during and after giving birth.





In an attempt to explain deeper the dogma of the Virginity, the Protoevangelium James (120 AD) said that Mary remain virgin before, during and after the Birth of Jesus, and that they so called brothers and sisters of Jesus were the children of St.Joseph from a marriage previous to Mary.It is also says that the Blessed Virgin had taken a vow of perpetual virginity when she was taken to the temple to serve the Lord.It was while serving in the temple that she became engaged with Joseph, a widower,who was act as a protector of her virginity. However, the Protoevangelium is an apocryphal book, and as such it was rejected by the Church.

Mary's Birth to Heaven

The dogmatic definition of the Assumption does not specify whether the Blessed Virgin died or fell asleep. There are actually two traditions on the matter.

The Tradition of Ephesus:

The Blessed Virgin spent the last years of her life in Ephesus, Turkey, together with St. John. They resided in a house known as the House of the Virgin Mary, which was rediscover in 1881 and transformed into a chapel. When her time came, she fell asleep and the angels brought her, body and soul, to the glory of Heaven it was August 15, later chosen by the Church to celebrate the Feast of the Assumption. The Ephesus theory is supported by the presence of Tomb of St. John nearby. This tradition is known as Dormitio Mariae, or "Falling Asleep of Mary".







The Tradition of Jerusalem:

At the end of her life of her life, Mary was Jerusalem together with John and other apostles. She actually died as was buried near the Garden of Olives, in the so called Tomb of Mary preserved till the present. Three days later, St. Thomas arrived and wanted to inspect the body of the Blessed Virgin. After removing the stone, they found the tomb completely empty and they realized that they realized that she was assumed body and soul to Paradise. This tradition underlines that the Virgin Mary should also be subjected to the general law of death, in conformity with the death of her Divine Son Jesus.

History of the Theotokos

Why the Blessed Virgin tittle Theotokos and not Christotokos?

The Council of Ephesus (431 AD) was assembled by Pope Celestine on request of St. Cyril, Patriarch of Alexandria, to refute the heresy of Nestorius, Patriarchs of Constantinople. Nestorius held that the Blessed Virgin should be called Christotokos, meaning "Mother of Christ," because she was the mother of Christ's humanity, not of his divinity. Against this heresy, which separated the two nature of Christ, the Council declared that Mary was the Theotokos, since she gave birth to Christ, who is God, therefore she could rightly be called Mother of God.

The dogmatic definition of Ephesus declared: " If somebody does not believe that the Emmanuel is God, and that therefore the Blessed Virgin is Theotokos, since she generated in the flesh the Word who is God, be excommunicated."





The Council also defined that the two natures of Christ ( Divine and Human) are "united in one divine person but not confused, are distinct but not seperated."

The dogma of the Theotokos was never meant to suggest that the Blessed Virgin was God, or Mother of God from eternity, but only Mother of the Incarnate Son of God. After the declaration of Mary as the Theotokos, the people of Ephesus, full of rejoicing, escorted the fathers to their houses with torches and incense. Nestorius requested permission to retire to his former monastery, and before his death accepted the decrees of Ephesus.

Mary Mother of God in the Bible

Blessed Virgin in the Bible as Mother of God

The dogma of our Blessed Virgin of " Mary the Theotokos" is based on the faith in the divinity of Christ. Thus, those who do not believe that Christ is God will necessarily deny that Mary is Mother of God.

The biblical proof of the divinity of Christ are: The Prologue to John's Gospel, which state that: " In the beginning was the word ; the word was with God and the word was God" and John 1:1,14 "Jesus words to Philip: " He who has seen ma has seen the Father;how can you say, " Show as the Father?" Do you not believe that I am with the Father and the Father in me?" (John14:8-11); The profession of St. Thomas "My Lord and my God" ( John 20: 28-29).





Having accepted the divinity of Christ, the Biblical proofs of Mary as the Theotokos are:

1. The Annuciation of the Blessed Virgin : " You will concieve in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High" (Luke 1:31-32). Since Jesus is called the Son of God her mother could be called Mother of God.

2. The Visitation: After Mary enteredher house, Elizabeth inspired by the Holy Spirit said: " How does this happen that the mother of my Lord should come to me?" (Luke 1:43). The title Lord use by Elizabeth, or Kyrios in Greek was applied only for od, therefore she proclaimed the Blessed Virgin as the Mother of God

The Dogma of Mary Mother of God

Mary, Mother of God

Mary Mother of God was one of the first dogma of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
A dogma is doctrine of our faith officially proclaimed by the church. With reference to Mary, there are four Marian Dogmas namely: 1. Mary Mother of God 2. The Virginity of Mary 3. The Immaculate Conception of Mary 4. The Assumption of Mary.




The first Marian Dogma, which was defined by the Council of Ephesus in 431, states that " The Virgin Mary is the Theotokos." This Marian title, which is compound of two greek words Teos (God) and Tokos (bearer) or the one who give births to God; however in liturgical use, it is paraphased as Mother of God. Nonetheless, the church has never meant to refer to Mary as Mother of God the Father from eternity, lest she herself would be God, but only as Mother of the Incarnate son of God.

Some objective that Mary should be called Mother of Christ ( Christotokos) and not mother of God, since God is eternal and cannot have any beggining. However, the Council of Ephesus asserted that the title Christotokos would reduce Christ into a mere man, no longer as God. Therefore, as Mary was the mother of Jesus, who is God she can be truly Venerated as Mother of God., Moreover, the council clarified that the Divine nature of Jesus Christ is begotten of God the Father from eternity; while his human nature was conceived in the womb of Mary in time.

The Blessed Virgin and the Prophecies

The Blessed Virgin Mary

The Blessed Virgin Mary is the mother of Jesus Christ, the mother of God .

In general, the theology and history of Mary the Mother of God follow the chronological order of their respective sources, i.e. the Old Testament, the New Testament, the early Christian and Jewish witnesses.

Mary in the gospels

The reader of the Gospel is at first surprised to find so little about Mary; but this obscurity of Mary in the Gospel has been studied at length by Blessed Peter Canisius , Auguste Nicolas, Cardinal Newman, and Very Rev. J. Spencer Northcote . In the commentary on the "Magnificat", published 1518, even Luther expresses the belief that the Gospel praise Mary sufficiently by calling her (eight times) the Mother of Jesus. In the following paragraphs we shall briefly group together what we know of Our Blessed Lady's life before the birth of her Divine Son, during the hidden Life of Our Lord, during His public Life and afterHis resurrection.

The Blessed Virgin Mary prophesied even in the Old testament.

Genesis 3:15

The first prophecy referring to Mary is found in the very opening chapters of the Book of Genesis (3:15): "I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed; she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel." This rendering appears to differ in two respects from the original Hebrew text.

The second prophecy referring to Mary is found in Isaias 7:1-17. Critics have endeavoured to represent this passage as a combination of occurrences and sayings from the life of the prophet written down by an unknown hand . The credibility of the contents is not necessarily affected by this theory, since prophetic traditions may be recorded by any writer without losing their credibility. But even Duhm considers the theory as an apparent attempt on the part of the critics to find out what the readers are willing to bear patiently; he believes it is a real misfortune for critism itself that it has found a mere compilation in a passage which so graphically describes the birth-hour of faith.

A third prophecy referring to Our Blessed Lady is contained in Micah 5:2-3 : "And thou, Bethlehem, Ephrata, art a little one among the thousands of Juda: out of thee shall be come forth unto me that is to be the ruler in Israel, and his going forth is from the beginning, from the days of eternity. Therefore will he give them up till the time wherein she that travaileth shall bring forth, and the remnant of his brethren shall be converted to the children of Israel ." Though the prophet (about 750-660 B.C.) was a contemporary of Isaias , his prophetic activity began a little later and ended a little earlier than that of Isaias . There can be no doubt that the Jews regarded the foregoing prediction as referring to the Messias. According to St.Matthew (2:6) the chief priest and scribes, when asked where the Messias was to be born, answered Herod in the words of the prophecy, "And thou Bethehem the land of Juda . . ." According to St.John (7:42), the Jewish populace gathered at Jerusalem for the celebration of the feast asked the rhetorical question: "Doth not the Scripture say that Christ cometh of the seed of David , and from Bethlehem, the town where David was?" The Chaldee paraphrase of Micah5:2 , confirms the same view: "Out of thee shall come forth unto me the Messias, that he may exercise dominion in Israel". The very words of the prophecy admit of hardly any other explanation; for "his going forth is from the beginning, from the days of eternity ".

A fourth prophecy referring to Mary is found in Jeremias 31:22; "The Lord has created a new thing upon the earth: A woman shall compass a man". The text of the prophet Jeremias offers no small difficulties for the scientific interpreter; we shall follow the Vulgate version of the Hebrew original. But even this rendering has been explained in several different ways: Rosenmuller and several conservative Protestant interpreters defend the meaning, "a woman shall protect a man"; but such a motive would hardly induce the men of Israel to return to God. The explanation "a woman shall seek a man" hardly agrees with the text; besides, such an inversion of the natural order is presented in Isaias 4:1 , as a sign of the greatest calamity. Ewald's rendering, "a woman shall change into a man", is hardly faithful to the original text. Other commentators see in the woman a type of the Synagogue or of the Church, in man the type of God , so that they explain the prophecy as meaning, " God will dwell again in the midst of the Synagogue (of the people of Israel)" or "the Church will protect the earth with its valiant men". But the Hebrew text hardly suggests such a meaning; besides, such an explanation renders the passage tautological: " Israel shall return to its God, for Israel will love its God ". Some recent writers render the Hebrew original: " God creates a new thing upon the earth: the woman (wife) returns to the man (her husband)". According to the old law ( Deuteronomy 24:1-4; Jeremiah 3:1) the husband could not take back the wife once repudiated by him; but the Lord will do something new by allowing the faithless wife, i.e. the guilty nation, to return to the friendship of God. This explanation rests upon a conjectural correction of the text; besides, it does not necessarily bear the Messianic meaning which we expect in the passage.