A spiritual motherhood proclaimed
On the Monday following Pentecost, the Church now celebrates the liturgical memory of Mary, Mother of the Church. This feast, desired by Pope Francis in 2018, is intended to highlight the intimate bond between Mary and the Church, born in prayer and the fire of the Holy Spirit.
This Marian title is not new. It was solemnly proclaimed by Paul VI at the end of the Second Vatican Council on 21 November 1964. He declared:
"We proclaim the Blessed Virgin Mary Mother of the Church, that is, of the whole Christian people, both the faithful and the pastors."
This gesture was a strong way of placing the maternal figure of Mary at the heart of the Church of renewal, a Church that is more fraternal, more pastoral, more open to the world. Francis, by setting a liturgical feast proper to this title, wanted to make this truth of faith part of the daily prayer of the Christian people.
A feast placed the day after Pentecost
The placement of this feast immediately after Pentecost is deeply symbolic. In the Upper Room, Mary is present with the Apostles, praying, silent, faithful. She is not only a witness to the birth of the Church: she is its spiritual mother, the one who watches, who intercedes, who gathers.
By placing this feast on the Monday of the 10th week of Ordinary Time, the Church invites the faithful to enter into this new stage: after the coming of the Spirit, the life of the Church begins, and Mary accompanies this beginning as she accompanied Jesus.
A maternity that enlightens our life of faith
To call Mary "Mother of the Church" is not to give her a role of external prestige. It means recognising her real and living place in the journey of faith of every baptised person.
She is a mother because she gives life: she gave Christ, and she continues to give us birth to God through her prayer and presence.
She is a mother of the Church because she knows the heart of the Church: she knows joy, suffering, fear, faith, doubt. She is closer to us than we imagine, and she watches over the Christian people with tenderness.
A mother at the service of unity
One of Mary's great charisms is unity. Wherever she is invoked, she brings people together, she soothes, she pacifies. In families, parishes and communities, Marian prayer is often a ferment of reconciliation.
The feast of Mary, Mother of the Church, is therefore a call to unity: unity between Christians, unity between priests and laity, unity between local Churches, unity in our hearts.
It is also an invitation to imitate Mary's way of being in the Church: discreet, faithful, loving, praying with confidence, serving quietly.
A feast for today
As the Church goes through times of crisis, purification, questioning, the figure of Mary is a sure point of reference. She does not flee from the cross, she does not shut herself away in the past, she does not dominate: she loves, she carries, she offers.
Mary is the mother of all, without distinction. She is the first disciple, the model of faith, the woman of listening, the living memory of the Gospel.
To celebrate her as "Mother of the Church" is to turn to her with confidence, to say:
"Accompany us in this wounded but living Church. Help us to believe still, to love always, to serve humbly."
