Celebrating the Mother of God

Dear Friends,

Each year in October, our Church celebrates Mary, the Mother of God and our Mother.

Since earliest Christian times, it has been the little people who have honored, loved and depended on the support of Mary. That makes sense. Little people, that is the poor, the ordinary, those who have no decision-making power or authority, depend on their mothers for sustenance, safety, learning, the daily needs of life. Mothers have been known to surround their children in a mantle of security. They are often the one who lead their children to God.

Mary has been claimed as mother by people worldwide over the centuries. She is a model of trust, courage, patience, risk. Widowed mothers and unwed mothers have turned to her. So have the oppressed, the marginalized, the afflicted. The veneration of Mary has been a mainstay, an inspiration across the globe.

During the Council of Ephesus, in 431, the bishops gathered to consider whether Mary was to be more appropriately called Christotokos (Christ-Bearer) or Theotokos (God-Brearer). They were leaning toward Christotokos. Meanwhile, on the streets of Ephesus, when the people heard this, they roared out “No! Theotokos!” The people had spoken. Thus, it has been for all these centuries. Mary is acknowledged by believers as the Mother of God.

In distant and obscure parts of the world, sites of strong Marian devotion have developed. Sometimes, these were sites of apparitions, where typically, Mary appeared to the little people. We certainly know of Guadalupe (1531), Lourdes (1858) and Fatima (1917). Among the less well-known sites of Marian devotion are Montserrat, Spain (880), Walsingham, England (1061), Bistrica, Croatia (1545), LaVang, Vietnam (1778), Akita, Japan (1973) and Kibeho, Rwanda (1980). Pope Francis recently went to visit the tiny Catholic population of Mongolia, which dates back to 1992. Venerated there, in the Cathedral of SS Peter and Paul in Ulaambaator, is a statue of Our Lady of Heaven, found in a dump not many years ago. Little people, not the wealthy or powerful, go to search for life-giving things in dumps. Mary is with her Son’s People in Mongolia.

This month, include reverence for Mary in your daily prayer. Say a Rosary. To find a list of all mysteries of the Rosary, go to https://www.marquette.edu/faith/prayers-mysteries.php. Or say one decade. If neither of those work on any given day, say a Hail Mary.

The Hail Mary was not composed all at once. It came together over many centuries. It was the work of the little people. Beginning with the greeting to Mary from the archangel Gabriel, the prayer goes on to include Elizabeth’s words to Mary. The faithful of the medieval period added bits and pieces until the Council of Trent, in the 16th century, accepted the prayer as we know it.

Hail Mary. Holy Mother of God. A surprise to her parents. A surprise to Joseph. Her remembered words are few but she points to us to Jesus as she pointed the wine stewards at the Marriage Feast in Cana to Him. “Do whatever he tells you.” (John 2) The stewards knew what to do. So do we, if only we are willing. The wine our lives will produce will be abundant and exceptionally fine, if we do what He tells us. Little people know how to make good wine.

~ Sister Joan Sobala