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Mary, Mother of the Church
This is the Marian title that Paul VI proclaimed at the end of the Second Vatican Council, on November 21, 1964, at the Feast of the Presentation of Mary at the temple. Through this solemn act of the supreme Magisterium, the Pope wanted to emphasize "the maternal function that the Virgin has for the Christian people." He thus wished, and as requested by the Council, to promote the "filial piety" of all members of the Church (lay, as well as consecrated or ordained persons) to the mother of Jesus, who was given to us as a mother when Jesus on the cross said to John: "Behold thy mother."
This Marian title, already revered by St. Ambrose, was subsequently taken over by Pope John Paul II and Benedict XVI. We are thus invited, as the Second Vatican Council urged, to accept "Mary as a very loving mother," to enter into a relationship more real, more personal and more concrete with Mary, to bestow on her more honor and to address to her more confident and filial supplications.
Mary is the patroness of our diocese. I wanted her celebration to be scheduled for October 11 in our diocesan liturgical calendar because Vatican II opened on October 11, 1962. In celebrating Mary Mother of the Church at this time, we want from year to year to remember that our diocese was erected during the Council. Influenced from the outset by the broad guidelines of Vatican II, our diocese is the depositary of an inalienable treasure and a source of vitality constantly active. Mary brings us back, beyond the issues of structures and legalities, to the intimate essence of the Church, because she is our mother in the order of grace, of the link with Jesus, of faith, of hope and of love.
Perfect disciple of Jesus and living incarnation of the Beatitudes, Mary is for us "the model of faith and complete response to every call from God, the model of full assimilation of the teachings of Christ and his love, so that all the faithful united in the name of our common mother feel ever stronger in faith and adherence to Jesus Christ and ever striving towards a greater love for our brothers, promoters of love for the poor, committed to justice, and the Defense of peace” (Paul VI).
"Mary, you were in the Upper Room, when the Church began, when the Spirit burned into your heart, yours and that of the apostles. You are still here, you who are rightly called Mother of the Church. We are your children: protect us, help us to grow in faith and love, make us friends of God and show us the path to holiness. Mary, Mother of the Church, pray for us. "(Jules Beaulac, Marie... au fil des jours, Éditions Notre-Dame-du-Cap, 1995, p.29).
† Roger Ébacher
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