The feast of Mary, Mother of God
Q: I notice that the feast of Mary, Mother of God, has been moved from 11 October to 1 January when we used to celebrate the feast of the Circumcision of Jesus. When was this done and why?
A: The feast has a long history, going back many centuries.
It commemorates, of course, Mary’s divine motherhood. That is, since Jesus is true God and true man and Mary is His mother, Mary is the mother of God.
Mary’s divine motherhood was defined in the Council of Ephesus in the year 431 against the errors of Nestorius who was patriarch of Constantinople from 428 to 431.
He had taught that in Jesus there were two persons, one divine and the other human, and that Mary was the mother only of the human person and was therefore not the mother of God.
This went against the popular belief that Mary was truly theotokos, a Greek word meaning “God-bearer”. Christians had called Mary by this name since at least the 3rd century, the earliest documented usage of the term being in the writings of Origen of Alexandria in the year 230.
The Council of Ephesus, in condemning the errors of Nestorius, taught: “If anyone does not confess that the Emmanuel (Christ) in truth is God and that on this account the Holy Virgin is the Mother of God – since according to the flesh she brought forth the Word of God made flesh – let him be anathema” (DS 251).
The exact origin of the feast of Mary, Mother of God, is unknown but around 500AD the Eastern Church celebrated a “Day of the Theotokos” around Christmas.
Over time, the feast came to be celebrated on 26 December in the Byzantine calendar and on 16 January in the Coptic calendar.
In the West, the Gregorian and Roman calendars of the 7th century gave a strong Marian emphasis to the octave day of Christmas, 1 January. With time, the feast of the Circumcision of Jesus came to be celebrated on this day.
It seems that the push for a special feast of Mary’s divine maternity began in Portugal. In 1751, Pope Benedict XIV allowed the Church in that country to commemorate Mary’s divine maternity on the first Sunday of May.
The feast was gradually extended to other countries and, in 1914, it was celebrated on 11 October . It became a feast of the universal Church in 1931 under Pope Pius XI.
After the Second Vatican Council, Pope Paul VI decided to change the feast on 1 January from the Circumcision of Jesus to the commemoration of Mary, Mother of God, in order to reclaim the ancient Marian emphasis on that day.
In the Apostolic Exhortation Marialis Cultus on 2 February 1974, he wrote: “The Christmas season is a prolonged commemoration of the divine, virginal and salvific motherhood of her whose inviolate virginity brought the Saviour into the world.”
He went on to say: “In the revised ordering of the Christmas period, it seems to us that the attention of all should be directed towards the restored Solemnity of Mary, the holy Mother of God.
“This celebration, placed on 1 January in conformity with the ancient indication of the liturgy of the city of Rome, is meant to commemorate the part played by Mary in this mystery of salvation” (MC, 5).
He added: “It is likewise a fitting occasion for renewing adoration of the newborn Prince of Peace, for listening once more to the glad tidings of the angels (cf Lk 2:14), and for imploring from God, through the Queen of Peace, the supreme gift of peace.
“It is for this reason that, in the happy concurrence of the Octave of Christmas and the first day of the year, we have instituted the World Day of Peace, an occasion that is gaining increasing support and already bringing forth fruits of peace in the hearts of many” (ibid).
The feast of the Divine Maternity of Mary is a good occasion to renew our love for our blessed mother, who brought the Son of God into the world, and to honour her as both Mother of God and Queen of Peace.