Why is Mary the Mother of the Church?

On the Monday after Pentecost the Catholic Church celebrates the feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church. Although the feast was only recently added to the liturgical calendar, the identity of Mary as Mother of the Church has a long history.

Here are two reasons why we refer to Mary as the Mother of the Church:

1) Behold Your Mother

The gospel reading for the day reveals the Scriptural origin of Mary as Mother of the Church. As Jesus is being crucified on the Cross, his mother and Saint John (the disciple who he loved) stood nearby. He called to them.

To his mother he said, “Woman, behold, your son.”
To the disciple he said, “Behold, your mother.”
(John 19:26-27)

Tradition holds that John took care of Mary from that day forward, but there is a deeper theological message here. We are the disciples of Jesus today. When we look upon Mary, we should say to ourselves, “behold, my mother.”

2) Mother of the Church

Let’s continue the theological grounding.

Mary is the Mother of God, Jesus Christ, the Head of the Church

The Church if the Body of Christ

Therefore, Mary is the Mother of the Body of Christ, the Church

We honor Mary as our Mother. We turn to her in prayer asking for her to pray for us to her Son.

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