The title of Mary as Mother of God proclaims clearly that the One to whom she gave birth truly is God. In fact, He is one Divine person who is both fully God and fully Man. The feast day is a clear example of how devotion to Mary actually helps us to know and love her Son better. True devotion to Mary never takes away from our relationship with Jesus Christ, but protects and even fosters it.
Right-click
here to download the file (Choose “Save link as…").
Resources from the Catechism
On Nestorianism (
click here)
On Mary as the
Theotokos (Mother of God) (
click here)
From the Catholic Encyclopedia entry for the "Blessed Virgin Mary"
Mary's Divine motherhood is based on the teaching of the
Gospels, on the writings of the
Fathers, and on the express
definition of the
Church.
St. Matthew (
1:25) testifies that Mary "brought forth her
first-born son" and that He was called
Jesus. According to
St. John (
1:15)
Jesus is the
Word made flesh, the
Word Who
assumed human nature in the womb of Mary. As Mary was truly the mother of
Jesus, and as
Jesus was truly
God from the first moment of His conception, Mary is truly the mother of God. Even the earliest
Fathers did not hesitate to draw this conclusion as may be seen in the writings of
St. Ignatius,
St. Irenaeus, and
Tertullian. The contention of
Nestorius denying to Mary the title "Mother of God" was followed by the teaching of the
Council of Ephesus proclaiming Mary to be
Theotokos in the
true sense of the word.
