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Mary, Mother of the Church

© Kathryn Morse

Mary, the mother of Jesus, is called by many titles in the Catholic Church. The very high number of her titles is one demonstration of her importance throughout history to the Church.

One of Mary's titles is Mother of the Church. How can Mary be our mother? This is a question that Protestants ask. There is a great difference between how Catholics and modern Protestants view the concept of "communion of the saints." I write "modern Protestant" because Martin Luther did not have a problem saying that Mary was the Mother of the Church. Luther wrote that If Christ be ours than all that he has must be ours, including his mother.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church says about communion of the saints, "We believe in the communion of all the faithful of Christ, those who are pilgrims on earth . . . and the blessed in heaven, . . . and we believe that in this communion, the merciful love of God and his saints is always attentive to our prayers" [962] .* This belief in the communion of the saints is the foundational belief that leads to acceptance of Mary as Mother of the Church. Many believe that Mary has always participated and is still participating in the life of the Church.

Mary cannot be a hindrance to our relationship with God as some Protestants teach, because Mary was made for God to bring Him into the world. With her acceptance of the annunciation, Mary cast her soul, her very life upon God. When the care of the life of the incarnate word began in her womb, Mary was united with God, his identity and his work, in a unique way. Mary's role as Mother of the Church began with her acceptance of the will of God at the annunciation and Mary continued her cooperation with the work of God with her presence at the Cross.

One place that Mary's presence at the cross is recorded is in the Gospel According to St. John 19:26-27. In these verses, Jesus, while on the cross, says to his mother "Woman, here is your son." And Jesus says to John, the only of the twelve apostles present, "Here is your mother." Protestant churches teach that in these verses Jesus is providing provision for his widowed mother, as afterward she lived as part of St. John's household. The Catholic Church teaches this and more. The

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