Msgr. Beaulieu – Mary as Mother of God and Queen of Peace

Mary as Mother of God & Queen of Peace

Pope Saint Paul VI introduced the feast of the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God in 1970. Then, in his later encyclical Marialis Cultus he described it this way, “This celebration, assigned to January 1 in conformity with the ancient liturgy of the city of Rome, is meant to commemorate the part played by Mary in this mystery of salvation. It is meant also to exalt the singular dignity which this mystery brings to the ‘holy Mother…through whom we were found worthy…to receive the Author of life.'” Since 431 AD, the Council of Ephesus, in light of the fact that Jesus is both God and man, the Council Fathers designated that the Lord’s mother Mary was called Theotokos (Gk. Θεοτόκος), a title that literally means God Bearer. The usual equivalents in Latin are Dei Genetrix or Deipara.

Furthermore, the saintly Pope added, “It is likewise a fitting occasion for renewed 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.” Prior to that, in 1968, he also designated this Marian feast day as an annual World Day of Peace. Each year the pope sends a message inviting everyone to work toward peace through issues such as ecological conversion, political reform, support of migrants and refugees, nonviolence, racial equality, the fight against poverty, and an end to abortion.

In a homily on this day, Pope Francis said, “At the beginning of a new year, the Church invites us to contemplate Mary’s divine maternity as an icon of peace.  In her, the ancient promise finds fulfilment.  She believed in the words of the angel, conceived her Son and thus became the Mother of the Lord.  Through her, through her ‘yes’, the fullness of time came about. The Gospel we have just heard tells us that the Virgin Mary ‘treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart’ (Lk2:19).  She appears to us as a vessel filled to the brim with the memory of Jesus, as the Seat of Wisdom to whom we can have recourse to understand his teaching aright.  Today Mary makes it possible for us to grasp the meaning of events which affect us personally, events which also affect our families, our countries and the entire world.  Where philosophical reason and political negotiation cannot reach, there the power of faith, which brings the grace of Christ’s Gospel, can reach, opening ever new pathways to reason and to negotiation.” (1 January 2016).

Papal Prayer to Mary as Mater Dei or Dei Genetrix

Blessed are you, Mary, for you gave the Son of God to our world. But even more blessed are you for having believed in him. Full of faith, you conceived Jesus first in your heart and then in your womb, and thus became the Mother of all believers (cf. Saint Augustine, Sermo 215,4). Send us, O Mother, your blessing on this day consecrated to your honor. Show us the face of Jesus your Son, who bestows upon the entire world mercy and peace. Amen.