unless otherwise stated.
Feast of The Maternity of The Blessed Virgin Mary.
Feast Day 11 October.
Double of The Second-Class.
White Vestments.
Maternity of Mary
from The Liturgical Year, 1910.
Illustration: CATHOLIC HARBOR OF FAITH AND MORALS
Illustration: UNA VOCE OF ORANGE COUNTY
Artist: René de Cramer.
"Copyright Brunelmar/Ghent/Belgium".
Used with Permission.
The Solemnity of Mary, The Holy Mother of God, is a Feast Day of The Blessed Virgin Mary under the aspect of her Motherhood of Jesus Christ.
Christians of Byzantine Rite and of both West and East Syrian Rites Celebrate Mary as Mother of God on 26 December and The Coptic Church does so on 16 January.
The Feast is a Celebration of Mary's Motherhood of Jesus. The English Title "Mother of God" is a translation of the Latin Title Dei Genetrix, which means "She Who Generated God", as the corresponding Greek Title Θεοτόκος (Theotokos) means "She Who Gave Birth to God". This Title was dogmatically adopted at The First Council of Ephesus, in 431 A.D., as a way to assert that Jesus is God, and that his Mother can therefore be called Mother of God. The Title that The Feast Celebrates is, thus, not only Mariological, but also Christological.
"Ave Maris Stella"
(Hail, Star of the Sea)
is the Hymn at Vespers for
The Feast of The Maternity of The Blessed Virgin Mary.
Available on YouTube at
The Second Vatican Council stated: "Clearly, from earliest times, The Blessed Virgin is honoured under the Title of Mother of God." and, at an early stage, The Church in Rome celebrated on
1 January a Feast that it called The Anniversary (Natale) of The Mother of God. When this was overshadowed by The Feasts of The Annunciation and The Assumption, adopted from Constantinople at the start of the 7th-Century A.D., 1 January began to be Celebrated simply as The Octave Day of Christmas, the "eighth day", on which, according to Luke 2:21, The Child was Circumcised and given the name "Jesus".
In the 13th- or 14th-Century, 1 January began to be Celebrated in Rome, as already in Spain and Gaul, as The Feast of The Circumcision of The Lord and The Octave of The Nativity, while still oriented towards Mary and Christmas, with many Prayers, Antiphons and Responsories glorifying The Maternity of Mary. Pope Saint John XXIII's 1960 Rubrical and Calendrical Revision removed the mention of The Circumcision of Jesus and called 1 January, simply, The Octave of The Nativity.
The Feast of "The Maternity of The Blessed Virgin Mary" was established in Portugal, in 1914, for Celebration on 11 October, and was extended to the entire Catholic Church by Pope Pius XI in 1931. The 1969 Revision of The Liturgical Year and The Calendar states: "1 January, The Octave Day of The Nativity of The Lord, is The Solemnity of Mary, The Holy Mother of God, and also The Commemoration of the conferral of The Most Holy Name of Jesus." It removed the 11 October Feast, even for Portugal, stating: "The Maternity of The Blessed Virgin Mary is Celebrated on 1 January in The Solemnity of Mary, The Mother of God." (The 11 October Feast is now Celebrated only by some Traditionalist Catholic individuals and groups.)
"Ave Maris Stella"
(Hail, Star of the Sea)
is the Hymn at Vespers
for
The Feast of The Maternity of The Blessed Virgin Mary.
Available on YouTube at
In his Apostolic Letter, Marialis Cultus, Pope Paul VI explained: "This Celebration 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."
Roman Catholic Mariology is the systematic study of the person of The Blessed Virgin Mary and of her place in the economy of Salvation, within the Theology of The Catholic Church.
In the Catholic perspective, Mary has a precise place in the plan of Salvation and a special place within Tradition and Devotion. She is seen as having a singular dignity, and receives a higher level of Veneration than all other Saints. Roman Catholic Mariology thus studies not only her life, but also the Veneration of her in daily life, Prayer, Hymns, Art (where she has been a favourite topic), Music, and Architecture in Modern and Ancient Christianity throughout the ages.
The four Dogmas, of Perpetual Virginity, Mother of God, Immaculate Conception and Assumption, form the basis of Mariology. However, a number of other Catholic Doctrines about The Virgin Mary have been developed by reference to Sacred Scripture, Theological Reasoning and Church Tradition.
The development of Mariology is on-going and, since the beginning, it has continued to be shaped by Theological analyses, writings of Saints, and Papal statements, e.g. while two Marian Dogmas are ancient, the other two were defined in the 19th- and 20th-Centuries; and Papal teachings on Mary have continued to appear in recent times.
The following Text is from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal.
Mass: Ecce Virgo concipiet.
Preface: Of The Virgin Mary: Et te in Festivitáte.
Hymn: Ave Maris Stella.
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