On this eight day of Christmas, my True Love gave to me….the Mother of God, in the Blessed Virgin Mary…

As we round out this last day of the Octave of Christmas, we have the liturgical Feast of the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which celebrates the divine, virginal Motherhood of  the Blessed Virgin. It is the highest title ever given to the Blessed Mother, it is  Theotokos…which means God-bearer or, Mother of God. It is the oldest feast of Mary which is celebrated by the Catholic Church. Just as Christmas honors Jesus…for He truly is the Prince of Peace.…honoring Mary in the Solemnity of Mary…honors Her as the Queen of Peace.

Through the power of the Holy Spirit, God the Father chose and  prepared Mary to be the dwelling place of His Son…Even though She was prepared…she did not fully understand everything that the angel revealed to her….She could have said no…Yet, it was through the Blessed Virgin’s yes…Her fiat…that Christ’s birth was made possible. With her words: “Be it done unto me according to Thy Word“… Mary sanctioned God’s plan of man salvation.

Mary, the lowly handmaid of the Lord, gave God, the Father of the universe, a human form…a human body that could suffer and die and save us from the fires of hell. We honor the Blessed Mother on this Solemnity, because it was She, who with her heart full of grace…her heart full of ‘yes’…that gave us…bore, our Lord and Savior in the virgin birth. Even though the Blessed Mother did not fully understand all that involved Jesus including His conception and His birth …She did not let her lack of understanding deter her from her Faith… or Her obedience to the Lord.

The true importance of Mary’s motherhood is not fully revealed until Jesus is hanging…dying, on the Cross. It did not matter that His power to work miracles did not come from Her…what mattered was that Her motherhood gave Jesus His body…so that He could become man…like us in all things but sin, and suffer for all mankind… saving us from our sins.

A part of her importance was revealed,  when Jesus was dying on the Cross, and turning to His Mother and said “Woman, behold your son,” and then turning to His disciple John, he said “Behold your Mother.” It shows that Jesus intended for His Mother, to have a new role…one of a maternal nature over His disciples.  And by entrusting His Mother to John, He was in fact, entrusting Her to all men, whose Mother she becomes in the work of salvation. It was from the Cross that Jesus established Mary’s role as Mother to all mankind.

So on this eighth day of Christmas, the Solemnity of the Blessed Mary, let us pray for the Blessed Mother’s intercession, so that like Her, we will be willing to give Him our yes…in all things…especially in those things we cannot understand…those things that require from us…our humility…our obedience and our Faith.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us.