31/12/2025
1 JANUARY | BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, MOTHER OF GOD
SOLEMNITY
The precise title โMother of Godโ goes back at least to the third or fourth century. In the Greek form Theotokos (God-bearer), it became the touchstone of the Churchโs teaching about the Incarnation. The Council of Ephesus in 431 insisted that the holy Fathers were right in calling the Holy Virgin Theotokos. At the end of this particular session, crowds of people marched through the street shouting: โPraised be the Theotokos!โ The tradition reaches to our own day. In its chapter on Maryโs role in the Church, Vatican IIโs Dogmatic Constitution on the Church calls Mary โMother of Godโ 12 times.
IBREVIARY
PRAYER
God our Father,
may we always profit by the prayers
of the Virgin Mother Mary,
for you bring us life and salvation
through Jesus Christ her Son
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
God, forever and ever.
โ Amen.
