Mary, “Mother of the Church”, celebrated on Pentecost Monday

At the initiative of Pope Francis, a decree was published on February 11, 2018, the 160th anniversary of the first Marian apparition in Lourdes. He inscribes in the Roman calendar a day of obligatory remembrance in homage to Mary, “mother of the Church “.

The objective? Encourage the growth of the “maternal sense of the Church” and true Marian piety. This celebration is also a way of remembering, according to Cardinal Sarah ( who signed, as prefect, the decree, editor’s note ) that Mary can guide us in our Christian life, as a mother guides her child. And that our Christian life, to grow, must be centered on the Cross, the Eucharist, but also on Mary.

Christians around the world are therefore called, on this day, to participate in the service dedicated to her and to pray to her. With the concern of seeking to imitate his faith, his fidelity and his perseverance.

Pope Francis is not the first to attach himself to the figure of Mary, as Mother of the Church. Without any obligatory celebration being dedicated to her until now, she has always been present in the edification of the Church. In the 5th century, Saint Augustine (354-430) and Saint Leo the Great (pope from 440 to 461) already affirmed that if Mary is the mother of Jesus, she is also the mother of the Church. A century and a half later, during the Second Vatican Council, Blessed Pope Paul VI solemnly recognized the Blessed Virgin Mary as “Mother of the Church, that is to say, Mother of all the Christian people, including the faithful only pastors, who call her most lovable Mother.”

Some countries, such as Poland or Argentina, have, on their own initiative, included this celebration in their calendar. In France, on August 15, the feast of the Assumption of Mary is also celebrated since the wish of Louis XIII.