Today is the Feast of the Divine Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The Council of Ephesus (431 A.D.) declared Our Lady to be the Mother of God. This is a doctrine that that the devil particularly hates, which is why he has raised up all manner of Protestant sects to attack it with a fury, requiring us to defend the doctrine of the Divine Maternity of Our Lady with all of the graces that she sees fit to send us through her loving hands as the Mediatrix of All Graces.
As Father Benedict Baur, O.S.B., explained in The Light of the World, Volume II:
"Fifteen hundred years have passed since Nestorius, a Patriarch of Constantinople, launched the heresy which taught that the person of Christ was different from the person of the Son of God. Nestorius asserted that Mary did not conceive nor bring forth the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, but only the man Christ. According to his teaching she was not the Mother of God, not a God-bearer, but only the mother of a mere man, in whom God dwelt only as in a temple.
A few years later after the beginning of the Nestorian heresy, a council was assembled at Ephesus (431 A.D.), which proclaimed that Mary had given birth to Jesus, who was, at one and the same time, God and man, having two natures but one person. God does not live in Him merely as in a temple, but the man Jesus is at the same time God. Mary is mother, not only of the humanity of Christ, but of the Son of God also. She is the Mother of God. The people of Ephesus awaited the decision of the council hall were opened and the decision was made known, the people greeted the Fathers with great rejoicing and accompanied them to their dwellings with flaming torches, crying out: 'Mary is the bearer of God; Mary is the Mother of God.'
Today, fifteen hundred years later, we make the same joyful confession. "Mary is the mother of Jesus, the Son of God. The Gospel recounts an incident of His childhood during which He first refers to His divine origin. When Jesus was twelve years old, Joseph and Mary went to Jerusalem to offer sacrifice. 'When they returned, the child Jesus remained in Jerusalem, and His parents knew it not.' They believed Him to be in the company of relatives. But they were mistaken. After a long and anxious search they found Him in the Temple, sitting among the doctors of the law. 'And His mother said to Him: Son, why hast Thou done to so us? Behold Thy father and I have sought Thee sorrowing.' This rebuke shows the concern of a mother who has borne suffering with love. But Jesus meekly answers: 'Did you not know that I must be about My Father's business?' He refers to His Heavenly Father, for He is Son of God. He was conceived, not by the power of man, but by the power of God (Offertory). When the angel had first brought the message to Mary, she had answered: Behold the handmaid of Lord; be it done unto me according to thy word" (Luke 1: 38). And at her word, the only-begotten Son of God was made flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mother. We pray tribute to this mystery at the Communion, when we confess, 'Blessed is the womb of the Virgin Mary, which bore the Son of the eternal Father.' Blessed art thou, O holy Mother of God, who wert united to the Son of God in a most intimate union when thou didst bear Him in thy womb. "Mary provided the body for the Son of God, and he in return Christ filled the soul of Mary with the fullness of His spirit. Mary became wholly absorbed in Him and became like Him. She became united to Him in a most intimate union. 'Alleluia, alleluia. Virgin Mother of God, He whom the whole world cannot contain, enclosed Himself in thy womb, being made man, Alleluia.' 'Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.' " 'As the vine, I have brought forth a pleasant odor, and my flowers are the fruit of honor and riches' (Epistle). The blossoms on this vine are the precious virtues of faith and humility which the Virgin exhibited when she received the message of the angel. She was resolute in her attachment to her virginity: "I know not man" (Luke 1: 34). Yet she is obedient to the will of God and speaks her fiat: "Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done unto me according to thy word" (Luke 1: 38). "My flowers are the fruit of honor and riches," Christ the Lord. "There shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse," Mary, who is sprung from the house of David; "and a flower shall rise up out of his root," Christ, the Son of Mary (Gradual). Humanity and divinity are united in this one person. 'Come over to me, all yet that desire me, and be filled with my fruits' (Epistle). Mary does not keep her child for herself; she bequeaths Him to us when He is born at Bethlehem, when He is offered in the Temple, and when He offers Himself up on the cross. She gives Him to us again daily in Holy Communion. Mary has borne Christ for us. Together with her Divine Son, she has given us salvation and an abundance of grace. She stands even today at the throne of God as our advocate and or all-powerful intercessor, armed with irresistible intercessory power, the mother of all those who are in the state of sanctifying grace. "We renew our faith in the mystery of Mary's divine motherhood. 'Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.' God is thy child, having taken His humanity from thy flesh. " 'Come over to me . . . and be filled with my fruits,' for it is Christ Jesus whom I give you. He was first given to us when we were reborn through baptism: He is given to us today at Mass and Holy Communion: 'Hath He not also with Him given us all things?' (Rom. 8: 32.) Since Mary has given us all things through Christ, we today express our gratitude to her." (Father Benedict Baur, O.S.B., The Light of the World, Volume II, B. Herder Book Company, Saint Louis, Missouri, 1954, pp. 440-442.)
I hope to have my next original article published by tomorrow, Our Lady's Saturday, and the five hundred thirty-second anniversary of Christopher Columbus planting the Cross of the Divine Redeemer on the island of San Salvador.
A new commentary, Red Hats for Men as Lavender as Truman Capote, was published, which underwent some editing after its initial posting, was published around twenty-three hours ago.
A blessed Feast of the Divine Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary to you all!
Our Lady of the Rosary, pray for us.
