Universal Devotion to Mary the Mother of God
For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed — Luke 1:48
The Blessed Virgin Mary is the Theotokos, the one who gave birth to God.
In the Nicene Creed, we profess our faith in “one Lord, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only-begotten, born of the Father before all ages. Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, one in essence with the Father, through whom all things were made.”
Jesus Christ is the Almighty God, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent. He is co-equal, co-eternal, and one in essence with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Glory to Jesus Christ! How great then, must be the one who gave Him birth.
Dear Lady, How Great Thou Art!
All of Our Lady’s titles, privileges, and prerogatives (perpetual virginity, immaculate conception, sinless life, bodily assumption, intercessory mediation, co-operation in redemption, and others) are rooted in her identity as the one who gave birth to God, the one who followed Him most closely and knew Him most deeply. Thus, “it is truly proper” to glorify her.
“It is truly proper to glorify you, O Theotokos, the ever blessed, immaculate, and the Mother of our God. More honorable than the Cherubim, and beyond compare more glorious than the Seraphim, who a virgin gave birth to God the Word. You truly the Theotokos, we magnify” (Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom).
Old Testament Types and Shadows
The Theotokos is prefigured in the characters, types, shadows, and symbols of the Old Testament, such as the Woman of Genesis 3:15, Eve, Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, Miriam, Jael, Hannah, Bathsheba, Esther, The “Virgin-Mother of Emmanuel” (Is. 7:14), Judith, the Mother of the Maccabees (2 Macc. 7), Jacob’s Ladder (Gen 28:12), the Burning Bush (Ex 3:1), the Temple (1 Kings 8), Jerusalem, Daughter Zion, the City of God, the Ark of the Covenant.
New Testament Foundations
The Church’s devotion to Mary is rooted in the scriptural witness of the New Testament. Think of the Annunciation (Lk. 1:26–38), the Visitation (Lk. 1:39–56), the Nativity (Lk. 2:4–20), the Presentation in the Temple (Lk. 2:22- 39), the Finding in the Temple (Lk. 2:41–52), the Wedding of Cana ( Jn. 2:1–10), Mary at the foot of the cross ( Jn. 19: 25–27), Mary at Pentecost (Ac. 1:13–2:4), and the apocalyptic Woman clothed with the sun (Rev. 12:1).
All Apostolic Churches Honor the Mother of God — ALL
The Catholic Church is not the only Church that venerates and invokes the Mary, the Mother of God.
The ancient churches that trace their origins back to the Apostles (sometimes called the Apostolic Churches, i.e., Catholic, Orthodox, Coptic, Armenian, Ethiopian, Assyrian Church of the East, and others) venerate and invoke the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Even the Assyrian Church of the East, which rejected the Council of Ephesus (A.D. 431) and until this day erroneously rejects the title “Theotokos,” or “Mother of God” prays:
“Mary the holy virgin, beseech, make request, supplicate for the Church and her children that by your prayers they may be kept from all harm, to be made worthy of mercies and compassion on that day of judgement” (Prayer Book, p. 95).
Sub Tuum Praesidium
The hymn “We Fly to the Patronage” or the “Sub Tuum Praesidium” may date back to the third century (or, at the latest, the fifth century) and is used in the Roman, Byzantine, Coptic, Armenian, and Ambrosian liturgies.
It’s impressive and reassuring to realize that all forms of Christianity that date back to the ancient apostolic Church love, praise, revere, and invoke the Mother of God.
Historically speaking, no church or denomination that rejects or neglects our Lady can claim to be part of the historic Christian Church, the Church of the Scriptures, Apostles, Fathers, and Ecumenical Councils.
The Church Fathers on Mary
Saint Gregory Nazianzus (329–390) writes:
“If anyone does not recognize the Holy Mary as the Mother of God, he is separated from the Divinity” (Ep. 101. 4).
Saint John Damascene (675–749) says:
“Verily she is in the proper and true sense the Mother of God and The Lady; she rules over all Creation as she is both maid and the Mother of the Creator” (De fide orth. IV 14).
All Through Mary
It was through Mary that Jesus Christ came to save us. It is through Mary, according to the Fathers and Saints, that God wants to give us every good thing.
Saint Germanus of Constantinople (634–740), addressing Our Lady says,
“Nobody can achieve salvation except through thee, O Most Holy One, nobody can receive a gift of grace except through thee… O Most Chaste One.”
Pope Leo XIII (1810–1903) articulates the same idea when he says that
“from that great treasure of all graces, which the Lord has brought, nothing, according to the will of God, comes to us except through Mary, so that, as nobody can approach the Supreme Father except through the Son, similarly nobody can approach Christ except through the Mother.”
To be true Christians, we must be children of Mary.
“Behold your Mother!” (Jn. 19:27).
Renew your faith in the power of Mary.
Honor her, be devoted to her, call on her, and rely on her all-powerful prayers.
Most importantly, obey her command:
“do whatever He tells you” (Jn. 2:5).
(Works Consulted: for the biblical basis of devotion to Mary, I consulted motherofallpeoples.com and, more specifically, https://www.motherofallpeoples.com/post/meet-mary-theblessed-virgin-the-bible-and-the-earlychurch.)
