MOTHER BEHOLD THY SON
Introduction
The feast of Mary, Mother of the Church is celebrated annually the day after Pentecost, was announced by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments. By issuing the Decree on the celebration of the feast of Mary, Mother of the Church, Pope Francis wishes to promote this devotion in order to “encourage the growth of the maternal sense of the Church in the pastors, religious and faithful, as well as a growth of genuine Marian piety”. The decree reflects on the history of Marian theology in the Church’s liturgical tradition and the writings of the Church Fathers.
Entrance Antiphon
The disciples devoted themselves with one accord to prayer with Mary, the mother of Jesus.
Collect
O God, Father of mercies, whose Only Begotten Son, as he hung upon the Cross, chose the Blessed Virgin Mary, his Mother, to be our Mother also; grant, we pray, that with her loving help, your Church may be more fruitful day by day, and exulting in the holiness of her children, may draw to her embrace all the families of the peoples. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
First reading: Genesis 3:9-15,20
After Adam had eaten of the tree, the Lord God called to him and said. “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent beguiled me, and I ate.” The LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all cattle, and above all wild animals; upon your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
(Alternative First reading Acts 1:12-14)
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 87:1-2, 3 and 5, 6-7
Of you are told glorious things, O city of God!
Founded by him on the holy mountain, the LORD loves the gates of Sion, more than all the dwellings of Jacob. R.
Of you are told glorious things, O city of God!’ But of Sion it shall be said,
‘Each one was born in her.’” He, the Most High, established it. R.
In his register of peoples the LORD writes, “Here was this one born.” The singers cry out in chorus, “In you, all find their home.” R.
Gospel Acclamation
Alleluia, alleluia!
Happy are you, holy Virgin Mary, and most worthy of all praise, for from you arose the sun of justice, Christ our God. Alleluia!
Gospel John 19:25-34
At that time: Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home, After this Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfil the scripture), “I thirst.” A bowl full of vinegar stood there; so they put a sponge full of the vinegar on hyssop and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the vinegar, he said, “It is finished”; and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. Since it was the day of Preparation, in order to prevent the bodies from remaining on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him; but when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water.
Prayer over the Offerings
Receive our offerings, O Lord, and transform them into the mystery of salvation, so that by its power we may be set aflame with the charity of the Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, and with her may be united more closely to the work of redemption. Through Christ our Lord.
Communion Antiphon Cf. John 2:1,11
A wedding was held in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; then Jesus performed the first of his signs and manifested his glory and his disciples believed in him.
Prayer after Communion
Having received the pledge of redemption and of life we humbly pray, O Lord, that with the Blessed Virgin’s motherly help your Church may teach all nations by proclaiming the Gospel and, thanks to the outpouring of the Spirit, may fill the whole earth. Through Christ our Lord.
Commentary
The decree says Saint Augustine and Pope Saint Leo the Great both reflected on the Virgin Mary’s importance in the mystery of Christ.
“In fact the former [St. Augustine] says that Mary is the mother of the members of Christ, because with charity she cooperated in the rebirth of the faithful into the Church, while the latter [St. Leo the Great] says that the birth of the Head is also the birth of the body, thus indicating that Mary is at once Mother of Christ, the Son of God, and mother of the members of his Mystical Body, which is the Church.”
The decree says these reflections are a result of the “divine motherhood of Mary and from her intimate union in the work of the Redeemer.”
Scripture, the decree says, depicts Mary at the foot of the Cross (cf. Jn 19:25). There she became the Mother of the Church when she “accepted her Son’s testament of love and welcomed all people in the person of the beloved disciple as sons and daughters to be reborn unto life eternal.”
Also the idea of Mary interceding for the church, as a mother does for her children, is important for Catholics to consider, especially as this new feast falls so soon after the Pentecost Sunday. It is key to understand this placement right after Pentecost, because at the time of the original Pentecost, Mary “did what a mother would do – she prayed with and for her children in the upper room.”
Blessing
We as brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ are already granted the rare privilege of being children of Mary. As the Mother of the Church right from the birth of Christ, she remains as a Mother interceding for us before God with the blessing of Almighty God, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!
(added information: clarionherald.org/ and catholicculture.org)