{"id":492,"date":"2012-01-01T12:18:00","date_gmt":"2012-01-01T12:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2012\/01\/how-did-mary-become-the-mother-of-god.html"},"modified":"2016-03-25T17:05:58","modified_gmt":"2016-03-25T22:05:58","slug":"how-did-mary-become-the-mother-of-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2012\/01\/how-did-mary-become-the-mother-of-god.html","title":{"rendered":"How did Mary become the Mother of God?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

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One week after the birth of Our Lord, every January first, we pause to consider one major implication of his birth: The divine motherhood of the Virgin Mary. \u00a0Today we acclaim her with one of the most ancient titles given to her by Christians: Mother of God, Theotokos <\/i>or God bearer.<\/p>\n

We hail the Virgin Mary with such a lofty title in virtue of her role in the plan of salvation which Saint Paul so beautifully summarized: \u201cWhen the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman\u2026 so that we might receive adoption as sons.\u201d<\/p>\n

In that cold Christmas evening in Bethlehem, Mary gazed in awe at her son, who was the Son of God, God made man, God among us, Emmanuel.<\/p>\n

By honoring her we fulfill her prophecy recorded by Saint Luke in his Gospel, when Mary said to her cousin Elizabeth, \u201cfrom this day all generations will call me blessed, the almighty has done great things for me and holy is his name.\u201d<\/p>\n

Because of the wonders God has worked in her, we join generations of Christians in calling Our Lady Blessed. \u00a0Being a disciple of Christ requires recognizing the blessedness of His mother. \u00a0She is more than an instrument used by God to become man, she is more than just an example of obedience to God; she is the Mother of God, chosen from all women to play an active role in God\u2019s plan of salvation.<\/p>\n

How can it be, that a human being, the Blessed Virgin Mary, becomes the Mother of God? \u00a0It is puzzling because mothers exist before their children, and with Mary, we have a Son who exists before His mother. \u00a0The easy answer is: God willed it so, He willed to be born of Mary. \u00a0But here comes the long answer:<\/p>\n

To acclaim Mary as the Mother of God is to acclaim Jesus Christ as the Son of God, God made man.
\nMary gave birth to the person of Jesus, who is a divine person, the second person of the Trinity.<\/p>\n

This divine person, Jesus, shares a divine nature with the Father and the Holy Spirit. \u00a0There are three persons in one divine nature. \u00a0Three persons in one God. \u00a0This divine person, Jesus, keeping his divine nature has taken upon himself a human nature like ours. \u00a0Jesus Christ is one divine person with two natures: human and divine. \u00a0He is perfectly man and perfectly God.<\/p>\n

The Blessed Virgin Mary gave birth to the person of Jesus who is truly God and truly man. \u00a0Mary did not just give birth to a human nature or a human body. \u00a0She gave birth to a person, to Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity. \u00a0She is the Mother of Jesus, she is the Mother of God.<\/p>\n

Some Christians believe that by calling Mary the Mother of God we somehow take away from the glory of God. \u00a0But the truth is the opposite. \u00a0If we deny Mary the title of Mother of God, we deny the divinity of her Son! \u00a0If Mary is only the Mother of Jesus, then the child born of Mary is not God, just a human being whom God controls like a puppet.<\/p>\n

The Church addressed and settled this issue of Mary\u2019s Divine Motherhood centuries ago at the Council of Ephesus where Mary was proclaimed the Theotokos<\/i>, the God Bearer, the Mother of God. \u00a0Those who deny it ignore the history of Christianity by going against the witness of the earliest Christians.<\/p>\n

Let us join today generations of Christians in proclaiming the unique role of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the plan of salvation. \u00a0I will close with beautiful prayers from the Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom, prayed Sunday after Sunday by the Orthodox and Eastern Rite Catholics:<\/p>\n

It is truly right to call you blessed, O Theotokos. \u00a0You are ever blessed and all blameless, and the Mother of our God. \u00a0Higher in honor than the cherubim and more glorious beyond compare than the seraphim. \u00a0You gave birth to God the Word in virginity. \u00a0You are truly Mother of God! \u00a0You do we exalt.<\/p>\n

Through the prayers of the Mother of God, O Savior, save us. \u00a0Remembering our most holy, most pure, most-blessed and glorious Lady, the Mother of God and ever-Virgin Mary, let us commend ourselves and one another, and our whole life, to Christ, our God. \u00a0Amen.<\/p>\n

Below are pictures of the now ruined Church of the Virgin Mary in Ephesus where the Ecumenical Council of Ephesus was held in 431 which affirmed the Christian title for the Virgin Mary as Mother of God or Theotokos,\u00a0<\/i>leading to an\u00a0explosion\u00a0of Marian devotion throughout the Christian world. \u00a0The Church\u2019s floorplan is unique since it\u2019s a double church, two churches connected by a narthex area.<\/p>\n

The Church can be visited during the regular tour of the ruins of Ephesus but it is not included in the tourist route! \u00a0You have to get off the route and find it.<\/p>\n

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Entrance<\/div>\n
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Sanctuary<\/div>\n
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Baptistery<\/div>\n

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Floor plan<\/div>\n
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Pictures are mine, all rights reserved.<\/div>\n

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\u00a0 One week after the birth of Our Lord, every January first, we pause to consider one major implication of his birth: The divine motherhood of the Virgin Mary. \u00a0Today we acclaim her with one of the most ancient titles given to her by Christians: Mother of God, Theotokos or God bearer. We hail the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2533,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nHow did Mary become the Mother of God?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"  One week after the birth of Our Lord, every January first, we pause to consider one major implication of his birth: The divine motherhood of the\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2012\/01\/how-did-mary-become-the-mother-of-god.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How did Mary 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