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| Jean Bourdichon, Pentecost From the Grandes Heures of Anne d Bretagne France (Tours), c. 1503-1508 Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France MS Latin 9474, fol. 49v |
Today, the Monday after Pentecost, the Church once again celebrates Mary as Mother. This particular celebration is a relatively new insert into the liturgical calendar, having been inserted by Pope Francis in 2018.1 However, as so often happens with “new” Marian feasts, the idea which it celebrates is an old one.
There are profound implications that flow from the relationship between a mother and her Son in the Christian story. Over many centuries the Church has thought and prayed as it untangles them, one by one. Among the thinkers and prayers have been many saints, among them Paul and Augustine.
The chain of reasoning is as follows: Mary, is the mother of the human Jesus. However, Jesus is not only human, but divine,
in fact he is the Christ, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, and,
therefore, God. Consequently, she has
been given the title of Mother of God.
But, Saint Paul tells us that as God, Jesus has elevated those who are
baptized into his death to be his brothers and sisters and members of his
Mystical Body. Therefore, each believer
is, in a unique way, a part of the body of Jesus Christ. Therefore,
if we are part of his body and Mary is his mother, then she is our own mother
as well.
Furthermore, as he hung dying on the cross, Jesus addressed
her directly and told her to “behold your son”, then turned to the beloved
disciple and told him, “behold your mother” (John 19:25-27). In other words, as he brought the Church into
being on the cross he bequeathed to it, in the representative person of the disciple,
his own mother. And, she fulfilled this
role almost immediately.
The first chapter of the Acts of the Apostles tells us that
immediately after Jesus had ascended to heaven the disciples went back to the
city and gathered for prayer. “When
they entered the city they went to the upper room where they were staying,
Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and
Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. All
these devoted themselves with one accord to prayer, together with some women,
and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.” (Acts 1:13-14)
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| The Limbourg Brothers, Pentecost From the Trés Riches Heures of the Duc de Berry Chantilly, Musée Condé MS 65, fol.79r |
And, while they were still there they received the great
gift of the Holy Spirit, which we have just celebrated. Pentecost is often called “the birthday of
the church” because it marks the beginning of the missionary work of the
apostles. These men, who had been hiding
in fear, were suddenly emboldened to begin to preach a new way of understanding
God and his relationship to human beings, based on their lived experience with
Jesus, his death, his resurrection, and his ascension. Fortified by the Spirit, they could preach
enthusiastically about this new Way for human beings. And Mary was there with them at the birth of
the Church in her role as Mother and as a sister in faith.
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| Pentecost From the Hours of Antoine le Bon French (Lorraine), 1533 Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France MS Nouvelle acquisition latine 302, fol. 45 |
Throughout the intervening centuries she has been honored by Christians as their mother. People have turned to her, asking for her intercession with her son and Lord as a child turns to its mother for comfort and for intercession with its father. And Mary, who is herself also a member of the Mystical Body, has always responded with love for her sibling children.
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| Marc Gabriel Charles Gleyre, Pentecost French, 1850 Paris, Petit Palais, Musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris |
As is often the case, popular piety has expressed ideas about Mary that official Church liturgy has not expressed until the implications have been thought through. This was so with many of the Marian beliefs and devotions made official in the past, for example, the Immaculate Conception was well-known and celebrated the world over, long before it was made official dogma in 1848. Similarly with the bodily Assumption of Mary, which was only defined definitively in 1950. So too with the title of Mother of the Church.
If one looks at images of the event of Pentecost that artists have produced over the millennia one is struck by an interesting fact. Although some of the early images included Mary, most did not. These were the centuries of persecution and then of internal struggle, as the Church tried to define the most basic elements of its beliefs, especially those about the person and nature of Jesus. It is from these debates that Mary eventually received the title "Mother of God" and the Church began to explore the dimensions and implications of this title.
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| Pentecost From the Rabbula Gospels Syrian, c.585 Florence, Laurentian Library |
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| Pentecost From a Gradual German (Prüm), c. 986-1001 Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France MS Latin 9448, fol. 49r |
Therefore, over the course of centuries she began to appear more frequently. Her increasing prominence echoed the general rise in devotion to her, as the strands of belief and thought began to be explored. It also coincides with the increase of everyday mention of Mary and her motherhood, most clearly indicated in the naming of many of the great cathedrals in the twelfth and later centuries, most famously of course, Notre-Dame de Paris.
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| Pentecost From the Ingeborg Psalter France (Paris), c. 1195 Chantilly, Musée Condé MS 9, fol. 32v |
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| Pentecost and the Throne of Grace From the Carrow Psalter-Hours English (East Anglia), c. 1250 Baltimore, Walther Art Museum MS W.34, fol. 29r |
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| Pentecost From a Psalter German (Magdeburg), c. 1265 Munich, Bayerisches Staatsbibliothek MS Clm 23094, fol. 93v |
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| Pentecost From the Livre d'images de Madame Marie Flemish (Hainaut), c.1285-1290 Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de Frace MS Nouvelle acquisition française 16251, fol. 50r |
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| Master of Jean de Papelau, Pentecost From Bible historiale by Guiard des Moulins French (Paris), c. 1300-1325 Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France MS Francais 157, fol. 240 |
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| Duccio, Pentecost Italian, c. 1308-1311 Siena, Museo dell'Opera del Duomo |
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| Pentecost From a Book of Homilies German (Lower Rhine), c. 1320-1350 Baltimore, The Walters Art Museum MS W. 148, fol. 258v |
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| Jean Pucelle, Jean le Noir, Jean Mahiet, Transfiguration From Hours of Jeanne de Navarre French (Paris), c. 1330-1340 Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France MS Nouvelle acquisition latine 3145, fol. 7 One interesting aspect of this particular illumination is that the first folio of the same manuscript is of a different version of the Pentecost -- with only male apostles represented. |
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| Taddeo Gaddi, Pentecost Italian, c. 1335-1340 Berlin, Gemäldegalerie der Staatliche Museen zu Berlin |
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| Pentecost From a Psalter English (Salisbury), c. 1350-1375 Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France MS Latin 765, fol. 20r |
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| Pentecost From Vies de la Vierge et du Christ Italian (Naples), c. 1350 Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France MS Français 9561, fol. 189v |
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| Ivory Diptych with Scenes of the Ascension and Pentecost French, c. 1360-1375 Paris, Musée du Louvre This diptych highlights the connection between the Virgin Mary and the birth of the Church, as she is shown as central to the group of Apostles at both of the post-Resurrection events that formed it. |
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| Andrea da Firenze, Pentecost Italian, 1366-1367 Florence, Church of Santa Maria Novella, Cappellone degli Spangnoli |
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| Jacopo di Cione and Workshop, Pentecost From The San Pier Maggiore Altarpiece Italian, 1370-1371 London, National Gallery |
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| Atelier of the Master of the Parement de Narbonne, Pentecost From the Trés belles heures de Notre-Dame de Jean de Berry French (Paris), c. 1380 Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France MS Nouvelle acquisition latine 3093, fol. 165v |
Eventually, by about 1400, her presence is a given, not just as being a person who is present, but as the focal point of the event. She often appears to lead and instruct the Apostles, as a mother might.
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| Master of Catherine of Cleves and/or the Masters of Zweder van Culemborg, Pentecost From the Missal of Eberhard von Greiffenklau Dutch (possibly Utrecht), c. 1450-1500 Baltimore, The Walters Art Museum MS W. 174, fol. 116r |
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| Venturino Mercati, Pentecost From the Short Hours of the Holy Spirit Italian (Milan), c. 1470-1480 New York, Pierpont Morgan Library MS G 14, fol.100v |
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| Pentecost (wall painting) German, 1472 Konstanz, Monastery Church of Our Lady |
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| Pentecost From a Book of Hours French, c. 1475-1499 New York, Pierpont Morgan Library MS G 4, fol.98r |
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| Pentecost From Fleur des histoires by Jean Mansel French, c. 1475-1499 Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France MS Francais 56, fol. 64 |
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| Jacques de Besançon, Pentecost From Legenda aurea by Jacobus de Voragine French (Paris), c. 1480-1490 Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France MS Francais 244, fol. 158r |
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| Pentecost from High Altar of Charterhouse of Saint-Honore at Thuison-les-Abbeville French (Picardy), c. 1490-1491 Chicago, Art Institute |
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| Jean Poyer, Pentecost From the Hours of Henry VIII French (Tours), c. 1500 New York, Pierpont Morgan Library MS H 8, fol. 101v |
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| Jean Bourdichon, Pentecost From the Hours of Frederic of Aragon French (Tours), c. 1501-1504 Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France MS Latin 10532, fol. 206 |
Artists and ordinary folk have sensed this role of Mary’s as mother and guardian of the Church and have honored it appropriately.
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| Jan Joest of Kalkar, Pentecost Dutch, c. 1508 Kleve, Parish Church St. Nicholas |
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| Albrecht Dürer, Pentecost From the "Small Passion" Series German, c.1510 New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art |
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| Juan de Flandes, Pentecost Flemish, c. 1514-1519 Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado |
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| Master of 1518, Pentecost Flemish, c.1520 Dublin, National Gallery of Ireland |
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| Workshop of Bernard van Orley, Pentecost Flemish, c. 1520-1525 Chicago, Art Institute |
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| Titian, Pentecost Italian, c.1545 Venice, Church of Santa Maria della Salute |
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| Frencesco Salviati, Pentecost Italian, c. 1549-1550 Rome, Church of Santa Maria dell'Anima |
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| El Greco, Pentecost Greco-Spanish, c.1600 Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado |
“Official” Vatican acknowledgement of the title "Mother of the Church" began with the rediscovery of a work of the fourth century Saint Ambrose which gives the title “Mater Ecclesiae” to Mary, followed by Saints Augustine and Leo the Great.
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| Giovanni Battista Ricci, Pentecost Italian, c.1600 Rome, Church of San Marcello al Corso |
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| Guido Reni, Mysteries of the Faith Italian, 1608 Vatican City, Apostolic Palace |
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| Fray Juan Bautista Maino, Pentecost Spanish, c. 1612-1614 Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado |
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| Fray Juan Bautista Maino, Pentecost Spanish, c. 1615-1620 Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado |
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| Anthony Van Dyck, Pentecost Flemish, c. 1618-1620 Berlin, Gemäldegalerie der Staatliche Museen zu Berlin |
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| Salomon de Bray, Pentecost Dutch, Early-Middle of the 17th Century New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art |
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| Charles Le Brun, Pentecost French, c. 1656-1657 Paris, Musée du Louvre |
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| Georg Asam, Pentecost German, 1683 Benedicktbeuern, Church of Saint Benedict |
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| Giovanni Battista Brenni, Pentecost Swiss, c. 1696-1697 Ebrach, Kreis Bamberg, Parish Church of Saints Mary, John Evangelist and Nicholas
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| Caspar Damian Asam, Pentecost German, After 1720 Aldersbach, Abbey Church |
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| Jacopo Amigoni, Pentecost Italian, 1725 Ottobeuren, Benedictine Monastery |
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| Jean Restout, Pentecost French, 1732 Paris, Musée du Louvre |
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| Johann Jakob Zeiller, Pentecost German, c. 1757-1764 Ottobeuren, Monastery Church of Saints Theodore and Alexander |
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| Francisco Bayeu, Pentecost Spanish, c. 1769 Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado |
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| Constantin Prevost, Pentecost French, 1842 Lavaur, Musée du Pays Vaurais |
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| Ernst Deger, Pentecost German, c. 1849-1859 Stolzenfels, Schloss Stolzenfels |
It has been used with increasing frequency by the Popes of the twentieth century, from Leo XIII to John Paul II and by their two most recent successors. At the close of the Second Vatican Council in 1964 Pope Paul VI proclaimed the title of "Mother of the Church" for Mary. Then, in 1975 a votive Mass in honor of the Mother of the Church was added to the liturgical calendar.2
What Pope Francis did in 2018 was to affix this title and this Mass to a specific day, the Monday following Pentecost Sunday, in the universal liturgical calendar of the Church, thereby creating a special feast day of Mary as Mother of the Church.
As the decree of the Congregation of Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, which enacted the change, states: "This celebration will help us to remember that growth in the Christian life must be anchored to the Mystery of the Cross, to the oblation of Christ in the Eucharistic Banquet and to the Mother of the Redeemer and Mother of the Redeemed, the Virgin who makes her offering to God."
© M. Duffy, 2021
2. A votive Mass is a Mass that does not correspond with the office of the day but is said, as for a special intention, at the choice of the celebrant. (https://www.dictionary.com/browse/votive-mass)
Scripture texts in this
work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986,
1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. and are used by
permission of the copyright owner. All Rights Reserved. No part of the New
American Bible may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from
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