Pope: after Pentecost the 'memory' of the Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church

A decree establishes its insertion into the general Roman calendar. The celebration now decided by Francis "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".

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - On Monday after Pentecost, the entire Catholic Church will celebrate the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church. This was decided by a decree issued by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, made public today, which inserts this memory into the general Roman calendar.

The document states that Pope Francis has established it "having attentively considered how greatly the promotion of this devotion might 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".

It was Paul VI who, on November 21, 1964, at the conclusion of the third session of the Second Vatican Council, declared the Blessed Virgin Mary "as “Mother of the Church, that is to say of all Christian people, the faithful as well as the pastors, who call her the most loving Mother” and established that “the Mother of God should be further honoured and invoked by the entire Christian people by this tenderest of titles".

The celebration now decided by Francis "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".

"The Memorial therefore is to appear in all Calendars and liturgical books for the celebration of Mass and of the Liturgy of the Hours. The relative liturgical texts are attached to this decree and their translations, prepared and approved by the Episcopal Conferences, will be published after confirmation by this Dicastery. Where the celebration of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, is already celebrated on a day with a higher liturgical rank, approved according to the norm of particular law, in the future it may continue to be celebrated in the same way".