When you think of Mary, the Mother of Jesus Christ, how do you picture her? The Bible gives us several beautiful pictures of Mary as a mother: there is Mary with newborn baby Jesus and Joseph (Luke 2:16); there is Mary at the presentation of Jesus in the temple (Luke 2:22-38); there is Mary is at the wedding feast at Cana (John 2:1-11). The pictures describe Mary as a mother of love. Each year, during the Christmas Season, on January 1, we celebrate the Motherhood of Mary. By accepting to be the Mother of Jesus, Mary played a special role in God’s plan for his people. In Jesus we have become children of God. As God’s children, we are empowered by the Spirit to call God “Abba! Father!” (Galatians 4:7).

In his 2005 encyclical Deus Caritas Est, Pope Benedict XVI writes, “Mary has become the Mother of believers. Men and women of every time and place have recourse to her motherly kindness and her virginal purity and grace, in all their needs and aspirations, their joys and sorrows, their moments of loneliness and their common endeavours.” Pope Francis in his 2024 New Year Day’s homily also encouraged us “to turn more readily to the Blessed Mother for aid and in intercession.” 

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We love and adore Mary because she is also our Mother, and Mother of the Church. Mary is considered a model of our faith. However, the Church teaching does not treat the Blessed Mother as a divine being in her own right. We venerate Mary but we worship her Son, our Lord and God. The spiritual significance of Mary in the life of the Church is reflected in the many devotions that we have to her especially the recital of the Rosary, a Scripture-based prayer. St. Pope John Paul II considered the Rosary as a “powerful prayer and to recite the Rosary is nothing other than to contemplate with Mary the face of Christ.” According to John Paul II, when we recite the Rosary, “we pray to Christ with Mary” and “we proclaim Christ with Mary.” Apart from individual recitation of the Rosary, our parish communities have scheduled times for coming together to pray the Rosary. At St Michael’s hospital, the Rosary is popular among patients and visitors. I notice that often a Rosary is placed around the bedside of patients. The Rosary is usually placed around the hands of dying patients. During my visits, patients like to say the “Hail Mary” with me. Once, I was called to baptize a newly born baby who might not live for long. After the baptism, with tears in her eyes, Jane the mother of the baby Angelo began to recite the “Hail Mary” and I joined her. It was a very difficult but powerful moment for us. The mother told me saying the “Hail Mary” brought her comfort and peace. In another incident, I encountered a staff member Michael who wanted to talk about some challenges he was facing in his life. Afterward, he asked me to join him in saying the “Hail Mary.” With a bright smile on his face, he thanked me. I believe that by invoking Mary, Jane and Michael encountered her comforting presence.

On January 1 we also celebrate the World Day of Peace and the same day is also a Day of Obligation in Canada. According to St. Pope John Paul II, the Rosary “is by its nature a prayer for peace. Anyone who assimilates the mystery of Christ – and this is the goal of the Rosary – learns the secret of peace and makes it his life’s project.”

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Every year, the celebration of the Motherhood of Mary offers us an opportunity to reflect on the virtues of Mary and to examine how we can live these virtues in our communities. When we strive to embody the virtues of trust, courage, compassion, comfort and selflessness, we express our devotions to Mary through our actions of love and peace. When we embrace Mary, we can embrace other people especially those who are in difficulty and pain. As we begin a New Year, our Jubilee Year, let us turn to Mary, Mother of God and Mother of hope to intercede for us that God may guide us on our journey to greater peace and love in the world. 

Fr. Yaw Acheampong is priest-chaplain at St. Michael’s Hospital.