Saint of the day: Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church

Today the Church celebrates the Blessed Virgin Mary as the Mother of the Church.

In 2018, Pope Francis declared this new memorial to be added to the Church’s calendar of feasts, to be celebrated on the Monday after Pentecost each year. In doing so, he hopes to “encourage the growth of the maternal sense of the Church in the pastors, religious, and faithful.”

Mary is the mother of Christ, and as such, she is a mother to all of us in the Church. She was with the apostles when they gathered on Pentecost to receive the Holy Spirit, and was part of the early ministry of the Church in those days.