On January 1—the Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God—Pope Francis presided at Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica. Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Holy See’s Secretary of State, was the principal celebrant.
“At the beginning of the time of salvation, there is the Holy Mother of God, our Holy Mother,” Pope Francis preached. “Mother of God: a simple phrase that confesses the Lord’s eternal covenant with us. Mother of God: a dogma of faith, but also a ‘dogma of hope’; God in man, and man in God, forever.”
“The Mother leads us to the beginning and heart of faith, which is not a theory or a task, but a boundless gift that makes us beloved sons and daughters, tabernacles of the Father’s love,” he continued. “It follows that welcoming the Mother into our lives is not a matter of devotion but a requirement of faith.”
“Just as Mary, the woman, played a decisive role in the fullness of time, she is also decisive in the lives of each of us, for no one knows better than a Mother the stages of growth and the urgent needs of her children,” the Pope added. “Who can fill our emptiness if not Mary, the Mother of fullness? Whenever we are tempted to retreat into ourselves, let us run to her; whenever we are no longer able to untie the knots in our lives, let us seek refuge in her.”
The Pontiff also called for a recovery of the feminine face of the Church and respect for every woman; drew attention to the icon of the nursing Madonna of Montevergine Abbey, which was present in St. Peter’s Basilica; and quoted Martin Luther: “It was not the fullness of time that brought about the sending of the Son of God, but the sending of the Son that brought about the fullness of time.” Later, in his Angelus address, he continued his reflections on the Blessed Mother.