The Catholic Church celebrates the memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church each year on the Monday after Pentecost. This year, it falls on May 25.
In 2018, Pope Francis added the memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, to the Roman calendar. This memorial is celebrated each year on the Monday after Pentecost. This year it will be celebrated on May 25.
In the decree on the celebration, the then-head of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Cardinal Robert Sarah, wrote that the intention for the memorial was to help the faithful “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.”
While this memorial honoring the Blessed Mother is relatively new, Mary’s title as Mother of the Church has been associated with her for centuries.
The theological foundation for the title is often traced to the Gospel of John. As Jesus hangs on the cross, he says to his mother: “Woman,
