Author Archives: Mississippi Catholic

El arzobispo de Nueva Orleans y otros líderes ofrecen oraciones y apoyo a las víctimas del atentado mortal de Año Nuevo

Posted on by

Por OSV News
(OSV News) – El arzobispo de Nueva Orleans, Gregory M. Aymond, ofreció oraciones por las víctimas de lo que describió como una “señal de absoluta falta de respeto por la vida humana” perpetrada por un hombre que condujo una camioneta Ford entre la multitud que celebraba el Año Nuevo en el Barrio Francés de Nueva Orleans alrededor de las 3:15 a.m. del 1 de enero. Al menos 15 personas murieron y otras 35 resultaron heridas.

El conductor fue abatido por la policía tras abandonar el vehículo e intercambiar disparos con las fuerzas del orden, alcanzando a dos agentes. El FBI está investigando el atentado como un acto terrorista.

Una furgoneta del forense de Orleans Parish está aparcada en la esquina de las calles Bourbon y Canal después de que una camioneta embistiera a una gran multitud en el Barrio Francés de Nueva Orleans el 1 de enero de 2025. Un conductor sembró la carnicería en el famoso Barrio Francés de Nueva Orleans a primera hora del día de Año Nuevo, embistiendo con una camioneta a una multitud y matando al menos a 15 personas e hiriendo a decenas antes de ser abatido a tiros por la policía, según informaron las autoridades. (Foto de OSV News/Brian Thevenot, Reuters)

“Nuestras oraciones están con los fallecidos y heridos en el horrible atentado de esta mañana en Bourbon Street”, declaró el 1 de enero el arzobispo Aymond, natural de Nueva Orleans. “Este acto violento es un signo de absoluta falta de respeto por la vida humana. Me uno a otros miembros de la Arquidiócesis católica romana de Nueva Orleans para ofrecer mi apoyo en la oración a las familias de las víctimas. Doy gracias por el heroico deber de cientos de agentes del orden y personal médico ante semejante maldad”.

Las autoridades identificaron al conductor como Shamsud-Din Jabbar, y dijeron que probablemente no actuó solo. Se localizó una bandera del ISIS en el enganche del remolque del vehículo. El FBI encontró artefactos explosivos en la camioneta y en otros lugares del Barrio Francés, entre ellos, al parecer, cerca de la histórica Catedral Basílica de San Luis Rey de Francia.

En una conferencia de prensa celebrada a la 1 p.m., las autoridades describieron a Jabbar, de 42 años de edad, como “un ciudadano de Texas nacido en Estados Unidos” y veterano del ejército estadounidense, y señalaron que las fuerzas del orden están buscando a colaboradores conocidos. Se pide a toda persona que haya interactuado con Jabbar en las últimas 72 horas que se ponga en contacto con el FBI a través de la línea telefónica de la agencia, 1-800-CALL-FBI.

La superintendente de policía de Nueva Orleans, Anne Kirkpatrick, y otros funcionarios municipales confirmaron que el atentado había sido deliberado y que estaban enfocados en garantizar la seguridad de los residentes y visitantes de la ciudad. Las autoridades no facilitaron información sobre la identidad de las víctimas. Unas horas más tarde, las autoridades actualizaron el recuento de muertos de 10 a 15.
La fiscal general de Louisiana, Liz Murrill, dijo durante la rueda de prensa que había “algunas personas que están luchando por sus vidas ahora mismo en el hospital”.

“Así que pido a todos que recen por ellos”, dijo. “Necesitan nuestro apoyo y necesitan nuestras oraciones”.

“Ha sido un acto atroz. Un acto atroz y cobarde”, añadió. “Y los encontraremos y los llevaremos ante la justicia”.

En la rueda de prensa, el gobernador de Louisiana, Jeff Landry, anunció que había emitido una declaración de emergencia modificada, prevista inicialmente para esa semana, con el fin de “poder poner en marcha todas nuestras agencias federales, estatales y locales para preparar la Super Bowl y el Mardi Gras”, eventos que tienen lugar en el estado. Debido al ataque, Landry dijo que también había ordenado “la movilización de una compañía de policía militar” en Nueva Orleans.

También en la rueda de prensa, el senador estadounidense John Kennedy dijo: “Ojalá entendiera mejor por qué le pasan cosas malas a la gente buena”.

“Si llego al cielo, voy a preguntar”, dijo. “Para aquellas personas que no creen en el mal objetivo, solo basta con mirar lo que ha ocurrido en nuestra ciudad esta madrugada”, añadiendo que este atentado causa reacciones en todo estadounidense.

Kirkpatrick, cuyo cargo incluye el de jefe de policía, calificó la acción de “malvada” y dijo que “la policía de Nueva Orleans y todas las fuerzas del orden están hechas, estamos hechos, para hacer frente al mal”.
El presidente Joe Biden dijo en un comunicado que estaba “agradecido por la valiente y rápida respuesta de las fuerzas del orden locales para evitar aún más muertes y heridos”.

“He ordenado a mi equipo que se asegure de que todos los recursos estén disponibles mientras las fuerzas del orden federales, estatales y locales trabajan asiduamente para llegar al fondo de lo sucedido lo más rápido posible y asegurarse de que no queda ninguna amenaza de ningún tipo”, dijo.

El presidente electo, Donald Trump, publicó en las redes sociales que “nuestros corazones están con todas las víctimas inocentes y sus seres queridos, incluidos los valientes agentes del Departamento de Policía de Nueva Orleans. ¡La Administración Trump apoyará plenamente a la ciudad de Nueva Orleans mientras investigan y se recuperan de este acto de pura maldad!”

El ataque se produjo antes del Allstate Sugar Bowl, un importante evento de fútbol americano programado originalmente para el 1 de enero, y el Super Bowl LIX del 9 de febrero, ambos a disputarse en el Caesars Superdome de Nueva Orleans. El Sugar Bowl de este año es también el esperado partido de fútbol universitario de desempate entre la Universidad de Notre Dame y la Universidad de Georgia. Tras anunciar en un primer momento que el partido se celebraría tal como estaba previsto, las autoridades lo trasladaron al 2 de enero para reforzar la seguridad.

La universidad de Notre Dame publicó en X que su comunidad rezaba “por los heridos y los fallecidos en este acto de violencia sin sentido”.

El presidente de la universidad, el padre Robert Dowd, sacerdote de la Congregación de la Santa Cruz, compartió un mensaje similar en un sitio web para ex alumnos y amigos de Notre Dame y en X, donde dijo que la comunidad universitaria extiende “nuestra más profunda gratitud a los valientes socorristas que arriesgaron sus vidas para proteger a los demás”.

“Ser solidario con los que sufren es ejemplificar el espíritu de Notre Dame”, escribió. “Hoy, somos solidarios con todos los afectados por esta tragedia”.

Diciendo que está “siempre basada en la fe, la esperanza y el amor, especialmente en los momentos difíciles”, la Catedral Basílica de San Luis publicó en las redes sociales la “Oración de la Familia” de la arquidiócesis pidiendo la intercesión de María bajo el título de “Nuestra Señora del Pronto Socorro”. Señaló que la iglesia “sirve a toda la Arquidiócesis y mucho más allá, pero el Barrio Francés es nuestro hogar y vecindario”.

“Nos solidarizamos con aquellos que perdieron a sus seres queridos esta mañana”, decía. “Estamos agradecidos a los primeros en responder y a otros profesionales de la salud y de las fuerzas del orden que se ponen en peligro y que atienden a los heridos”.

El atentado se produjo en la solemnidad de María, Madre de Dios, y el Día Mundial de la Paz.

La celebración de la Guadalupe

Posted on by

JACKSON – La celebración de la Guadalupe en San Pedro fue muy bonita e inspiradora en la que participaron el Obispo Joseph Kopacz y el Padre Nick Adam. El P. Nick dirigió la procesión por los alrededores de la catedral. Las danzas de los matachines veneraron a la Virgen mientras la congregación rezaba el rosario. Dos jóvenes feligreses se vistieron de Juan Diego y la virgen mientras un grupo llevaba la bella imagen de la Virgen. Fuimos rezando el rosario mientras nos parábamos al final de cada misterio para la danza. Al entrar en la catedral Juan Diego dejó caer las flores en frente del obispo quien dio una bendición. Todos entramos a la iglesia cantando y nos preparamos para la misa. Fue una bella celebración para la Virgen que amamos. En la foto, Axel Ortiz como Juan Diego y Allisson Castrol como Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe. (Foto por Sister Amelia Breton)

Tome Nota

Posted on by

Vírgenes y Santos
Día de oración por la
protectección legal de la
criatura en el vientre
materino
enero 22

San Vicente
enero 23

San Francisco de Sales
enero 24

Conversión de san Pablo, Apóstol
enero 25

San Tomás Aquinas
enero 28

San Juan Bosco
enero 31

Semana de las Escuelas Católicas
26 de enero – 1 de febrero

GREENWOOD – St. Francisco, El Baile Mardi Gras Ball 2025 se llevará a cabo el sábado, por la noche, el día 15 de febrero de 2025, en el Civic Center. Es patrocinado por el Comité Mardi Gras 2025 de la Parroquia de S. Francisco de Asís, Greenwood.

Envíenos sus fotos a
editor@jacksondiocese.org

Síganos en Facebook:
@DiócesisCatólicadeJackson

Youth

Posted on by

Around the diocese

SOUTHAVEN – Sacred Heart School hosted “Breakfast with Santa” on Saturday, Dec. 7. (Above) Pearl and Theodora Hussein enjoy breakfast with their grandmother. (Right) The Dominguez family enjoys breakfast together. (Photos by Sister Margaret Sue Broker)
JACKSON – St. Richard first graders came together after reading about the gingerbread man and decided to make one of their own. Only when they went to pull him out of the oven, he was missing! Students would love to receive postcards from around the world letting them know where you see him! You can mail your postcards to 100 Holly Drive, Jackson, MS 39206. Pictured beginning with Ms. Ashley Sheppard are Malia Owens, Ryan Barlow, Tesni Jackson, Marilee Nelson, Lazarus Dillon, Raelynn Whitty, Federico Diaz, Thomas Morisani, Cecilia Brown, Maddie Vandiver, Corinne Thomas, Marleigh Walker and Raegan White. (Photo by Kathleen Hand)
MADISON – St. Anthony sixth grader, Emerson Schuhmann assists second grader Lawson Griffin in learning the Act of Contrition prayer while preparing for the Sacrament of Penance at St. Francis parish. (Photo by Kati Loyacono)
PEARL – Youth at St. Jude parish welcome the new liturgical year with a fire on Wednesday, Nov. 27. (Photo by Tereza Ma)
COLUMBUS – Annunciation third graders, Austin Vidrine, Garrison Westby and Sam Sherrill learn about Reed Sancho’s science fair project. (Photo by Jacque Hince)

GREENVILLE – (Above) St. Joseph students, Cadence McDonald, Malorie Lockett and Kimberly Holland help organize canned goods donated for Thanksgiving. (Left) CJ Martinek and Jay Chow help unload a truck full of canned goods for the St. Vincent de Paul food drive. (Photos by Nikki Thompson)

MERIDIAN – St. Patrick fifth graders, Valentina Espino and Italy Oregon, look at the gifts left in their shoes by St. Nicholas on Dec. 6. (Photo by Helen Reynolds)
NATCHEZ – Cathedral School student Presley Smith loves what St. Nicholas left in her shoe. (Photo by Brandi Boles)

‘Pilgrims of Hope’: Vatican prepares to welcome millions for Holy Year

Posted on by

By Cindy Wooden
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The celebration of a Holy Year every 25 years is an acknowledgment that “the Christian life is a journey calling for moments of greater intensity to encourage and sustain hope as the constant companion that guides our steps toward the goal of our encounter with the Lord Jesus,” Pope Francis wrote.
Opening the Holy Door to St. Peter’s Basilica on Christmas Eve, the pope will formally inaugurate the Jubilee Year 2025 with its individual, parish and diocesan pilgrimages and with special celebrations focused on specific groups from migrants to marching bands, catechists to communicators and priests to prisoners.

A cloth barricade reading “Rome Jubilee 2025” surrounds a construction site at the beginning of the broad boulevard leading to St. Peter’s Square and St. Peter’s Basilica Dec. 4, 2024. The city of Rome is preparing for the Holy Year with hundreds of roadworks and restoration projects. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

Inside the Vatican basilica, the door had been bricked up since Nov. 20, 2016, when Pope Francis closed the extraordinary Holy Year of Mercy.
Dismantling the brick wall began Dec. 2 with a ritual of prayer and the removal of a box containing the key to the door and Vatican medals. The Holy Doors at the basilicas of St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major and St. Paul Outside the Walls were to be freed of their brickwork in the week that followed.
In January 2021, as the world struggled to return to some kind of normalcy after the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Pope Francis announced that he had chosen “Pilgrims of Hope” as the theme for the Holy Year.
“We must fan the flame of hope that has been given us and help everyone to gain new strength and certainty by looking to the future with an open spirit, a trusting heart and farsighted vision,” the pope wrote in a letter entrusting the organization of the Jubilee to Archbishop Rino Fisichella, president of the then-Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization.
A holy year or jubilee is a time of pilgrimage, prayer, repentance and acts of mercy, based on the Old Testament tradition of a jubilee year of rest, forgiveness and renewal. Holy years also are a time when Catholics make pilgrimages to designated churches and shrines, recite special prayers, go to confession and receive Communion to receive a plenary indulgence, which is a remission of the temporal punishment due for one’s sins.
Crossing the threshold of the Holy Door does not give a person automatic access to the indulgence or to grace, as St. John Paul II said in his document proclaiming the Holy Year 2000. But walking through the doorway is a sign of the passage from sin to grace which every Christian is called to accomplish.
“To pass through that door means to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord … It is a decision which presumes freedom to choose and also the courage to leave something behind, in the knowledge that what is gained is divine life,” St. John Paul wrote.
Pope Boniface VIII proclaimed the first Holy Year in 1300 and decreed that jubilees would be celebrated every 100 years. But just 50 years later, a more biblical cadence, Pope Clement VI proclaimed another holy year.
Pope Paul II decided in 1470 that holy years should be held every 25 years, which has been the practice ever since – but with the addition of special jubilees, like the Holy Year of Mercy in 2015-16, marking special occasions or needs.
Pope Francis, in his bull of indiction for the 2025 Holy Year, said churches are places “where we can drink from the wellsprings of hope, above all by approaching the sacrament of reconciliation, the essential starting point of any true journey of conversion.”
The pope also asked Catholics to use the Jubilee Year to nourish or exercise their hope by actively looking for signs of God’s grace and goodness around them.
“We need to recognize the immense goodness present in our world, lest we be tempted to think ourselves overwhelmed by evil and violence,” he wrote. “The signs of the times, which include the yearning of human hearts in need of God’s saving presence, ought to become signs of hope.”
Even in a troubled world, one can notice how many people are praying for and demonstrating their desire for peace, for safeguarding creation and for defending human life at every stage, he said. Those are signs of hope that cannot be discounted.
As part of the Holy Year 2025, Pope Francis has announced the canonization of Blessed Carlo Acutis April 27 during the special Jubilee for Adolescents and the proclamation of the sainthood of Blessed Pier Giorgi Frassati Aug. 3 during the Jubilee for Young Adults.
The lives of the two men, active Catholics who died young, are emblematic of Pope Francis’ conviction that hope, “founded on faith and nurtured by charity,” is what enables people “to press forward in life” despite setbacks and trials.
Pope Francis, in the bull of indiction, told Catholics that “during the Holy Year, we are called to be tangible signs of hope for those of our brothers and sisters who experience hardships of any kind.”
In addition to individual acts of charity, love and kindness like feeding the hungry, welcoming the stranger or visiting the sick and the imprisoned, Pope Francis has continued his predecessors’ practice of observing the jubilee by calling on governments to reduce the foreign debt of the poorest countries, grant amnesty to certain prisoners and strengthen programs to help migrants and refugees settle in their new homes.
Archbishop Fisichella, the chief Vatican organizer of the Jubilee Year, said in late November that the Vatican had commissioned a university to forecast the Holy Year pilgrim and tourist influx. They came up with a prediction of 32 million visitors to Rome.
The multilingual jubilee website – www.iubilaeum2025.va/en.html – has been up and running for months and includes the possibility of reserving a time to pass through the Holy Door at St. Peter’s and the other major basilicas of Rome.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops also has a special section on its website – www.usccb.org/committees/jubilee-2025 – with information about traveling to Rome for the Holy Year and for celebrating the special jubilees in one’s own diocese or parish.

‘Long live Notre Dame de Paris!’ Jubilation as iconic Catholic cathedral reopens

Posted on by

By Caroline de Sury
PARIS (OSV News) – The solemn reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral put Paris in the center of the Catholic world on the evening of Dec. 7 as the archbishop of France’s capital struck the magnificent door with his pastoral staff, marking the moment of the iconic Catholic church’s rebirth.

“Today, sadness and mourning have given way to joy, celebration and praise,” Pope Francis wrote to the archbishop of Paris – a message read in Notre Dame by the papal ambassador to France, Archbishop Celestino Migliore.

“May the rebirth of this admirable church be a prophetic sign of the renewal of the church in France,” the pope said in his Dec. 7 message.

Bad weather forced the change of logistical plans. French President Emmanuel Macron, initially scheduled to speak on Notre Dame’s forecourt, spoke inside the cathedral due to howling winds. But nothing could overshadow the moment Parisians and “tout le monde entier,” the whole world, awaited for the last five years, since the inferno of April 15, 2019, that devastated the cathedral’s interior and collapsed the now-rebuilt spire.

The choir, clergy and attendees stand as they sing during a ceremony to mark the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris Sec. 7, 2024. (OSV News/Ludovic Marin, Reuters)

“I stand before you to express the gratitude of the French nation, our gratitude to all those who saved, helped and rebuilt the cathedral,” Macron said, adding that France had “achieved the impossible,” renovating Notre Dame in five years – a feat some experts predicted would take decades.
“Tonight we can together share joy and pride. Long live Notre Dame de Paris, long live the Republic and long live France,” he said.

The cathedral, which for the last five years was home to hundreds of various trade workers, felt as if all the crowned heads and riches of the planet wanted to witness her resurrection, with Prince William, the heir to the British throne, and billionaire businessman Elon Musk present among many. But it was Archbishop Ulrich that opened the cathedral up for the world.

“Notre Dame, model of faith, open your doors to gather in joy the scattered children of God,” Archbishop Ulrich called out in front of the central door, before striking it three times with the tip of his crosier. The pastoral staff itself was made from a beam from the cathedral’s roof structure that escaped the fire.
It was pitch-dark when the bells of Parisian churches rang out across the capital, announcing the arrival on Notre Dame’s forecourt of the liturgical procession of bishops from the Paris region, their chasubles billowing in the wind – with Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York among them.

The archbishop of Paris then entered the cathedral, followed by President Macron, and Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo. At the entrance, the archbishop paused for a long moment as La Maîtrise Notre Dame de Paris choir sang and President Macron took his place next to President-elect Donald Trump.

Firefighters, craftsmen and representatives of the 250 companies and sponsors involved in the restoration then paraded through the nave of the cathedral to prolonged applause. Outside, illuminated “Thank you” messages in several languages appeared at the same time on the facade of the cathedral.

“I salute all those, especially the firefighters, who worked so courageously to save this historic monument from catastrophe,” Pope Francis wrote in his message.

“I salute the determined commitment of the public authorities, as well as the great outpouring of international generosity that contributed to the restoration,” the pope said.

“We return it to Catholics, to Paris, to France, to the whole world,” Macron said. He evoked the sound of the cathedral’s bells ringing again, like “a music of hope, familiar to Parisians, to France, to the world,” which have “accompanied our history.”

Among those gathered inside the cathedral were disadvantaged people specially invited through the charitable associations of the archdiocese, along with representatives of Paris’ 113 parishes.

“We were able to walk around the cathedral before the ceremony began, with the other guests, ministers, bishops, famous artists, in a smiling atmosphere,” Xavier de Noblet, 50, told OSV News. He represented the parish with the oldest church in Paris, Saint-Pierre de Montmartre, which is located on the famous hill just a few meters from the landmark hilltop Basilica of Sacré Cœur de Montmartre.

“This new Notre Dame is a jewel,” he said. “It is hard to imagine that this was done in five years, and not in 107 years, as in the Middle Ages!” de Noblet said, particularly looking forward to the organ’s revival. “It really is the voice of the cathedral,” he explained. “It is going to be a great thrill to hear it again, as if the cathedral were starting to speak anew.”

Father Gaëtan de Bodard, new chaplain of the iconic Paris fire brigade that saved Notre Dame – and successor to Father Jean-Marc Fournier, who courageously ran into the burning cathedral to first preserve the Blessed Sacrament, bless the burning church and then save the crown of thorns – was also full of admiration Dec. 7.

“The cross at the back of the choir shines brightly! What a contrast to the desolate photos of the day after the fire,” he told OSV News.

For his part, Pope Francis invited “all the baptized who will joyfully enter this Cathedral” to feel “justifiably proud,” and to “reclaim their faith heritage,” when Notre Dame is back for Paris and the world, ahead of the inaugural Mass Dec. 8.

(Caroline de Sury writes for OSV News from Paris.)

Amid Christmas and Jubilee preparations, prepare your hearts, pope says

Posted on by

By Cindy Wooden
ROME (CNS) – With the city of Rome presenting a gauntlet of major roadworks and construction projects ahead of the opening of the Holy Year 2025, Pope Francis used the disruptions as an opportunity to encourage people to do some spiritual renovation before the jubilee.

On a cloudy afternoon with the threat of rain Dec. 8, the feast of the Immaculate Conception, Pope Francis went to the center of Rome to continue the tradition of praying before a statue of Mary high atop a column near the Spanish Steps.

At dawn that morning, Rome firefighters climbed nearly 90 feet using a truck and ladder to place a ring of white flowers on Mary’s outstretched arm and bouquets at her feet, continuing a Roman tradition that began in 1949.

Pope Francis brought his own basket of white roses tied with a yellow and white Vatican ribbon, and, as is his custom, he recited a prayer to Mary rather than giving a speech to the thousands of Romans, visitors and tourists who joined him.

Pope Francis gives his blessing after reciting a prayer to Mary in front of the Marian statue near the Spanish Steps in Rome on Dec. 8, 2024, the feast of the Immaculate Conception. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri was there. He has been dogged with criticism about how the major jubilee projects, most of which are still incomplete, have snarled traffic and disappointed tourists hoping to see sights now covered in scaffolding.

Pope Francis said Mary knows the work is causing “quite a few inconveniences, yet it is a sign that Rome is alive, renewing itself, trying to adapt to needs, to being more welcoming and more functional.”

Speaking to Mary, he said her “mother’s gaze” sees beyond the construction chaos. “And I seem to hear your voice that with wisdom tells us, ‘My children, these works are fine, however, be careful: do not forget the worksites of the soul!”

“’The real Jubilee is not outside,’” he imagined her saying, “’it is inside: inside you, inside hearts, in family and social relationships. It is within that you must work to prepare the way for the coming Lord.’”

And, the pope added, “it’s a good opportunity to make a good confession, to ask forgiveness for all our sins. God forgives everything. God forgives always.”

Pope Francis thanked Mary for the suggestion “because, without wanting to, we risk being totally caught up in organizing, in all the things to be done,” with the risk that “the grace of the Holy Year, which is a time of spiritual rebirth, of forgiveness and social liberation,” can be stifled.

He also asked people to pray for the mayor, “who has so much to do.”

With the theme, “Pilgrims of Hope,” the pope plans to open the Holy Year at St. Peter’s Basilica before Mass Dec. 24. He also will open a Holy Door at Rome’s Rebibbia prison Dec. 26. The Holy Door at the Basilica of St. John Lateran will open Dec. 29; at the Basilica of St. Mary Major Jan. 1; and at St. Paul Outside the Walls Jan. 5.

Pope Francis thanked Mary “because still, in this time poor in hope, you give us Jesus, our hope!”
He also told Mary that “the flowers we offer you are meant to express our love and gratitude; but you especially see and appreciate those hidden flowers, which are the prayers, the sighs (and) the tears, especially of the little ones and the poor.”

How did we come to call Mary the ‘Mother of God’?

Posted on by
The Virgin Mary and Christ Child are depicted in the icon of the Theotokos – or Mother of God – from the Byzantine-Ruthenian chapel at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington. (OSV News photo by Nick Crettier, courtesy the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception)

FAITH ALIVE
By D.D. Emmons
Jan. 1 is the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, the final day of the Christmas octave.

In the fifth century, a heresy led by Nestorius, patriarch of Constantinople (r. 428-431) claimed that Jesus was actually two persons: one human and one divine – that his divinity was instilled on him after he was born. Thus, they reasoned incorrectly that Mary was the mother of Jesus but not the mother of God. Their rationale contradicted ancient Christian beliefs as well as proclamations and canons issued at earlier church councils.

At the Ecumenical Council of Nicea in 325, the church fathers had clearly determined that Jesus was consubstantial with the Father and, therefore, Mary was the Mother of God.

In response to the heretical message of Nestorius, another ecumenical council was held in 431 at Ephesus, Turkey. Led by St. Cyril (r. 412-444), bishop of Alexandria, Egypt, Mary was defended as Theotokos, God-bearer, and that Jesus was one person with a divine and human nature; Mary was the Mother of God. Nestorianism was condemned by the council and Nestorians excommunicated.

The people of Ephesus, joyful over the council decision, went through the streets chanting, “Mary, Mother of God,” which would become words prayed during the rosary devotion.

Some 1,500 years after the council, Pope Pius XI (r. 1922-1939) would claim: “If the Son of the Blessed Virgin Mary is God, assuredly she who bore him is rightly and deservedly to be called the Mother of God.”

(D.D. Emmons writes from Pennsylvania.)