Why is Mary the Mother of God? An Examination in the Divinity Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled. This was the first enrollment, when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be enrolled, each to his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to be delivered. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn (Luke 2:1-7).

Even since the dawn of the Church’s life, Mary has been called lovingly the Mother of God. This title was part of the liturgy and prayer, and most importantly, it was declared as a dogma at the Third Ecumenical Council at Ephesus in 431. A dogma is a divinely revealed truth that is necessary for salvation.  A dogma helps make to clearly define an issue of Faith. Dogmas are things like: “Jesus is God,” “Mary is Theotokos,” “God is a Trinity,” etc. We say they are divinely revealed because only God could show them to us. We could not come to know these things without the grace of God and His revelation of Himself. Also, because they are divinely revealed, they are worthy of the utmost trust. It is not something a human mind thought up, and so we do not need to worry if a human mind cannot fully comprehend a dogma. The important thing is that God revealed it, and because He revealed it, we can trust it.

Also, a dogma is a divinely revealed truth necessary for salvation. When the Church declares a doctrine of the faith to be a Dogma, all of the baptized around the world are called to believe it with the full assent of faith. This is because it is revealed by God through the Church. You cannot be Catholic and not believe the dogmas of the Church.

As such, you cannot be Catholic and not believe that Mary is the Theotokos. We believe it not because it makes sense (though it does), or because it has a long history (though it does), but because God said it was true. Here are some of the ways it shows up in history though, and some of the reasons that we call Mary the Theotokos:

The title of Theotokos appears in the earliest liturgies of the Church:

“It is truly right to bless you, O Theotokos, ever blessed and most pure, and the Mother of our God. More honorable than the Cherubim, and beyond compare more glorious than the Seraphim, without defilement you gave birth to God the Word. True Theotokos we magnify you" (The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom).

The title of Theotokos was supported by the Doctors of the Church:

“If one does not acknowledge Mary as Theotokos, he is estranged from God" - St. Gregory of Nazianzus (Epistle 101)

St. Cyril, the patriarch of Alexandria (from 412 to 444 AD), was known as the Doctor of the Incarnation. He took a fearless stand against the Nestorian heretics who denied that the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity was made a man. As the Pope's legate, Cyril presided over the third General Council, held at Ephesus in 431. The clear statements of this great council regarding the Incarnation defined that the Son of God is both God and man and that the Blessed Virgin, His Mother, is truly the Mother of God. Of St. Cyril it may be said, "Nations shall declare his wisdom, and the Church shall show forth his praise" (Eccli. 39:14).

Mary’s Divine Motherhood

So now that we know that Theotokos means ‘God Bearer’ and that we call Mary the Theotokos, what does it mean for us? It means a lot. The mystery of Mary is a mystery that is tied up intimately into Christ and the Church. To say that Mary is the Mother of God is to also imply, necessarily, that she is the Mother of Christ’s Body. In fact, Christ’s Body was formed in Mary and took its being from Mary.

So the soldiers did this. But standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.    John 19:25-27 RSV-CE

What we can learn from Mary as Theotokos is almost endless, but one of the more important points is that all of Mary’s special graces flow from her relationship to Christ. Also, her relationship to Christ defines her relationship to the Church and to us. Mary is intimately tied to the Church, and as we learn more about Mary we will see all the ways in which this affects us as children of the Church and children of Mary!