These basilicas were completed in the 4th century. The anniversaries of this feast have been celebrated since the 12th century. “The Holy Mother Church has always been the friend of the fine arts and continuously sought their noble help so that all things set apart for use in divine worship should be truly worthy, beautiful signs and symbols of heavenly realities.” (Second Vatican Council, “Sacrosanctum Concilium”, 122)
Ref: Fr James Socias, et al (Eds), “Daily Roman Missal”, 1989, p1697
Divine grace makes us living temples of God
The true temple of the New Covenant is no longer made by human hands. From now on, the holy Humanity of Jesus is the new Temple of God. Christ said: “Destroy this Temple and in three days I will raise it up.”
“He was speaking of the Temple of his Body.” (Jn 2:20-1) If the Body of Jesus is the new Temple of God, so is the Church the Body of Christ and we are members of his Mystical Body. We go to our church to meet God where he awaits us with his real presence in the Tabernacles.
“... now as then, he is rejected, disregarded and given up for dead. But the Father has made the Son the solid and firm-set base of the new building forever through Christ’s glorious resurrection. The Mystical Body is as strong as the degree to which the members adhere to their Head, and the measure to which they ‘grow’ in him toward ‘the fullness of Christ’.
"In and through the Church, ‘the dwelling place of God in the Spirit’, the Lord is glorified by virtue of the spiritual sacrifices of the ‘holy priesthood’ of the faithful (1 Pet 2:5). The Lord’s kingdom is thus established in the world. (John Paul II, “Homily”, 3 November 1982)
St Paul frequently reminded the first Christians: “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (1 Cor 3:16) We must often recall that the most Holy Spirit “inhabits the souls of the just in a singular way. By means of the grace of God, Christ dwells in each one of us as in a temple.” (Pope Leo XIII, Encyclical, “Divinum illud munus”, 9 May 1897)
Meditation on this marvellous reality will make us more conscious of the transcendent value of living in God’s grace. We must have a deep horror of offending the Lord, because sin ‘destroys Christ’s temple’ and deprives our souls of friendship with God.
Through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit we enjoy in anticipation the beatific vision. “This admirable union differs only in condition from the one God grants the blessed in heaven.” (Ibid, 11) God’s presence in our soul in this life is an invitation to increase constantly the intensity of our personal closeness to the Lord: the one we are called to seek out in the depths of our soul always.
Ref: cf F Fernandez, “In Conversation with God”, 7:252-3
Mother of the Church
I like to go back in my imagination to the years Jesus spent close to his Mother, years which span almost the whole of his life on earth. I like to picture him as a little child, cared for by Mary who kisses him and plays with him. I like to see him growing up before the loving eyes of his mother and of Joseph, his father on earth. What tenderness and care Mary and the Holy Patriach must have shown towards Jesus, as they looked after him during his childhood, all the while, silently, learning so much from him.
Their souls would become more and more like the soul of that Son, who was both Man and God. This is why his Mother and after her, St Joseph understand better than anyone the feelings of the heart of Christ; and the two of them are thus the best way, I would say the only way, to reach the Savior.
“May the soul of Mary”, writes St Ambrose, “be in each of you, so that you may praise our Lord; may the spirit of Mary be in each one of you, so that you may rejoice in God.” This Father of the Church goes on to say something which at first sight seems bold, but which has a clear spiritual meaning for the life of the Christian.
“According to the flesh, there is only one Mother of Christ; according to the faith, Christ is the fruit of all of us.” (St Ambrose, “Expositio Evangelii secundum Lucam”, 2, 26)
Ref: cf St Josemaria Escrivá, “Friends of God”, 281
Mary, Mother of the Church
At the end of the third session of the Second Vatican Council, Pope Paul VI solemnly proclaimed Mary “Mother of the Church”. When we call Mary, Mother of the Church we re-emphasize the fact that she belongs to the Church, as any mother is truly part of her family where she always holds a place of special honor.
Mary, according to Pope Paul VI “is the greatest, most perfect, most important and most chosen member of the Church. Paul VI also said: Knowledge of what is, in fact, true Catholic doctrine on Mary will always constitute a key to our true understanding of the mystery of Christ and the Church. Mary, therefore, in so far as she is the Mother of Christ, is also the Mother of all clergy and faithful, that is to say, of the whole Church.”
St Bernard wrote: “The reason for our love of Mary is the Lord Jesus; the measure of our love for her is to love her without measure.”
Ref: Rev Joseph A Viano, SSP, “Two Months with Mary”, 1984, p11
The Mother of Christians
The Second Vatican Council proclaims: “... the Mother of God is a type of the church in the matter of faith, charity and perfect union with Christ ...” (“Lumen Gentium”, 63)
The Council sees the church’s motherhood, which is modeled on Mary’s, in the fact that the church “brings forth to a new and immortal life children who are conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of God”. Here we find echoed St Paul’s words about “the children with whom I am again in travail” (cf Gal 4:19), in the same way as a mother gives birth.
When, in the letter to the Ephesians, we read about Christ as the spouse who “nourishes and cherishes” the church as his body (cf Eph 5:29), we cannot fail to link this spousal solicitude on the part of Christ above all with the gift of Eucharistic food, similar to many maternal concerns associated with “nourishing and cherishing” a child.
Ref: Pope “John Paul II, Breakfast with the Pope”, 1984, 18
Our Lady of Bourdieux, near Bourges. This abbey of Benedictines was built in the year 928 by Ebbo, the Lord of Berry. — Bzovinus, ad ann. 928. (“Catholic Gems or Treasures of the Church” Historical Calendar; http://www.bethlehemobserver.com); (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm)
‘Nuestra Senora de Chiquinquirá’ (‘La Chinita’) / Our Lady of Chiquinquira. Venezuela and Colombia. (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html)
The Rosary Virgin of Chiquinquira. Colombia (1555). (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html)
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