Mary Mother of the Church Holy Card

The title Mother of the Church (Mater Ecclesiae) has been used in devotion to Mary by her Christian children since ancient times, but on March 3rd, 2018, Pope Francis decreed that a new feast day, the Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, will now be celebrated every year in the Roman calendar on the Monday after Pentecost.  In honor of this rare event - the celebration of a new feast day - we are pleased to offer this new holy card featuring this image of Mary in her role as Mother of the Church.

Mary is seen here in a famous and widely-used symbolic pose, extending her mantle outward to cover and protect faithful Christians taking refuge in her motherly care.  Below the clouds and under Mary's extended mantle is St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, a symbol of the entire Universal Church.  While the historical Mother of Christ was likely very short in physical stature, here Mary is easily the largest figure in the painting, towering over the grown men and the Church she cares for.  Depicting the Blessed Mother with significant physical size is an intentional and symbolic gesture used by many artists in their greatest Marian works, including Michelangelo's Pieta.  "Our tainted nature's solitary boast," as Mary was described by the poet William Wordsworth, is shown here in the greatness of her maternal role toward Christ and all mankind.

A needed prayer for our times.

Laminated card measures 2½ x 4¼