Tuesday, January 1, 2019 - Solemnity of Mary, Holy Mother of God

I also remind you that January 1 ^st, 2019, the Solemnity of Holy Mary, Mother of God is a holyday of obligation.  We have scheduled Masses on Monday, December 31 ^st, 2018 at 5pm and on Tuesday, January 1 ^st at 8am and 10am.  At the beginning of a New Year it has always been the custom to give thanks for the past year and humbly ask for God’s blessing in the New Year.    The greatest title of Mary is “Mother of God.”  This was confirmed in the Councils of the Church held in the first centuries of Christianity.  This truth remains the same and cannot change.  The Greek term is Theotokos, which means the “God Bearer,” always translated as “Mother of God.”  Mary has no other privilege greater than this and all her other privileges flow from it.  Mary, our dear and Blessed Mother is the model of the Christian Life.  In her we witness the power of God’s grace.  She enters most perfectly into the joyful, sorrowful, and glorious mysteries of our redemption.  With her powerful intercession, we will be able to do the same and one day join her in the glory of heaven.  “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of our death. Amen.”