Mary, our Mother

Editorial Staff

I would like to have a short explanation about the invocation “holy Mary, Mother of God” that we pronounce in the prayer “Hail Mary”. I wonder: are Jesus and God the same person? And if we pray the Blessed Virgin Mary, do we pray Jesus and God too?

M.B.

In AD 431 the Council of Ephesus declared that the Virgin Mary is not only the Mother of Jesus but the “Mother of God”. With this profession of faith the Church recognizes that Mary is totally involved in the mystery of the incarnation with all her feelings and her will. The God of our faith is Father, Son and Holy Spirit: one God in three persons. Jesus is the son of God born to Mary and he has two natures, divine and human without confusion or separation. For this reason Mary, the Mother of Jesus, is Mother of God as we pray in the second part of the prayer “Hail Mary”.