Up until the 5th century, the Church's reflection revolved around the identity of Christ. But even before the Council of Chalcedon in 451, in which Christ was defined as true God and true man, the Church’s reflection had already revolved around his mother. In fact, in as early as 431 at the Council of Ephesus, Mary was declared "Theotokos".
"Ave, Theotokos! Hail, Mater Dei! Hail, Hail Mary! Hail, Hail, Mary!" prays a canticle of Fatima, translating the Greek term "Theotokos" into the Latin "Mater Dei", but this is not the correct translation. "Theotokos" means God bearer which is not the same thing as mother of God.
History of human reproduction
Until the beginning of the 20th century, it was not known that a human being was the result of the fusion of two half cells – the sperm from a man and the egg from a woman – some time after the sexual act.
In the course of evolution from the appearance of Homo sapiens 5 million years ago to the present day, there was a time when the origin of a new human being was not known. With his less developed intelligence, primitive man did not apply the principle of cause/effect that associated the sexual act with the birth of a child nine months later.
During this period, although man had more physical strength, it was the woman who ruled the world, because it was from her and only her that the future of human species came; it was she and only she who ensured the survival of human beings. Societies were matriarchal at the time; even to this day, in all languages the words Earth and Nature are feminine words; God was conceptualized as a woman, as a great mother.
With the discovery of man's role in reproduction, society abruptly shifted from matriarchy to patriarchy. After all, a woman had no say or part in reproduction; rather, it was the man who put the new being inside of her, and she was only the fertile ground where it grew. God was no longer thought of as a mother, but a father, and man relegated woman to the background to this day.
The definition of Mary as "Theotokos" or God bearer is in agreement with what was thought at the time of the Council of Ephesus about the role of women in the act of human reproduction. A woman is only the fertile ground where the seed grows; it is the man who implants this seed, the sperm, which in itself was understood as a homunculus, that is, a small human being, but already fully complete. If this belief were still in force today, Mary would be, like all women, merely a "surrogate".
Holy Mary, Mother of God...
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law... Galatians 4:4
St. Paul does not say born through a woman, but born of a woman. Mother is the one who welcomes a child into her womb and genetically contributes to its formation; Mary is mother in both of these senses.
Reading the incarnation of Christ in the light of what we know today about the origin of the human person, we can then say that the sperm came by way of the Holy Spirit, so that Christ was truly God, and the egg came from Mary, so that Christ was truly man. Now if Mary is the mother of Jesus and Jesus is God, then Mary is the mother of God; a perfect and undeniable syllogism.
She is not the mother of God in the sense that she is the origin of God, or that she is older than God and the origin of Jesus’ divinity. She is the mother of God because she welcomed God into her womb, and because she contributed genetic material to the human form that God took in Jesus of Nazareth.
Going back to the envelope metaphor
Mary is not only "Theotokos", God bearer; she is like our mother, who welcomed and carried us for nine months, and who also contributed half of the genetic material that formed us. Mary is therefore not only the envelope that contained God but she is truly the mother of God.
"Whoever my children kiss, my mouth sweetens". A mother is happy when people treat her children well and sad when they treat them badly; the same can be said of a son with respect to his mother. How can Protestants love the son and disrespect or ignore his mother?
Still using the metaphor of the envelope, lovers who keep their love letters, keep them inside their envelopes. Christ is God’s love letter to humanity. Mary is that flowery and colourful envelope that contains this letter; whoever is a mother is always a mother.
Furthermore, the envelop also contains the address of the person who sent the letter. We need it to respond to the letter, just as we need Mary's mediation because since she was the mediator of the primordial grace that was Jesus Christ, she is the mediator of all graces.
Conclusion: Mary is not only Theotokos, God bearer, because she welcomed Jesus into her womb; she is also Mater Dei, mother of God, because she contributed her own genetic material in the conception of Jesus. In this sense, Jesus is the flesh of her flesh, blood of her blood. If, so to say, the divinity of Jesus comes from God, then his humanity comes from Mary.
Fr. Jorge Amaro, IMC
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