Mater Creatoris

During the month of May, I am publishing a series of posts based on notes made by John Henry Newman (1801-1890) for his May meditations on Mary in the Litany of Loreto. For the Latin and English texts of this Litany, please follow the link to Thesaurus Precum Latinarum.

Totus tuus ego sum et omnia mea tua sunt.

Tecum tutus semper sum.

Ad Jesum per Mariam

[  ] References in the text to numbered footnotes are not hyperlinked but may be found at the end of the relevant extract.

Mary is the "Mater Creatoris," the Mother of the Creator

The creation of the first Eve. Public domain. Monreale Cathedral, Sicily.

This is a title which, of all others, we should have thought it impossible for any creature to possess. At first sight we might be tempted to say that it throws into confusion our primary ideas of the Creator and the creature, the Eternal and the temporal, the Self-subsisting and the dependent; and yet on further consideration we shall see that we cannot refuse the title to Mary without denying the Divine Incarnation—that is, the great and fundamental truth of revelation, that God became man.



Here are the words in the image: IMISIT DOMINUS SOPOREM IN ADAM
TULIT  UNAM
DE COSTIS EIUS[1]



And this was seen from the first age of the Church. Christians were accustomed from the first to call the Blessed Virgin "The Mother of God," because they saw that it was impossible to deny her that title without denying St. John's words, "The Word" (that is, God the Son) "was made flesh."[2]

Theotokos : Mother of God. Photo PB 2019

And in no long time it was found necessary to proclaim this truth by the voice of an Ecumenical Council of the Church.[3] For, in consequence of the dislike which men have of a mystery, the error sprang up that our Lord was not really God, but a man, differing from us in this merely—that God dwelt in Him, as God dwells in all good men, only in a higher measure; as the Holy Spirit dwelt in Angels and Prophets, as in a sort of Temple; or again, as our Lord now dwells in the Tabernacle in church. And then the bishops and faithful people found there was no other way of hindering this false, bad view being taught but by declaring distinctly, and making it a point of faith, that Mary was the Mother, not of man only, but of God. And since that time the title of Mary, as Mother of God, has become what is called a dogma, or article of faith, in the Church.





But this leads us to a larger view of the subject. Is this title as given to Mary more wonderful than the doctrine that God, without ceasing to be God, should become man? Is it more mysterious that Mary should be Mother of God, than that God should be man? Yet the latter, as I have said, is the elementary truth of revelation, witnessed by Prophets, Evangelists, and Apostles all through Scripture. And what can be more consoling and joyful than the wonderful promises which follow from this truth, that Mary is the Mother of God?—the great wonder, namely, that we become the brethren of our God; that, if we live well, and die in the grace of God, we shall all of us hereafter be taken up by our Incarnate God to that place where angels dwell; that our bodies shall be raised from the dust, and be taken to Heaven; that we shall be really united to God; that we shall be partakers of the Divine nature; that each of us, soul and body, shall be plunged into the abyss of glory which surrounds the Almighty; that we shall see Him, and share His blessedness, according to the text, "Whosoever shall do the will of My Father that is in Heaven, the same is My brother, and sister, and mother."[4]


[1] [21] Then the Lord God cast a deep sleep upon Adam: and when he was fast asleep, he took one of his ribs, and filled up flesh for it.
Immisit ergo Dominus Deus soporem in Adam : cumque obdormisset, tulit unam de costis ejus, et replevit carnem pro ea.
[22] And the Lord God built the rib which he took from Adam into a woman: and brought her to Adam.
Et aedificavit Dominus Deus costam, quam tulerat de Adam, in mulierem : et adduxit eam ad Adam. [Gen 2]
[2] [14] And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we saw his glory, the glory as it were of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
Et Verbum caro factum est, et habitavit in nobis : et vidimus gloriam ejus, gloriam quasi unigeniti a Patre plenum gratiae et veritatis. [John 1]
[3]  The Council of Ephesus: 431 AD. 1. If anyone does not confess that Emmanuel is God in truth, and therefore that the holy virgin is the mother of God (for she bore in a fleshly way the Word of God become flesh, let him be anathema.
[4] [47] And one said unto him: Behold thy mother and thy brethren stand without, seeking thee.
Dixit autem ei quidam : Ecce mater tua, et fratres tui foris stant quaerentes te.
[48] But he answering him that told him, said: Who is my mother, and who are my brethren?
At ipse respondens dicenti sibi, ait : Quae est mater mea, et qui sunt fratres mei?
[49] And stretching forth his hand towards his disciples, he said: Behold my mother and my brethren.
Et extendens manum in discipulos suos, dixit : Ecce mater mea, et fratres mei.
[50] For whosoever shall do the will of my Father, that is in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother.
Quicumque enim fecerit voluntatem Patris mei, qui in caelis est, ipse meus frater, et soror, et mater est. [Matt 12]

Totus tuus ego sum et omnia mea tua sunt.

Tecum tutus semper sum.

Ad Jesum per Mariam