New Year 2018 | Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God

January 1, 2018 

On this day the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the most Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, our Lady's greatest title. This feast is the octave of Christmas. In the modern Roman Calendar only Christmas and Easter enjoy the privilege of an octave. According to the 1962 Missal of Saint John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, it is the Solemnity of Circumcision of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

"Mary, the all-holy ever-virgin Mother of God, is the masterwork of the mission of the Son and the Spirit in the fullness of time. For the first time in the plan of salvation and because his Spirit had prepared her, the Father found the dwelling place where his Son and his Spirit could dwell among men. In this sense the Church's Tradition has often read the most beautiful texts on wisdom in relation to Mary. She is acclaimed and represented in the liturgy as the "Seat of Wisdom."(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 721.) Mary is the Queen of heaven and earth.

A plenary indulgence may be gained by reciting or singing the hymn Veni Creator Spiritus on the first day of the year. This hymn is traditionally sung for beginnings of important undertakings, solemnly calling upon the Holy Spirit in prayer before endeavoring something new. "Come, Holy Spirit, Creator blest, and in our souls take up Thy rest; come with Thy grace and heavenly aid to fill the hearts which Thou hast made. O comforter, to Thee we cry, O heavenly gift of God Most High."

O God, who through the fruitful virginity of Blessed Mary bestowed on the human race the grace of eternal salvation, grant, we pray, that we may experience the intercession of her, through whom we were found worthy to receive the author of life, our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen. O Mother of God, pray for us.