Solemnity of Mary Most Holy Mother of God
Massimo Palombella
In the Roman Rite Calendar, the Solemnity of the Circumcision of Jesus was celebrated on this day until 1962. Pope John XXIII changed this Solemnity by simply calling it the ‘Octave of the Nativity of the Lord’ while the Gospel passage commemorating Jesus’ circumcision remained unchanged.
In 1969, with the publication of the renewed calendar by Pope Paul VI, the feast took on the name ‘Mary Most Holy Mother of God’ since the feast of the Divine Maternity of Mary on 11 October was abolished. This new solemnity also includes the memory of the Most Holy Name of Jesus, a feast celebrated on the Sunday between 2 and 5 January.
The Ambrosian Rite has retained the solemnity of the Circumcision of the Lord on this day since the solemnity of Mary Most Holy Mother of God recurs on the sixth Sunday of Advent under the title of ‘Divine Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary’ or ‘Sunday of the Incarnation’.
God made man submits to the practices of the culture in which he was incarnated, and eight days after his birth he is circumcised, legally becoming part of the Jewish people.
It is only from the perspective of the Incarnation that we understand why Mary can be solemnly called ‘Mother of God’ (thus positioning us at the origin of all Marian dogmas understood throughout history), of a God who took on the entire human story, including growing up in a woman’s womb, being born, being subjected to a specific culture, maturing in self-understanding with human rhythms and in a family…
This God is the Christian God who, if truly encountered existentially in our lives, slowly leads each one of us to reality, to the necessary self-understanding, to a healthy concreteness, not to run away from history, to recognise and encounter Him in each person, to do one’s work professionally, not to run away from problems, not to confuse truth, justice and mercy with a sterile ‘goodness’ aimed only at being perversely calm… In essence, encountering the Christian God means understanding that God himself and the truth regarding myself lies me in history, in reality, precisely because here – and only here – God has revealed himself.
In the Ambrosian Rite, the entrance antiphon for today’s Celebration (Solemnity of the Circumcision of the Lord) has the following text:
“ In conspectu gentium nolite metuere;
vos enim in cordibus vestris adorate et timete Dominum,
angelus enim eius vobiscum est”.
(Do not fear before the Gentiles.
For in your hearts adore and fear the Lord,
for his Angel is with you).
The attached music, in Ambrosian Chant, is taken from the Antiphonale Missarum Iuxta Ritum Sanctæ Ecclesiæ Mediolanensis, published in Rome in 1935, which, to date, is the only “official” book of Ambrosian Chant for the Eucharistic Celebration.
The live interpretation is from the Musical Chapel of the Duomo of Milan at the Chapter Celebration on 1 January 2023.
A blessed Solemnity, happy 2024 and heartfelt greetings.
