Behold, your mother

Why is Mary considered Mother of the Church? How did she conceive the Church in her womb, or give birth to her, or nurtured her all along? The two principal reasons would be her closeness to her Son, Jesus, and her life of discipleship, again, to God, to her Son.

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She was the bearer and nurturer of Jesus, the head of the body which is the Church. She also followed Jesus everywhere in his mission, and participating in her own quiet way, in that mission of her Son. Even as she taught Jesus to be obedient not just to her words but also, and more so, to the will of his Father, she, too learned to obey and follow her Son even to the cross. We can imagine, too, that when her Son died, she mothered the “orphaned” community of disciples and nurtured them until they matured into