Abstract
The short title of my PhD thesis was "The Church as Mother." Those who hear this often respond, "Oh, you're doing a thesis on Mary." This is a natural connection as Mary, the theotokos, is the "Mother of God." At Vatican II, she was additionally named "Mother of the Church" and its ecclesiatype (LG 63). However, to me this response was frustrating since the motherhood of the Church both antedates and transcends its modeling through Mary's maternity. We need only look to the use of Mater Ecclesia by early patristic writers such as Irenaeus, Tertullian, and Cyprian, but also at the early baptismal fonts of the second through to the fifth centuries, to realize this.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Title of host publication | Catholic women speak |
Subtitle of host publication | Bringing our gifts to the table |
Editors | Catholic Women Speak Network |
Place of Publication | Mahwah, New Jersey |
Publisher | Paulist Press |
Pages | 32-36 |
Number of pages | 5 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9781587686030 |
ISBN (Print) | 9780809149742 |
Publication status | Published - 2015 |