Canon Robin Gibbons: Solemnity of Mary the Holy Mother of God

Madonna and Child Notre Dame Cathedral 2026

January 1st 2026

That the first day of the New Year should be dedicated to Mary the Holy Mother of God, and on the Octave Day of Christmas, is another gentle reminder of her place in the story of salvation-especially as we celebrate the great Nativity feasts, which are so rich in colour, story, and personalities. Today we find her given to us by the Church to be revered as the Mother of God, a title we know so well from our prayers, in particular the beginning of the second part of the 'Hail Mary' when we say; 'Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death!' It is a title honouring her role as the Mother of Jesus, the Word incarnate in human life and history. The opening words of our second reading at Mass on this day, makes clear this connection:' But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law'(Gal 4:4)

Here is the true, wonderful simplicity of God's plan. Christ the Word, incarnate by the Spirit in the womb of Mary, born as one of us-in order to fully share our human existence from birth to death. Only in death is the meaning of his life revealed for in his resurrection from the dead the promise of salvation is finally made real.

For this we thank the Mother of Jesus, who we now honour as Mother of God. Those who love Christ also love his mother, not in any sentimental way, but as part of the human gift of love which we hand back to the Most High. Through her we share in that link with Jesus as part of the human race and family, with her we rejoice in the promise of salvation realised, and in her we discern part of our own vocation, to be Christ bearers through the power of the Spirit.

In this feast we must strive to give Mary her true personality by honouring her humanity. She is but a human being like us, but one in whom the virtues and gifts of grace are also somehow perfected through the Spirit. She is humble yet strong; contemplative yet active in the mission of charity; modest, yet with an inner strength affirming of others . She like many of us grew old-yet hidden in that aging is a message for us all, that is to see the gospel pattern in every stage of our human lives, and to see old age as that bringing together of lived experience and wisdom, where grief is tinged with joy, sorrow with consolation, and hope the light that illumines the darkness of sickness, yes even Alzheimer's, dementia and the door of death!

For us Mary is an important way to love the Christ. After the great fire of April 10th 2019 that nearly destroyed Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, the very first service that took place there was an informal vespers on April 15th 2020. In that service an actress recited the famous poem about Our Lady, The Virgin at Noon, written by Paul Claudel and inspired by his conversion in that Cathedral, in the space and atmosphere near the statue of the Virgin Mary of Paris, at Vespers on Christmas Day, 1886.

His biographer, Louis Chaigne, wrote of this event "'It was the gloomiest winter day and the darkest rainy afternoon over Paris,'. He listened to the psalms and the Magnificat."He recalled that he 'stood near the second pillar at the entrance to the chancel, to the right, on the side of the sacristy. . . . Then occurred the event which dominates my entire life.'"'In an instant, my heart was touched and I believed. I believed with such a strength of adherence, with such an uplifting of my entire being, with such powerful conviction, with such a certainty leaving no room for any kind of doubt, that since then all the books, all the arguments, all the incidents and accidents of a busy life have been unable to shake my faith, nor indeed to affect it in any way.'" For many this has been the way to faith, the opening of the door to Christ by his Mother, Notre Dame, our Lady Saint Mary.

I have often been challenged by many of my Protestant friends to articulate just why we Catholics, Orthodox, and those Anglicans who venerate her, have such a devotion. It is difficult to describe, but what I and you instinctively know is that what it does not do is take away her son or lessen him in any way. For me, as for many, they are inseparable, and I suspect the deep religious instinct of my French peasant religious tradition flows strongly in my veins here and emerges in a love for her-with him the Lord I seek, as no doubt does the ancient and long English , Irish, and Scottish tradition of the love for Mary and Jesus flow in many of our spiritual traditions. How can one describe a mother? In the end we simply love and need her.

So on this wonderful feast, may we in humble love simply pray that 'Hail Mary" so rooted in our faith, and in praying this prayer wish each other the blessings we share with her. A very happy new year to you all!

Lectio

The Virgin at Noon
by Paul Claudel

Il est midi, je vois l'église ouverte.
Il faut entrer.

Mère de Jésus-Christ, je ne viens pas prier.
Je n'ai rien à offrir et rien à demander.

Je viens seulement, Mère, pour vous regarder.
Vous regarder, pleurer de bonheur, savoir cela, que je suis votre fils et que vous êtes là.

Rien que pour un moment pendant que tout s'arrête.
Midi !

Etre avec vous, Marie, en ce lieu où vous êtes.

Ne rien dire, mais seulement chanter parce qu'on a le coeur trop plein,
comme le merle qui suit son idée en ces espèces de couplets soudains.

Parce que vous êtes belle, parce que vous êtes immaculée, la femme dans la Grâce enfin restituée,
la créature dans son honneur premier et dans son épanouissement final,
telle qu'elle est sortie de Dieu au matin de sa splendeur originale.
Intacte ineffablement parce que vous êtes La Mère de Jésus-Christ,
Qui est la vérité entre vos bras, et la seule espérance
Et le seul fruit.

Parce que vous êtes la femme, L'Eden de l'ancienne tendresse oubliée,
Dont le regard trouve le cœur tout à coup et fait jaillir
Les larmes accumulées,
Parce qu'il est midi, Parce que nous sommes en ce jour d'aujourd'hui,
Parce que vous êtes là pour toujours,
Simplement parce que vous êtes Marie,
Simplement parce que vous existez,
Mère de Jésus-Christ,
soyez remerciée !

Paul Claudel

It is noon. The church is open. I must go in.
Mother of our Lord, I have not come to pray.

I have nothing to give and nothing to ask.
I am here, our Lady, only to look at you

For to look at you, to cry for joy,is to know
That I am your son and you are there.

But only for this one moment when everything stops.

Noon!
To be with you, Mary, in this place where you are.

To say nothing, to look at your face,
To let my heart sing with its own language,

To say nothing, but simply to sing because my heart is too full,
Like the blackbird which repeats its song in that species of swift couplets

Because you are beautiful, because you are immaculate,
the woman in Grace finally restored,
the creature in its first honour
and in its final development,
as it came out of God in the morning of its original splendour.

Ineffably intact because you are the Mother of Jesus Christ,
Which is the truth in your arms, and the only hope
And the only fruit.
Because you are the woman,
The Eden of the old forgotten tenderness,
Whose eyes look suddenly Into the heart and cause the pent-up tears to flow

Because you saved me, because you saved France,
Because France too, like myself, was for you a thing to be considered,
Because at that moment when everything collapsed, you intervened,
Because you saved France once again,
Because it is noon, because we are at this moment of today,
Because you are there for always,
simply because you are Mary,
simply because you exist,
Mother of Our Lord, we give Thanks to you!