Welcoming the New Year and celebrating the Feast of Our Lady’s Divine Motherhood

New Year’s Day is extra special as it is also the patronal feast of our Congregation – Franciscan Missionaries of the Divine Motherhood. In this year of Mercy, may Christ’s birth bring New Hope, New Life, New Joy to all who visit our website, to our relatives and friends.

In England, sisters from the various communities gathered in our Motherhouse at Ladywell Convent, for the Eucharist followed by fellowship and a festive lunch. It is a wonderful opportunity for the sisters to gather and to enjoy this special day.

We would like to share with you ‘Motherhood of God’, an extract from the book by Sister Mary Love, FMDM, p. 39

‘THE MOTHERHOOD OF GOD ‘

Of particular relevance for us as FMDMs is that Mary’s “Yes” to God enabled Christ to be born, so our “Yes” to God brings Christ to birth for self, others and all creation. It is to Mary that we look to see how her Divine Motherhood was lived out, from her initial ‘Fiat’ at the conception of Jesus, to her acceptance of his death on the Cross, and beyond, to her Motherhood of the Church.

It is from Mary, the faithful disciple of Christ, woman of faith, who reflected in her heart on the mystery of God as she experienced it, a poor woman of the people, that we will learn to conceive Christ in our hearts and bring him forth for the world.

It is from Mary, Mother of God, that we will learn to recognize and to mirror to others the maternal love of God.