PORTLAND, Maine — Bishop Robert P. Deeley will celebrate Mass on Tuesday, January 1, at 10 a.m. at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Portland in commemoration of the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. It is a holy day of obligation for Catholics, and Mass listings at Maine churches for both New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day are now available at: www.portlanddiocese.org/content/solemnity-mary-mother-god.
Among the masses are these scheduled in Aroostook County:
Caribou: Parish of the Precious Blood, Holy Rosary Church, 34 Vaughn Street – New Year’s Day at 9 a.m.; Sacred Heart Church, 1143 Van Buren Road – New Year’s Eve at 6 p.m.
Eagle Lake: St. John Vianney Parish, St. Mary Church, 3443 Aroostook Road – New Year’s Day at 11 a.m.
Fort Kent: St. John Vianney Parish, St. Louis Church, 26 East Main Street – New Year’s Eve at 4 p.m. and New Year’s Day at 9 a.m.
Frenchville: Our Lady of the Valley Parish, St. Luce Church, 441 U.S. Route One — New Year’s Day at 9 a.m.
Houlton: St. Mary of the Visitation Parish, St. Mary of the Visitation Church, 112 Military Street – New Year’s Day at 9 a.m.
Island Falls: St. Agnes Parish, St. Agnes Church, 76 Sewall Street – New Year’s Eve at 5:30 p.m.
Limestone: Parish of the Precious Blood, St. Louis Church, 100 Main Street – New Year’s Eve at 6 p.m.
Madawaska: Notre Dame du Mont Carmel Parish, St. David Church, 774 Main Street – New Year’s Day at 9 a.m.; St. Thomas Aquinas Church, 337 St. Thomas Street – New Year’s Eve at 6 p.m.
North Caribou: Parish of the Precious Blood, Sacred Heart Church, 1143 Van Buren Road – New Year’s Eve at 6 p.m.
Portage: Parish of the Precious Blood, Our Lady of the Lake Church, Route 11 – New Year’s Eve at 6 p.m.
Presque Isle: Parish of the Precious Blood, Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church, 331 Main Street – New Year’s Day at 9 a.m.
Saint Francis: St. John Vianney Parish, St. Charles Borromeo Church, 912 Main Street – New Year’s Eve at 6 p.m.
Van Buren: St. Peter Chanel Parish, St. Bruno – St. Remi Church, 174 Main Street – New Year’s Eve at 6 p.m.
Wallagrass: St. John Vianney Parish, St. Joseph Church, 7 Church Street – New Year’s Eve at 6:30 p.m.
The honoring of Mary as the Mother of God can be traced back to the Council of Ephesus in 431, when crowds of people marched through the streets shouting: “Praised be the Theotokos!” Theotokos is Greek for “The God bearer.” By celebrating a solemnity dedicated to Mary’s motherhood, the Church highlights the significance of her part in the life of Jesus, and emphasizes that He is both human and divine. The solemnity does not only honor Mary, who was chosen among all women throughout history to bear God incarnate, but also honors the Lord, who is fully God and fully human.
In 1974, Pope Paul VI removed the feast of the Circumcision of Christ from the liturgical calendar and replaced it with the feast of the “Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God” on the first day of each year. In his apostolic exhortation Marialis Cultus (1974), Pope Paul VI called the Solemnity of Mary “a fitting occasion for renewing adoration of the newborn Prince of Peace, for listening once more to the glad tidings of the angels, and for imploring from God, through the Queen of Peace, the supreme gift of peace.”
“Mary, Mother of God, carried Jesus to the world,” said Bishop Deeley. “With her unconditional faith, our Blessed Mother saw the love of God in the sorrowful, the ordinary, and the joyful. She who placed her trust in God, saw his glory in everything. She offers a wonderful guide for the new year ahead.”
