On Monday, January 1, we celebrate the Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God. The precise title “Mother of God” goes back at least to the third or fourth century. In the Greek form Theotokos (God-bearer), it became the touchstone of the Church’s teaching about the Incarnation. The Council of Ephesus in 431 insisted that the holy Fathers were right in calling the holy virgin Theotokos. At the end of this particular session, crowds of people marched through the street shouting: “Praised be the Theotokos!” To commemorate the important role of Mary as the God-bearer, the Church traditionally holds this day as a Holy Day of Obligation