It 's the first and oldest Marian dogma, formulated at the Council of Ephesus held in 431.
The council had been convened to affirm the unity of person in Christ, because he wanted to resolve the dispute was not properly Christological but Marian.
Nestorius refused to call Mary Mother of God, considering it as mother of the man Jesus and denying a true identity between this man and the Son of God
The council reiterated that identity, he says, therefore, that Mary being the mother of Christ is the Son of God and that God must be recognized as the mother of God reconciling
The definition is not particularly happy, and it is unnecessary to specify that the motherhood of Mary means only the person of the Son.
The council could have used the Greek expression Christotokos, or mother of Christ, but already a century in the devotion to Mary the title Theotokos was in use come down to us in the translation of Mother of God
Among the detractors of the doctrine Catholic and even among many believers, has spread a kind of impatience with the dogmatic position of our Church, as if to consider it as a unique and distinctive of Roman Catholicism, neglecting to mention the existence of dogmatic pronouncements within the Orthodox church as well as in the Reformed church. Just share this with the Orthodox dogma of the divine motherhood so dear to them to spend five solemnity in their liturgical calendar.
This dogma, like the other Marian dogmas, shows that they are the result of long devotions practiced by the faithful over the centuries have seen, anticipated and met with the heart that then the reason explained with the aid of the theology, which always starts from the characterization for revelation contained in Sacred Scripture. divine motherhood of Mary highlights two aspects of the Incarnation. On one hand, the Son of God, it changes to become the son of a woman to take on human nature forever. On the other hand, humanity is raised up to God, because a woman has become the mother of a divine person.
This can best be understood in prayer, even in the forms of meditation and contemplation to discover some peculiarities of the Christian, how to recognize child, sought and loved by God or giving thanks for the gift participated in the divine life.
Speaking of Mary is to speak of the Church. All attributes Marian
The church recognizes Mary as the one who intercedes, sound and comfort, as one who dispenses with, regenerates and protects, as one who blesses, rescues and receives.
The dogmas of faith that the truth revealed, should be replicated in their simplicity of doctrine, meditation of us faithful, especially in these times of blatant smarrimento e di profondi cambiamenti , per diventare come le rocce nel deserto di biblica memoria, non tanto e non solo per assicurarci una fede solida, quanto per considerarle, come i nomadi del tempo, ossia punti di riferimento certi ed affidabili, per proseguire sicuri il cammino nell’assai mutevole paesaggio della nostra esistenza.
Giovanni Bellantoni