MOTHER OF GOD

MOTHER OF GOD (Gr. Theotokos) The Virgin Mary gave birth to Jesus Christ, the Son of God. She is therefore the Mother of God. This is the teaching of the Orthodox Church denned by the Council of Ephesus in 431. It does not mean that Mary generated the Godhead, for the Word (the Son of God) was in the beginning ^{( JOHN 1:1)}. It means that the Virgin Mary was the Mother of the Person who is God. This is her fundamental dignity, and the origin and justification of all the honor which is bestowed on her by the Orthodox Church.