The Blessed Mother is the the mother of the Catholic church and our spiritual mother as Jesus asked John to take care of His beloved mother.
She can be the mother of the Church because, as the Church’s Sacred Tradition holds, from the moment of her existence Mary was endowed by God with perfect sanctity. In 1854 Pope Pius IX declared in the papal bull Ineffabilis Deus:
We declare, pronounce and define that the doctrine which asserts that the Blessed Virgin Mary, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God, and in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, was preserved free from every stain of original sin is a doctrine revealed by God.
Pope Pius’s dogmatic declaration was not a nineteenth-century invention pulled out of a hat. Its purpose was to affirm in an official and formal way, as all ex cathedra statements are, a long-existing tradition passed down since the age of the apostles.
Saint Paul wrote that “all have sinned” (Rom 3:23). The context here is personal sin—that is, sin which is done rather than inherited. (Original sin is dealt with two chapters later in Paul’s epistle.) So have all sinned? In general, yes. But there are exceptions—beginning with Jesus himself! Other exceptions could include infants and the severely disabled, since a sufficient degree of knowledge and consent are key requirements for an offense against God. And there are other biblical exceptions besides Christ. Indeed, Mary is not the first woman to be conceived without sin: Eve too, the mother of humanity, was created free of sin—but eventually fell by disobedience. Mary did not fall. “And Mary said, ‘My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden. For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name’” (Luke 1:46-49).
https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/our-mothers-singular-grace
Prayer, the lifting of the mind and heart to God, plays an essential role in the life of a devout Catholic. Without a life of prayer, we risk losing the life of grace in our souls, grace that comes to us first in baptism and later chiefly through the other sacraments and through prayer itself (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2565). Through prayer we enter into the presence of the Godhead dwelling in us. It is prayer which allows us to adore God, by acknowledging his almighty power; it is prayer that allows us to bring our thanks, our petitions, and our sorrow for sin before our Lord and God.
As the prayers themselves witness, the Church teaches us that we should pray not only directly to God, but also to those who are close to God, those who have the power to intercede upon our behalf. Indeed, we pray to the angels to help and watch over us; we pray to the saints in heaven to ask their intercession and assistance; we pray to the Blessed Mother to enlist her aid, to ask her to beg her Son to hear our prayers. Further, we pray not only on our own behalf, but also on the behalf of those souls in purgatory and of those brothers on earth who are in need. Prayer unites us to God; in doing so, we are united to the other members of the Mystical Body.
https://www.catholic.com/tract/common-catholic-prayers
The Memorare
Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession, was left unaided. Inspired with this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother. To thee do I come, before thee do I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer me. Amen.
Never in Scripture is Mary the mother of the church, nor the mother of Christians.
Made up out of pagan beliefs.
No Apostle taught it and it does not appear as a belief during the lifetimes of the Apostles.
A man made document in 1854 means nothing.
Can you show this is an Apostolic tradition before 100 AD??
Would you please post these Scriptures - chapter and verse?
Mary as mother of the church is not supported anywhere in the New Testament. But as a priest you should know that.
If, as a Roman Catholic priest, you had studied the Greek, you would understand just how private of a situation this was.
27Then He said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” From that hour the disciple took her into his own household. John 19:27 NASB
Household is not in the original Greek. It has been supplied by the translators.
The word John uses in describing own is ἴδιος. It conveys the following meaning:
2398 ídios (a primitive word, NAS dictionary) – properly, uniquely one's own, peculiar to the individual. 2398 /ídios ("uniquely one's own") is "stronger than the simple possessive pronoun ('own'). This emphatic adjective means 'private, personal' " (WS, 222).
He was speaking directly to John and Mary in this instance as you will recall the other disciples had abandoned Him at this point.
There is nothing in the text saying Mary was given to everyone. Nothing.
Scripture rejects this claim of Roman Catholicism.