, literally "Mother thrice admirable", is a Marian title in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

given to a miraculous copy of the ''

Salus Populi Romani ''Salus Populi Romani'' (''Protectress'', or more literally ''health'' or ''salvation'', ''of the Roman People'') is a Roman Catholic title associated with the venerated image of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Rome. This Byzantine icon of the M ...

icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most c ...

, enshrined at the Münster Zur SchönenUnsere Lieben Frau in

Ingolstadt Ingolstadt (, Austro-Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian: ) is an Independent city#Germany, independent city on the Danube in Upper Bavaria with 139,553 inhabitants (as of June 30, 2022). Around half a million people live in the metropolitan area ...

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total l ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

. The title is a variant of ''Mater admirabilis'' (Mother most admirable) from the

Litany of Loreto The Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a Marian litany originally approved in 1587 by Pope Sixtus V. It is also known as the Litany of Loreto (Latin: ''Litaniæ lauretanæ''), after its first-known place of origin, the Shrine of Our Lady of Lor ...

History

It was first used by the Jesuit Father

Jakob Rem Jakob Rem (June 1546 - 12 October 1618) was an Austrian member of the Society of Jesus, a Catholic evangelical organization, and an early member of the Congregation of Marian Fathers. Career Jakob Rem was born in June 1546 in Bregenz, Austria. I ...

, head of the

Sodality of Our Lady The Sodality of Our Lady, also known as the Sodality of the Blessed Virgin Mary (in Latin, ''Congregationes seu sodalitates B. Mariæ Virginis''), is a Roman Catholic Marian society founded in 1563 by young Belgian Jesuit Jean Leunis (or Jan) a ...

, in

on April 6, 1604. The most common

litany Litany, in Christian worship and some forms of Judaic worship, is a form of prayer used in services and processions, and consisting of a number of petitions. The word comes through Latin '' litania'' from Ancient Greek λιτανεία (''lita ...

used nowadays, the

, uses the invocation ''Mater admirabilis'', which means "Mother admirable". On April 6, 1604, the

Colloquium Marianum Colloquium Marianum was an elite type of Marian sodality, founded by Jesuit Father Jakob Rem of the Jesuit Seminary at Ingolstadt in 1594 AD in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, with the aim to reach holiness of life through an ever-deeper love of the Virgin ...

of the Jesuit Sodality at Ingolstadt was praying the

Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary The Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a Marian litany originally approved in 1587 by Pope Sixtus V. It is also known as the Litany of Loreto (Latin: ''Litaniæ lauretanæ''), after its first-known place of origin, the Shrine of Our Lady of Lor ...

. As they came to the prayer, ''“Mother most admirable, pray for us”'' Father Rem asked for a repeat and again for a repeat of the prayer. Since that time, the Colloquium Marianum and the sodalities used the triple prayer. ''Mater ter admirablilis'' continues to be used as a part of the sodality prayers worldwide. Since 1915, Mater ter admirablilis is a part of the Marian prayers of the Schönstatt movement. Mater ter admirabilis is also a Marian altar in the Cathedral of Ingolstadt, where the solidarities used to meet on a daily basis for

Holy Mass The Mass is the central liturgical service of the Eucharist in the Catholic Church, in which bread and wine are consecrated and become the body and blood of Christ. As defined by the Church at the Council of Trent, in the Mass, "the same Christ ...

. It was never clarified whether the triple prayer refers to the

Holy Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the ...

, to the triple virginity of the Virgin Mary (before, during and after birth), or, to the

Mother of God ''Theotokos'' (Greek: ) is a title of Mary, mother of Jesus, used especially in Eastern Christianity. The usual Latin translations are ''Dei Genitrix'' or '' Deipara'' (approximately "parent (fem.) of God"). Familiar English translations are ...

, mother of the Redeemer and mother of the

redeem Redemption may refer to: Religion * Redemption (theology), an element of salvation to express deliverance from sin * Redemptive suffering, a Roman Catholic belief that suffering can partially remit punishment for sins if offered to Jesus * Pi ...

ed.

Sources

H:H:Köster, "Mater ter admirabilis", in ''Lexikon der Marienkunde'', Regensburg, 1967 Titles of Mary Jesuit history in Germany History of Catholicism in Germany Ingolstadt Counter-Reformation 17th-century Catholicism Society of Jesus

History

See also

Sources