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

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

given to a miraculous copy of the '' Salus Populi Romani''

icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic Church, Catholic, and Lutheranism, Lutheran churches. The most common subjects include Jesus, Mary, mother of ...

, enshrined at the Münster Zur Schönen Unsere Lieben Frau in

Ingolstadt Ingolstadt (; Austro-Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian: ) is an Independent city#Germany, independent city on the Danube, in Upper Bavaria, with 142,308 inhabitants (as of 31 December 2023). Around half a million people live in the metropolitan ...

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. 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: ''Litaniae lauretanae''), after its first-known place of origin, the Shrine of Our Lady of ...

History

It was first used by the

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

Father Jakob Rem, head of the Sodality of Our Lady, in

on April 6, 1604. The most common

litany Litany, in Christian worship and some forms of Jewish worship, is a form of prayer used in services and processions, and consisting of a number of petitions. The word comes through Latin ''wikt:litania, litania'' from Ancient Greek wikt:λιτα ...

used nowadays, the

, uses the invocation ''Mater admirabilis'', which means "Mother admirable". On April 6, 1604, the Colloquium Marianum of the Jesuit Sodality at Ingolstadt was praying the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary. 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. It was never clarified whether the triple prayer refers to the Holy Trinity, to the triple virginity of the Virgin Mary (before, during and after birth), or, to the Mother of God, mother of the Redeemer and mother of the redeemed.

Sources

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

History

See also

Sources