On Mary, Mother of God
"This Woman Is Very Close to Us and Helps Us"
[excerpt]
From the title "Mother of God" are drawn all the other titles with which the Church honors Mary, but this one is the fundamental title. We think of the privilege of the "Immaculate Conception," of being, that is, immune from sin from the moment of her conception: Mary was preserved from every stain of sin because she had to be the Mother of the Redeemer. The same goes for the title "Assumed": she who gave birth to the Savior could not be subjected to the corruption that comes from original sin. And we know that all these privileges are not given to distance Mary from us, but on the contrary to make her more near; in fact, being totally with God, this Woman is very close to us and helps us as mother and sister. Even the unique and unrepeatable place that Mary has in the community of believers derives from this fundamental vocation of being the Mother of the Redeemer. Precisely as such, Mary is also the Mother of the Mystical Body of Christ, which is the Church. Justly, then, during the Second Vatican Council, on November 21, 1964, Paul VI solemnly attributed to Mary the title of "Mother of the Church."
http://www.zenit.org/article-21416?l=english