It therefore seems to be certain that the Council of Ephesus, though far indeed from originating devotion to our Lady, did give a great impetus to that which was already to Christendom. The foundations had now been laid securely. No one who had been taught the truths of Christianity, as laid down by the great Councils, could regard the Blessed Virgin as apart from her Son. It had been taught at Nicaea that the Incarnate Word was in His Divine Nature Consubstantial with the Father; it was now taught at Ephesus that the Eternal Son had been born in Human Nature of a human Mother. No confusion as to the source of Mary's dignity was henceforward possible. The title given by the Ancient Fathers to the Mother of their Lord was solemnly confirmed. She was Theotokos —the Mother of God. It followed that all the honour that was hers was her due not as sovereign but as subject, not as the source but as the channel, not as the Creator but as the creature who had been drawn into ineffable nearness to her Maker. There could no longer be any danger of scandalising the neophytes, or of giving colour to disastrous misrepresentations, or of provoking the calumnies of the worshippers of the gods and goddesses of mythology. Any reason for reserve forthwith ceased to exist. The sacred names of Jesus and Mary were joined in the hearts and on the lips of all Christian men. Jesus was God. Mary was His Mother.
