As I write this we have just observed Valentine’s Day, and I’ve been having debates with some of my coworkers about optimum Valentine acknowledgments. Some people delight in flowers, while others consider them a waste of good money. Some have long traditions with their beloved that can be anticipated in detail but are still appreciated every year. Some people are in new relationships or are delighted with unexpected expressions of romance in an ongoing relationship. All varieties of observance make one thing clear: Love is strengthened when embodied in many and varied expressions of devotion.

Christians have embodied their love for Mary in devotions that have varied widely over time and across cultures. Her images range from a nursing mother to Mary of the ethereal Assumption, being borne up to heaven by cherubs. She has been depicted as Italian, Chinese, German, and as a woman of the Mafa people of Cameroon. Her apparitions claim for her places as far-flung as Akita, Japan; Tepeyac, Mexico; and Zeitoun, Egypt. All of these generate accompanying devotions—concrete rituals, songs, and prayers that express the honor and love Mary evokes.

At the center of these specific devotions, what is the root of Christian love for Mary? We can take our cue from the earliest discussions of Mary, recorded since the second century after the birth of Christ.

Mary’s earliest role in Christian teaching was to anchor the belief that Jesus Christ was actually human because he had a human mother. Arguments about Jesus’ nature were widespread during the centuries when Christians were in the midst of developing basic formulas of belief.

We find one such argument in the letters of Saint Ignatius of Antioch, who wrote shortly after the Gospel of John was composed. Ignatius engaged in controversy with a group who denied Christ’s basic humanity. In a letter to the Ephesians, Ignatius explained that we can know Christ is truly human because he had been “carried in the womb” of Mary. Mary was human and gave actual human birth to Jesus. Ignatius depends on the testimony of Mary’s pregnancy and her giving birth to argue for Christ’s full humanity.

It’s important to keep in mind that Mary was not some kind of passive incubator. She gave her consent to God’s proposal that she conceive the Savior through the Holy Spirit. We can recognize that her participation in giving birth to Christ was fully human rather than merely physical.

This ancient argument is helpful even today for grounding us in the fact that Mary, whatever her honors or perfections, is above all human. This affirmation is not a diminishment of honor but a way of recognizing her essential role in the Incarnation. Her role as Christ’s Mother gives rise to the fundamental devotion to Mary as our mother also.