Father John T. Myler "Behold Your Mother" research collection

Many Catholics felt that the documents of Vatican II de-emphasized the importance of the Blessed Virgin Mary and devotion to her. The intent of Behold Your Mother: Woman of Faith, the pastoral letter on the Blessed Virgin Mary, is to explain chapter 8 of Lumen Gentium, which the pastoral letter reaffirms as a synthesis of Catholic teaching in terms of Mary's place "in the mystery of Christ and his Church." The introduction of Behold Your Mother: Woman of Faith speaks of Mary's "privileged position in the Church" and upheld the teachings of the popes and councils. Mary's "special role...in the mystery of the salvation of the human race" is reaffirmed, and devotion to her is encouraged in a time when "the Church seeks to adapt herself to the widespread social and cultural changes of our time."

On behalf of the executive committee of the National Shrine of the Immacule Conception, John Cardinal Carberry presented the idea of a pastoral letter on the Blessed Virgin Mary at the November 1970 meeting of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops Administrative Committee. Through the spring of 1971, Cardinal Carberry and Monsignor William F. McDonough consulted with various theologians and bishops, and an outline of the proposed letter was written in the summer of 1971.

The Ad Hoc Committee for the Pastoral on Our Lady first met in November 1971 in Washington, D.C. The committee was composed of Mariologists and bishops. The first draft was written by Father Eamon Carroll, O.Carm., in March 1972. In July a second draft was sent to all American bishops soliciting their feedback; a third draft was sent out for feedback in January 1973. The fourth draft was voted on at the regional meetings of U.S. bishops in April and May 1973. The final manuscript was prepared that summer; a Spanish translation was also prepared, marking the first time a NCCB document was simultaneously published in Spanish.

Behold Your Mother: Woman of Faith was promulgated at mass in the National Shrine of the Immacule Conception in Washington, D.C. on November 21, 1973. In January of 1974 a group began meeting at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception to discuss the implementation of the pastoral letter. In February of that year Pope Paul VI issued Marialis Cultus.