[kosta50]

Mary is the Mother of God only in that she is the mother of Jesus

Then she should have been called "Christotokos" as Nestorus suggested, or perhaps as "Iesutokos," but the church resolutely rejected that (I believe only thee bishops of 150 or so) voted for Christotokos. I suggest you read the whole text of the Council in order to get their reasoning on this one.

Of course, the implication is that she is not someone who preceded either Person of the Holy Trinity.

Personally, my approach to orthodoxy is defined by Leo Tolstoy's Three Little Hermits. I am perfectly comfortable just praising in humility and awe the Tiune God and letting Him guide my heart, even if I don't know how to serve Him, or how to "officially" pray to Him.

[redgolum]

I can understand the concern over calling Mary the Mother of God, as it can (if you don't remember why that title was settled on) imply that Mary is herself God. It doesn't.

When the title was officially chosen, it wasn't so much because of who Mary was, but to settle once and for all the question of the Incarnation. In other words, was Jesus one person with two natures, one person with one nature, or two persons with two natures. Since, the only way for the Incarnation to make sense is for Jesus to be both true God, and true Man, but only one person, and sense Mary is the mother of Jesus, she is, because of the Incarnation, the Mother of God.

That was the one coffee explanation of how the title was defined. Any errors are mine, or because I haven't had two coffees.