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Mater Matuta was an indigenous Latin goddess whom the Romans eventually made equivalent to the dawn goddess Auroroa (Gr. Eos). She was also associated with sea harbors and ports, where there were other temples to her (Wikipedia).
On this day, women in Rome decorated the statue of Mater Matuta with garlands and gifts. Only women who had been married once participated.
Female slaves were forbidden in the temple, but one was selected to be ritually slapped on the head.
Sacred cakes of libum (sort of a Roman cheese-bread, or cheese-cake (Tavola)), cooked in earthen pots, were offered to Mater Matuta.
Mater Matuta had a famous temple at Satricum where artifacts show that offerings to her included clay models of internal organs, figurines of swaddled babies, and statues of mothers holding children. These artifacts show us that Mater Matuta was the godess of the mother-child relationship, nurturing, and growth.
A shrine to Mater Matuta also stood near the modern town of Capua where a collection of life-sized or smaller statues depict seated mothers holding swaddled babies in their arms. One such mother holds twelve infants; six in each arm. It's thought that these statues once lined a pathway to the temple Mater Matuta.
At first glance, there seems to be quite a lot of overlap between Mater Matuta and the later Mater, Mater Maria of the catholic church. It could be that Matuta's popularity is part of what made Maria popular among the Romans. It could even be that Matuta and the new Maria character were essentially merged to become one; The goddess of mothers becoming the mother of god.
📕 Bernstein, Frances, _Classical Living: Reconnecting with the Rituals of Ancient Rome_. HarperCollins, 2000. pages 119-120
Wikipedia, _Mater Matuta_ (via gemini)
Tavola Mediterranea, _Libum, Cato's Cake Bread_
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✍️ Last Updated: 2021-06-25