Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
TODAY, September 8, Catholics celebrate the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In the Church’s liturgical calendar, there are only three personalities whose birthday is celebrated. First is St. John the Baptist, the cousin of Jesus whose birthday we celebrate every June 24, our Lord Jesus Christ whose birthday were celebrate on December 25, and the Blessed Virgin Mary whose birthday we celebrate today.
The Scriptures do not give an account of Mary’s birth. However, the apocryphal Protoevangelium of James fills in the gap. This work has no historical value, but it does reflect the development of Christian piety. According to this account, Anna and Joachim were infertile but prayed for a child. They received the promise of a child who would advance God’s plan of salvation for the world. The story, like many Biblical counterparts, stresses the special presence of God in Mary’s life from the beginning.
Saint Augustine connects Mary’s birth with Jesus’ saving work. He tells the earth to rejoice and shine forth in the light of her birth. “She is the flower of the field from who bloomed the precious lily of the valley. Through her birth, the nature inherited from our first parents is changed.” The opening prayer in today’s Mass speaks of the birth of Mary’s son as the dawn of our salvation, and asks for an increase of peace.
We can truly see every human birth as a call for new hope in the world. The love of two human beings join with God in his creative work. The loving parents show hope in a world filled with travail. The new child has the potential to be a channel of God’s love and peace to the world.
This is all true in a magnificent way in Mary. If Jesus was the perfect expression of God’s love, Mary was the foreshadowing of that love. If Jesus brought the fullness of salvation, Mary was its dawning.
Next to the birth of our Lord Jesus, Mary’s birth offers the greatest possible happiness to the world. Each time we celebrate her birth, we can confidently hope for an increase of peace in our hearts and in the world at large.