Nativity of Mary

There are only three times each year we celebrate someone’s birthday. Obviously, we celebrate , the birthday of our Lord Christ. Additionally, we celebrate the birthday of on June 24. And finally, we celebrate the birthday of Mary. Her birthday is celebrated on this day, Sept. 8, because it is nine months from December 8, the of the , where she is preserved from the stain of sin.

This feast is unique in that the Church typically celebrates the feast of a saint on the date of their death, i.e., the day they are born into eternal life. Each year we celebrate Mary’s birth, however, because of her Immaculate Conception. Furthermore, Mary is the firstborn or “first fruits” of all those redeemed by Christ.

There is no reference to Mary’s birth in Sacred Scripture. What we know comes from the Protoevangelium of James, an Apocryphal work dated around AD 145.

According to one tradition, Mary was born in at the location of St. Anne’s Church, which is north of the Temple. The earliest recording that we have of the celebration of this feast is from the sixth century. It has been celebrated in Rome since the seventh century.

Pope Paul VI referred to Mary’s birth as the “dawn of our salvation” in the document, Marialis Cultus (1972). As the rays of the sun peek out over the horizon at dawn, so the first glimmers of light shine in a world darkened by sin with Mary’s birth.

Today’s feast, then, is a feast of hope! Her birth preannounces the arrival of Christ, who is the Light of the world. With Mary’s birth, we get a sense that all of heaven is in awe and rejoices that dawn is breaking.

For us today, we take a little time to reflect with joy on God’s plan for Mary. From all eternity, she was predestined to be the God-bearer. Her birth is truly the “cause of our joy” because through her “yes,” the King of Kings and Light of World breaks upon us.

While our world continues to be a troubled place with shadows becoming cast over greater areas of our culture, let us never give up hope! For in Christ, “the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (Jn. 1:5). May Mary, the “daybreak of salvation for all the world” (Prayer after Communion), give you hope, peace, and joy today! Happy birthday Blessed Mother! ☺