The Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The story

+ The feast of the Birth of Mary bridges the promises made to the people of Israel with the coming of the long-awaited Messiah.

+ According to tradition, Mary was born to Ann and Joachim, an elderly couple who had long prayed that God would bless them with a child. Although stories of the birth and childhood of Mary of Nazareth are not included in the Sacred Scripture, there are many legends related to the early life of the Mother of Jesus.

+ The origin of this feast is associated with a fifth-century basilica built on the site of the pool of Bethesda (see John 5:1-9), a site believed by some to have been the location of the home of Saints Joachim and Ann; the Basilica of St. Ann stands there today.

+ The liturgical celebration of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary was introduced in the city of Rome by Pope Sergius I.

For prayer and reflection

“Mary’s birth, in fact, is a sort of ‘prologue’ to the Incarnation: Mary, like the dawn, ushers in the sun of the ‘new day,’ foretelling the joy of the Redeemer.”—Pope Saint John Paul II

Spiritual bonus

On September 8 we also remember Blessed Frédéric Ozanam. A teacher and author whose writings focused on the role of the Christian in society, he is honored as the founder of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. Blessed Frédéric died in Marseilles, France, on September 8, 1853, and was beatified in 1997.

Prayer

Impart to your servants, we pray, O Lord,
the gift of heavenly grace,
that the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin
may bring deeper peace
to those for whom the birth of her Son
was the dawning of salvation.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.

(from The Roman Missal)

Saint profiles prepared by Brother Silas Henderson, S.D.S.