The nativity of Mary, Mother of Jesus Christ, is celebrated on September 8. During this great Marian feast, the Church invites us to celebrate the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Immaculate Conception and Mother of the Savior.
Among the great Marian feasts that honor the Virgin, the nativity is one of the oldest.
First celebrated in Jerusalem and Constantinople, the Nativity of Mary was not officially instituted until the 7th century by Pope Sergius I. It then spread widely in the West, and especially in France, when the Virgin appeared to Saint Florent in Anjou, asking that her birth be celebrated.
The Nativity of Mary is celebrated on September 8 by the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. This date comes from the Eastern tradition that fixes the house of Anne and Joachim, the parents of Mary, in Jerusalem. Near this house was erected a church in honor of Saint Anne, whose dedication took place on September 8. According to Western tradition, on the other hand, Mary was born in Bethlehem or Nazareth.
In reality, the New Testament gives very little information about the birth of the Virgin Mary: we do not know the place, her date of birth, or the circumstances surrounding this event. The apocryphal gospel of James tells us about Joachim and Anne, the parents of Mary, and describes their meeting with an angel, who came to announce the miraculous birth of Mary, despite the sterility of her mother.
The Nativity of Mary is the first Marian feast celebrated during the liturgical cycle of the Saints. This feast, which glorifies the birth of Mary, takes place nine months after the feast of her conception, on December 8.
Although celebrated less solemnly than the Assumption, the Nativity of Mary is celebrated with joy by Christians. The liturgy of this day is characterized by the Gospel reading of the genealogy of Jesus. Thus, the birth of Mary, her belonging to the people of God, but also her divine motherhood, are related and emphasize the coming of the New Times.
The Roman Missal states: “even before the birth of John the Precursor, that of Mary is a proclamation of the Nativity of Jesus, the prelude of the Good News. The coming of a girl to the home of Anne and Joachim raised the world to hope and the dawn of salvation. That is why the Church invites us to celebrate it with joy.”
Devotion to Mary has continued to grow over the past hundred years, as evidenced by the flowering of Marian celebrations: the Annunciation, the Assumption, the Nativity, etc.
Celebrated with fervor, the feast of the nativity of Mary is a hymn to the Virgin, conceived pure and called to become the Mother of the Savior. Thus, Mary is the “beginning of salvation” since she announces the arrival of the Redeemer, who came to save humanity from death and sin. This feast is also an opportunity to celebrate the one who knew to say “yes” to the work of God.
Pope Benedict VI, in his homily of September 08, 1964, expresses it as follows: “It is the mystery of grace called the Incarnation and which, today, makes us see in Mary, in anticipation, the lamp carrying the divine light, the door through which heaven will advance to Earth, the Mother who will give human life to the Word of God, the coming of our salvation”.
Through the feast of his birth, Catholics invoke Mary as a protective mother and mediator interceding for them with Jesus, her son.
“O Mary, happy and blessed Virgin, allow me to approach your cradle, and to join my praise to those that return to you the angels who surround you, happy to be witnesses of the wonders of your birth. Kneeling before you, I make you the offering of my heart; Queen of heaven and earth, receive me and keep me.
Hail Mary, O fruit of purity! The cursed Earth is surprised to have been able to produce you. O Mary, full of grace, you raise the hope of the children of Eve driven from paradise and you revive their confidence. On the day of your entry into the world, we raised our fallen foreheads: your birth announces that of the Redeemer, as the dawn announces the coming of the day.
Hail Mary, O star of Jacob! The sun of justice will rise, the day of grace will shine, and it is you who hastened its coming. Your desires, more ardent than those of the patriarchs and prophets, attract the true Emmanuel in your womb, and it will be up to you to give us the Word made flesh.
May your holy hands, O Mary, pour into my heart with profusion humility, innocence, simplicity, meekness and charity; may these virtues of your heart seize mine so that I belong with you to Christ, my Lord, and that in him I know how to offer the good that I do and the evil that I suffer for the greater glory of God who is the salvation of sinners. Amen. ”
Through Mary, the Savior came into the world. In order to follow the one who knew to say “yes” to God's plan, you can pray to her through the many communities on Hozana: