Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Every September 8th the Church celebrates the birth of the Virgin Mary, which has been known since the 6th century. It is true that the Gospel does not mention where Mary was born, some say she was born in Nazareth and others in Jerusalem.
Keep reading and learn 5 facts you should know about the Nativity of the Virgin Mary:
This feast began to be officially celebrated by Pope Saint Sergius (687-701 AD) when he established that four feasts would be celebrated in Rome in honor of Our Lady: the Annunciation, the Assumption, the Nativity and the Purification.
The birth of the Virgin Mary had unique privileges. She came into the world without original sin and was chosen to be the Mother of God. She was pure, holy, and had sanctifying grace from her conception. With this fact, the Scriptures and everything said by the prophets were fulfilled.
In the fullness of time, Mary became the vehicle of God's eternal fidelity. Today we celebrate the anniversary of her birth as a new manifestation of God's fidelity to men.
After the original sin of Adam and Eve, God had promised to send another woman into the world whose offspring would crush the head of the serpent. When the Virgin Mary was born, the promise began to be fulfilled.
The life of the Virgin Mary teaches us to praise God for the graces He gave her and the blessings He poured out on the world through her.
Let us celebrate the birth of Mary with joy, for from her was born Christ Our Lord. Let us entrust our needs to her and give flowers to the Virgin in some chapel, as a sign of love.
ORIGIN
The earliest document commemorating this feast comes from the sixth century. St. Romanus, the great ecclesiastical lyrist of the Greek Church, composed for it a hymn (Card. Pitra, "Hymnogr. Graeca", Paris, 1876, 199) which is a poetical sketch of the apocryphal Gospel of St. James. St. Romanus was a native of Emesa in Syria, deacon of Berytus and later on at the Blachernae church in Constantinople, and composed his hymns between 536-556 (P. Maas in "Byzant. Zeitschrift", 1906). The feast may have originated somewhere in Syria or Palestine in the beginning of the sixth century, when after the Council of Ephesus, under the influence of the "Apocrypha", the cult of the Mother of God was greatly intensified, especially in Syria. St. Andrew of Crete in the beginning of the eighth century preached several sermons on this feast (Lucius-Anrich, "Anfänge des Heiligenkultus", Tübingen, 1906, 468). Evidence is wanting to show why the eighth of September was chosen for its date. The Church of Rome adopted it in the seventh century from the East; it is found in the Gelasian (seventh cent.) and the Gregorian (eighth to ninth cent.) Sacramentaries. Sergius I (687-701) prescribed a litany and procession for this feast (P.L. cxxviii, 897 sqq.). Since the story of Mary's Nativity is known only from apocryphal sources, the Latin Church was slow in accepting this oriental festival. It does not appear in many calendars which contain the Assumption, e.g. the Gotho-Gallican, that of Luxeuil, the Toledan Calendar of the tenth century, and the Mozarabic Calendar. The church of Angers in France claims that St. Maurilius instituted this feast at Angers in consequence of a revelation about 430. On the night of 8 Sept., a man heard the angels singing in heaven, and on asking the reason, they told him they were rejoicing because the Virgin was born on that night (La fête angevine N.D. de France, IV, Paris, 1864, 188); but this tradition is not substantiated by historical proofs. The feast is found in the calendar of Sonnatius, Bishop of Reims, 614-31 (Kellner, Heortology, 21). Still it cannot be said to have been generally celebrated in the eighth and ninth centuries. St. Fulbert, Bishop of Chartres (d. 1028), speaks of it as of recent institution (P.L., cxli, 320, sqq.); the three sermons he wrote are the oldest genuine Latin sermons for this festival (Kellner, "Heortology", London, 1908, 230). The octave was instituted by Innocent IV (a. 1243) in accordance with a vow made by the cardinals in the conclave of the autumn of 1241, when they were kept prisoners by Frederick II for three months. In the Greek Church the apodosis (solution) of the feast takes place 12 Sept., on account of the feast and the solemnity of the Exaltation of the Cross, 13 and 14 Sept. The Copts in Egypt and the Abyssinians celebrate Mary's Nativity on 1 May, and continue the feast under the name of "Seed of Jacob" 33 days (Anal. Juris Pont., xxi, 403); they also commemorate it on the first of every month (priv. letter from P. Baeteman, C.M., Alikiena). The Catholic Copts have adopted the Greek feast, but keep it 10 Sept. (Nilles, "Kal. Man.", II, 696, 706).
Sources
Catholic Encyclopedia, New Advent
LUCIUS-ANRICH, Anfange des Heiligenkultus (Tübingen, 1904); HOLWECK, Fasti Mariani (Freiburg, 1894), 118 sqq.
PRAYER
Heavenly Father, You wanted Your love to be reflected in Mary.
Thank you for giving us such a perfect mother!
She is for us a new revelation
of all the treasures of goodness that are
hidden in your paternal heart,
you show us how good and sweet you are in your love.
With her tenderness and solicitude, she makes known
to us the delicate and vigilant affection that unites you to you,
since all the strength of your motherly love descends
to her from your Father's heart.
In Mary there is nothing that has not been expressly given
to her by You: she brings your image to us,
she makes us discover your face of love.
Without the comfort of His presence and the continuity of
His attentions, we would lack one of the most
evident proofs that You are continually close to
us, to sustain, comfort, and protect us.
His kind gaze and his immense pity for
sinners, such as we are, invite
us to believe that your mercy is immeasurable and
that it does not allow itself to be overcome by ingratitude and wickedness.
Mary shows us how you love us and impels us
to entrust ourselves completely to your love.
We thank you that you like to manifest yourself
and give yourself to us through her! Amen.
With information from ACI Prensa and EWTN.