António dos Santos
The Universal Church celebrates the Nativity of Mary on September 8th. Tradition says that the Virgin was born in Jerusalem, near the pool of Bethesda, where a crypt under the church of St Anne is currently venerated as the birthplace of Our Lady. The Feast of the Nativity is celebrated nine months after the celebration of the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception (December 8th).
The feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary has been known in the East since the 6th century. It was fixed on 8 September, the day on which the Byzantine liturgical year begins, which ends with the Assumption of Our Lady, celebrated in August. In the West, it was introduced in the 7th century and was celebrated with a litany procession, which ended at the Basilica of St.Mary Major (Rome).
This feast was always celebrated with praise by many Holy Fathers. St Peter Damian (1007-1072) Doctor of the Church, in his Second Sermon on the Nativity of Our Lady, says: “Almighty God, before man fell, foresaw his fall and decided, before the centuries, to redeem man. He therefore decided to become incarnate in Mary.”
Mary was conceived in her mother Anna’s womb, without original sin, to be a pure “vessel” and to be able to generate the Creator in human form. She came into the world in a way different from all other humans, full of sanctifying grace and not subject to sin – pure, beautiful, and glorious, adorned with the most precious graces that befitted one chosen to be the Mother of the Saviour.
D. Murilo S.R. Krieger, SCJ (Archbishop Emeritus of San Salvador da Bahia), in an article published in Vatican News, tells us that there is no reference in the evangelical texts to the birth of Mary, for a very simple reason: the objective that the evangelists had in writing the Gospels was to introduce us to Jesus Christ. He adds that there are only references to the Virgin Mary or any other person when it comes to highlighting a fact that concerns the Saviour. “It is true that the Word of God shows us, even if in a discreet way, the presence of Mary Most Holy in the central moments of the History of Salvation, such as the incarnation, the inauguration of the ministry of Christ, the crucifixion, the birth of the Church with the coming of the Holy Spirit, etc. But the Gospels do not give us information about Mary’s family, her childhood, her education, her temperament, her physical appearance, etc.”, said D. Murilo.
However, the Archbishop Emeritus emphasizes that we find data about the birth of Mary in the so-called “Apocryphal Gospels,” which are not inspired texts, but written to collect oral traditions that circulated among the people. Alongside (few) true historical facts, such texts brought (many) fanciful and uplifting stories to move the faithful. To give greater authority to such texts, written from the second century AD, they were advertised as being authored by some apostle. According to the Apocryphal Gospels, Our Lady was born in the city of Nazareth, in Galilee, and her parents were called Joachim and Anna.
The Catholic Church does not usually celebrate the day of the saints’ birth, but the day of their death – that is, when they entered eternal glory. There are, however, three birth celebrations: of Jesus Christ; of St John the Baptist; and that of the Blessed Virgin herself.
The whole Church makes the invitation, in the words of St. John Damascene (8th century): “Come, all nations, come, men of all races, languages and ages, of all conditions: with joy let us celebrate the nativity of joy! May the entire creation rejoice, feast and sing the nativity of a holy woman, because she has generated for the world an imperishable treasure of goodness, and because through her the Creator has changed all human nature into a better state!”
D. Murilo also reminds us of a famous sermon given on the feast of the Nativity, by Fr António Vieira (17th century) who asked: “Do you want to know how happy, how high and how worthy of being celebrated the Birth of Mary?” He himself replied: “See why she was born: she was born so that God could be born from her. Ask the sick why this heavenly Girl is born: they will tell you that she is born to be Lady of Health; ask the poor, they will say that she was born to be Lady of Remedies; ask the helpless, they will say that she was born to be Lady of the Support; ask the disconsolate ones, they will say that she was born to be Lady of Consolation; ask the sad ones, they will say that she was born to be Lady of Joy; ask the desperate ones, they will say that she was born to be Lady of Hope. The blind will say that she was born to be Lady of Light; [those in conflict] to be Lady of Peace; the captives, to be Lady of Deliverance; the enclosures, to be Lady of Victory. The claimants will say that she was born to be Lady of Good Dispatch; the navigators, to be Lady of Good Trip; those fearful of their fortune, to be Good Success Lady; the suspicious of life, to be Good Death Lady; all sinners, to be Lady of Grace; and all her devotees, to be Lady of Glory. And if all these voices unite in one voice, they will say that she was born to be Mary and Mother of Jesus.”
The Virgin Mary, emphasizes D. Murilo, was chosen by God, before all centuries, to be the Mother of the Messiah, the Mother of the Son of God, the Mother of the Saviour, “the star that precedes the Sun.” Archbishop Emeritus emphasizes that on the feast of her birth, the Church asks: “Rejoice, O God, your Church (…), for we rejoice in the birth of Mary, who was for the whole world the hope and dawn of salvation” (Mass – Prayer after Communion).
Holy Mother of God, pray for us!
(Image: The Birth of the Virgin (1303-1305), Giotto di Bondone, Scrovegni Chapel. Source: Wikimedia)
Follow
