Sept. 3 – Happy Birthday, Mother Mary!
On Thursday, Sept. 8, the Church celebrates the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Mary’s Birthday! We, of course, do not know the date of her birth, but the Church has celebrated this date for her birthday at least since the sixth century.
Why this date? No one seems to quite know for sure, but the main theory is that it was chosen because the Kingdom of Constantinople (a major Christian City in Medieval times) chose September to be the first month of their civil year; sort of like how end of August/beginning of September is the beginning of our school year. Thus, it seemed appropriate to celebrate Mary’s birth around this time. Similarly, still today, at the turn of our calendar year on January 1 we celebrate the Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God – which is also connected to the Christmas season.
We also celebrate the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Dec. 8 precisely because it was calculated as nine months before the date we celebrate her birth, on September 8.
In the Liturgical Celebration of Mary’s Nativity, the Church highlights the themes of light and joy.
First, the theme of light: The primary theme portrayed in the liturgical celebration of this feast day is that the world had been in the darkness of sin and with the arrival of Mary begins a glimmer of light. That light which appears at Mary’s holy birth preannounces the arrival of Christ, the Light of the World. “Mary the dawn, Christ the Perfect Day,” says one medieval hymn. Her birth is the beginning of a better world. As says one prayer in the breviary (the prayer book of psalms that priests, monks, and nuns pray), “Your birth, O Virgin Mother of God, proclaims joy to the whole world, for from you arose the glorious Sun of Justice, Christ our God; He freed us from the age-old curse and filled us with holiness; he destroyed death and gave us eternal life.”
St. Andrew of Crete (660-740) also used an image of light to speak of Mary’s birth, “… This radiant and manifest coming of God to men needed a joyful prelude to introduce the great gift of salvation to us … Darkness yields before the coming of light.”
Thus, he also alludes to the second theme of joy. The entrance antiphon at Mass states, “Let us celebrate with joyful hearts the birth of the Virgin Mary, of whom was born the Sun of Justice, Christ our Lord.”
It is with these two themes of both the approach of light and joy that the faithful senses the great happiness and festive nature on this beautiful feast of Mary’s birthday. So make sure to take some time to celebrate! Eat some birthday cake! Pray and sing a Marian hymn! And also as a family ask the prayerful intercession and protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary for your children and for teachers as we enter into another school year.
Peace,
– Fr. Kevin
