Who is this that comes forth like the dawn, beautiful as the white moon, pure as the blazing sun, fearsome as celestial visions? - Song of Solomon 6:10
September 8 is the Feast of the Nativity of Mary, a perfect day to entrust our lives to her.
Tradition tells us that Mary's parents were named Joachim and Anne, two devout Jews who struggled to conceive a child for many years. In fact, their infertility had become a cause of shame, an embarrassment, and a source of great pain. Finally, legend has it, Anne received a message from an angel one day: Her prayers and the prayers of her husband had been heard. They would have a child!
But that child wouldn't just be the answer to the prayers of Joachim and Anne. No — the child would be Mary, the future Mother of God, the Gate of Heaven through which God enters the world, and the House of God, where God dwells for nine months before being born. Mary would be the means of God's answer to all prayers, for through Mary, Jesus came into the human race, into time out of eternity. Through Jesus comes every grace, every answer to prayer.
So remember the Nativity of Mary, the birthday of the Blessed Virgin, and celebrate! Without her birth, we wouldn't have Christmas or a share in the life, death, and Resurrection of Jesus our Lord. Celebrate Our Lady, Our Mother, who said a perfect yes to God.
To learn more about the Church's teaching on Mary, see here.
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, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
