The Nativity of Our Lady, the All-Holy Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary
Your Nativity, O Theotokos, has proclaimed joy to the whole world, for from you has shone forth the Sun of Righteousness, Christ our God. Annulling the curse, he bestowed the blessing; abolishing death, he granted us eternal life.
The story of the Virgin Mary’s birth does not appear in the Gospel, but traditions about it were preserved in writing in the works of Saint Epiphanius, bishop of Cyprus, blessed Jerome and others.
“When they met again, they offered together a sacrifice of praise in the Temple and went home, firmly believing that they would receive what the Lord had promised them. Anne conceived on 9 December, and on 8 September she gave birth to Mary, the all-pure and all-blessed, the beginning of our salvation and our intercessor, at whose birth heaven and earth rejoiced. Joachim offered God great offerings, gifts and sacrifices, and received the blessing of the high priest, the priests, the Levites and the people; and he prepared a feast, which they attended, blessing God with joy.”
After the child was born, they took the greatest care in raising her, until the day they were able to present her in the Temple of the Lord, where she lived until she was betrothed to Joseph, the chaste one.
In the service of the feast, the Church invites us to meditate on the role the Virgin Mary played. God chose her from all eternity to be the Mother of the incarnate Word. From her birth we see her as Queen of the world, because she gave humanity the Sun of Righteousness and, through her divine Son, poured out eternal joy upon it. Saint John of Damascus expresses this when he cries out to Joachim and Anne:
“Blessed are you, O couple! All creation is in your debt, for through you it was able to offer the Creator the gift above all gifts, the Virgin Mother, who alone is worthy of the Creator. Rejoice, Joachim, for a Son has been given to us, born of your daughter.”
