Gonzalo Martín, priest and parish priest of Nuestra Señora del Carmen in Benalmádena Costa, Spain, shares with Exaudi readers this article on the Nativity of Mary, celebrated every September 8.
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The Gospels say little or nothing about the Birth of the Virgin Mary, although the apocryphal gospels do echo this event. Still, the wise intuition of the Christian people makes this September 8, under different and varied advocation, this salvific event be commemorated in towns and cities. Commemorating the birth of the Virgin Mary is like celebrating that the divine becomes human and that the promises of salvation, through this birth, begin to be fulfilled and realized.
While the world continued to give importance to other events, God opened the way for the fulfillment of the messianic prophecies, approaching Joachim and Anna, to bless them in their sterility, and to grant them the sacred gift of life, giving birth, gloriously and holy, to the one who was to be the joy of the world because it was already preparing for the birth of the Son of God himself.
For this reason, the birth of the Virgin Mary is a day of special joy, because in this way what the prophets announced was brought to reality, becoming that “ladder” that united heaven with earth (Acts 28:12) and at the same time that “closed door” (Ezekiel 44:2) that was only crossed by God to visit his people and free his people.
St. John Damascene tells us: “The day of Mary’s Nativity is a feast of universal joy, because through her the whole human race was renewed, and the affliction of Mother Eve was turned into joy.”
The Liturgy of this day highlights how Mary was born to be the “House of God” and the Gate of Heaven, symbolizing the union between the divine and the human, and for this reason She will be called Blessed throughout all generations, as we hear in the text of the Magnificat.
We could say, without any possibility of equivocation, that the birth of the Virgin Mary reminds us, in a very concrete way, that God has chosen us for a mission from all eternity.
Mary’s mission begins on this day of her nativity, because it will be through her that God will be incarnated and, using her, will descend to earth, becoming a divine instrument to bring about the arrival of the Savior.
In this way, we see the feast of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary as the epiphany of the New Covenant, replacing the old stone temple where bloody sacrifices were made as the new spiritual Temple, and She becomes that dwelling place, full of benevolence, to accommodate in Herself as a symbol of the Church, the Son of God himself.
The nativity of the Virgin Mary is still that preannouncement of Redemption, regeneration of fallen humanity, since when the new Eve (Mary) is born, the new Adam (Christ) will be engendered.
As Christians, we must celebrate with great joy and happiness the birth of the Virgin Mary, because from Her came the Sun of justice, Christ, our God.
If in our family life, we celebrate with enthusiasm the gift of life, when our birthdays arrive, with how much more reason, every September 8th, we must rejoice with Christian joy, in the commemoration of the birth of our Mother.
St. Bonaventure said: God can make a greater world, but he cannot make a more perfect mother than the Mother of God.
May the whole Church rejoice and be glad in the Nativity of Mary, who is for the world hope and aura of salvation, cleansed of sin and full of all graces.
Congratulations, Mary. With your Nativity all our desires and promises of salvation begin to be fulfilled.
Happy birthday, Mother!
