Sep-8 Nativity of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary
September 8: Nativity of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary With two notable exceptions, the Church usually celebrates Saints’ feast days not on the day they were born, but rather the day they died and entered into eternity. These two exceptions are: Mother Mary’s birth on September 8th, and John the Baptist’s birth on June 24th. We find the account of the nativity of St. John the Baptist in the Gospel of St. Luke (Lk 1:5-25’ 57-66). But the four Gospels, centered as they are on the mystery of Christ and His salvific mission, do not provide a similar account of the nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The story of Mary’s birth comes from an old text — not part of the Canon of the Bible — called the “ Protoevangelium of James ” written around 135-170 AD. According to the Protoevangelium of James 5:2, the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saints Joachim and Anne (or Anna), were having difficulties conceiving a child. As recorded, “ Joachim was exceedingly grieved, and...