Oh Mary, Conceived Without Sin
Pray For Us Who Have Recourse Unto Thee
Not a bad Sunday for some special prayers for world peace, in advance of this week's anniversary.
On this date in 1845, John Henry Newman became a Roman Catholic.
I brought it up with my pastor, while shaking hands with him after Mass: "The Blessed Mother's birthday, and no mention -- not even a remembrance? Liturgists should be strung up and shot!" "I know, I know. I agree."
I really love my pastor!
Oh Mary, Conceived Without Sin
Pray For Us Who Have Recourse Unto Thee
+ + +
From my father's diary, Sept. 8, 2000:
We love you, Blessed Mother, and we rejoice as we celebrate your birthday. May your holy parents St. Anne and St. Joachim experience special joys this day in paradise, and may every Catholic, Orthodox, and Anglican heart overflow with joy to celebrate the Feast of your birth, O most holy Theotokos. Remember especially your faithful sons and daughters throughout the world and give us your motherly blessing. Pour forth from your hands the graces God has given you, letting them enfold those who grieve or mourn, letting them cascade upon the Earth in this time of trouble and rumors of war, and letting these graces adorn all those who have died within the last year whom you welcomed to Paradise with your maternal embrace as well as all those who are born this very day..
Honor, glory, and praise be to the holy and undivided Trinity who created you full of grace, and blessed be your great name Mary most holy, you in whom the infinite God was pleased to be contained so that you would become the new and glorious tabernacle of His Presence.
Glory to Christ your Son and mercy to His Church and joy to each member of his Body. Blessed are you Mother of the Church, Mother of the Body of Christ, Mother of the Eucharist, Mother of the Light; Mother of the Eternal Word; Mother of our Divine Savior; Mother of Mercy , Mother of Hope, Mother of fair Love; and Mother of us all. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Shall we not love thee, Mother dear,
whom Jesus loves so well?
And to his glory year by year
thy joy and honor tell?Bound with the curse of sin and shame
we helpless sinners lay,
until in tender love he came
to bear the curse away.And thee he chose from whom to take
true flesh his flesh to be;
in it to suffer for our sake,
by it to make us free.Thy Babe he lay upon thy breast,
to thee he cried for food;
thy gentle nursing soothed to rest
the incarnate Son of God.O wondrous depth of grace divine
that he should bend so low!
And, Mary, O what joy 'twas thine
in his dear love to know!Joy to be Mother of the Lord,
and thine the truer bliss,
in every thought and deed and word
to be for ever his.And as he loves thee, Mother dear,
we too will love thee well;
and to his glory year by year
thy joy and honor tell.Jesus, the Virgin's holy Son,
we praise thee and adore,
who art with God the Father One
and Spirit evermore.-----------------------------------
Words: Henry Williams Baker, 1868
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BTTT on 09-08-04, Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
BTTT on the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, September 8, 2005!
BTTT on the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, September 8, 2006!
The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Feast Day
September 8th
The Birth of the Virgin Mary - Esteban Murillo (Louvre, Paris)
Thy birth, O Virgin Mother of God,
heralded joy to all the world.
For from thou hast risen the Sun of justice,
Christ our God.
Destroying the curse, He gave blessing;
and damning death, He bestowed on us
life everlasting.
Blessed art thou among women
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.
For from thou hast risen of Sun of justice,
Christ our God.
from The Divine Office - Matins (Morning Prayer)
The Feast of the Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary has been celebrated in the Church at least since the 8th Century. The Church's calendar observes the birthdays of only two saints: Saint John the Baptist (June 24), and Mary, Mother of Jesus.
John the Baptist is considered especially sanctified even before his birth. His birth to Elizabeth and Zachariah is foretold in the first chapter of Luke, and it is also recorded (Lk 1:41) that Elizabeth felt the infant John "leap in her womb" when Mary approached her soon after the Annunciation.
The birth of Mary was also miraculous. She was conceived without sin as a special grace because God had selected her to become the mother of His Son (the feast of her Immaculate Conception is celebrated on December 8). The dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, though generally believed throughout the Church for many centuries, was formally declared by Pope Pius IX in 1854.
There is nothing contained in Scripture about the birth of Mary or her parentage, though Joseph's lineage is given in the first chapter of the Gospel of Matthew. The names of Mary's parents, Joachim and Anna, appear in the apocryphal "Gospel of James", a book dating from the 2nd Century AD, not part of the authentic canon of Scripture. According to this account, Joachim and Anna were also beyond the years of child-bearing, but prayed and fasted that God would grant their desire for a child.
According to one tradition, the house in which Mary was born in Nazareth is the same one in which the Annunciation took place. By another tradition, the Annunciation site is beneath the Crusader church of Saint Anna in Jerusalem, under a 3rd Century oratory known as the "Gate of Mary".
In celebrating the nativity of Mary, Christians anticipate the Incarnation and birth of her Divine Son, and give honor to the mother of Our Lord and Savior.
Family Observance of the Feast of the Birth of Mary
Mary's Birthday Cake
All children love birthday cakes -- so today, let's make a birthday cake for the Blessed Virgin Mary. A white layer cake or angel food cake would be appropriate, with white icing and blue icing for trim (white is a symbol of purity; blue symbolizes fidelity, and is a color especially used for Mary). We suggest letting the children help with the decorations, if possible. If you have a small statue of Mary, it could be placed in the center of the cake, which can be surrounded by 10 candles -- one for each "Hail Mary" prayer in a decade of the Rosary. (If you don't have a little statue, you can write Mary's name on the cake in blue icing.)At the end of the evening meal, each child could take turns lighting the 10 candles as the whole family prays together a "Hail Mary" for each candle, ending with the Lord's Prayer.
If the children are too young to light candles, mother could light the candles, then the adults could pray one Hail Mary at the end, just before the cake is cut. After eating the birthday cake, the prayer below could be said (this prayer, the concluding prayer from "Matins" of the Divine Office, could also be said with the children at bedtime).
Lord God,
the day of our salvation dawned
when the Blessed Virgin gave birth to your Son.
As we celebrate her nativity
grant us your grace and your peace.
Through Christ our Lord, Amen.
The ANGELUS and the LITANY of the Blessed Virgin Mary
If your family doesn't say the Angelus regularly before the evening meal, this would be a good day to introduce it. (Then say it on all Feasts of Mary and every day during the penitential seasons of Advent and Lent.) Click here to see the Angelus that you may print out for your family.
School-aged children could begin to learn the traditional Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary. A good time to say the litany together might be after homework is finished in the evening, just before bedtime. A litany is an ancient form of prayer read or chanted by a group, with a leader saying the versicles, and the rest of the group saying the responses.
Birthday Books
This would be a good time to get out the children's "baby books", which usually need updating. Go through the birthday book with your child, and do some reminiscing. Each child could make a drawing of their idea of baby Mary and her family, which could be pasted in their own birthday book as a memento. (Don't forget to have them put their name and age on the pictures!)Other ideas...
If you have a nice statue of Mary, or a "Mary shrine" in your home, it would be appropriate to decorate it with flowers and candles today, in celebration of Mary's birthday. The family can gather around it during the reciting of the litany or other prayers -- and conclude by singing the lovely hymn, Mary the Dawn. (Click on the title here to see both the words and music to this hymn.)
Your birth, O Virgin Mother of God, heralded joy to all the world.