September 8, Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
In the Church’s liturgical calendar, we celebrate 3 birthdays: Jesus, John the Baptist and the Blessed Virgin Mary.
“The Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary was celebrated at least by the sixth century, when St. Romanos the Melodist, an Eastern Christian who composed many of the hymns used in the Eastern Catholic and Eastern Orthodox liturgies, composed a hymn for the feast. The feast spread to Rome in the seventh century, but it was a couple more centuries before it was celebrated throughout the West.
“The source for the story of the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary is the Protoevangelium of James, an apocryphal gospel written about A.D. 150. From it, we learn the names of Mary’s parents, Joachim and Anna, as well as the tradition that the couple was childless until an angel appeared to Anna and told her that she would conceive. (Many of the same details appear also in the later apocryphal Gospel of the Nativity of Mary.)
“The traditional date of the feast, September 8, falls exactly nine months after the feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. Perhaps because of its close proximity to the feast of the Assumption of Mary, the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary is not celebrated today with the same solemnity as the Immaculate Conception. It is, nonetheless, a very important feast, because it prepares the way for the birth of Christ.”
Source About.com Catholicism
Biltrix 
Reblogged this on Perpetual Learner.
What a great photo! Did you take it yourself?
Hello Reinkat! It was an AP photo that I really liked. I thought Theotokos would be fitting for this post as we are celebrating the birth of the Mother of God. God bless & have a happy Feast Day!
Hi,
John
Hi John! Nice to hear from you! Thanks for the thoughtful comment!!! 😉
Is It Catachetically correct to always show the image of Jesus with Mary?
It certainly is not incorrect to show an image of Mary without Jesus. I just really liked this icon of the Theotokos — Mother of God; after all, we are celebrating the birth of the Mother of God. I thought this was a good occasion for it.
Thank you.
When I was baptized many years ago, nearly 57 in fact, I was baptized at our family parish of St Mary’s. It was not until I was an adult that I found out the full name of the parish had been Nativity of Mary–but no one ever called it that so I truly never knew. So my own Christian baptism is connected to this Feast and I did not know until in my 50th year. Happy Birthday to our Blessed Mother.
Beautiful testimony! There are so many hidden blessings in our lives and so much to thank God for. You were certainly under the special protection of our Blessed Virgin Mother. God bless!
Thank God for Mary! Happy Birthday to our Blessed Mother.
Hello Ivan! I am in travel mode right now and I just want to say thanks for the comment. God bless you!