The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin MarySeptember 8
Saints of the Day
 

The Nativity of Virgin Mary, birth of the Virgin, Christmas of Mary

    We usually do not celebrate the birthday of the Saints, but rather their "birthday to heaven," that is, the anniversary of their death, considered as the beginning of their blessed life with God. Nevertheless, there are two exceptions, Virgin Mary and St. John the Baptist, since we commemorate not only their birthday to heaven, but also their nativity, their coming to this earth... and the reason is because both were the only saints born without sin.
    - Virgin Mary: Nativity on September 8. Death, Assumption of Mary... She is the Immaculate Conception, conceived without sin
    - St. John Baptist: Birth: June 24. Death: August 29... Birth without sin promised in Luke 1:15 and fulfilled in Luke 1:41  

    The nations celebrate, often too noisily, the birthdays of the great ones of this earth... How then ought we, Christians, to rejoice in that of the Virgin Mary, Mother of our Salvation, and to present publicly to God the homage of our best praises and thanksgiving for the great mercies.

    The birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary announced joy and the approaching salvation of a lost world. Mary was brought into the world not like other children of Adam, infected with the contagion of sin, but pure, holy, beautiful, and glorious, adorned with all the most precious graces fitting for the One predestined to be the Mother of the Savior. Never did She have the slightest inclination towards anything other than the absolute and immediate Will of God. She appeared indeed in the weak condition of all mortals, but in the eyes of Heaven She already transcended the highest seraphim in purity, humility, charity, and the richest ornaments of grace. God had created Her in the original grace, as in the beginning Adam and Eve had enjoyed that ineffable privilege; after original sin, it was lost for all Adam’s posterity, until the time of the Redemption dawned in Mary. (Cf. I Cor. 15:21-23). Look at Immaculate Conception

    The September 8 date of the Nativity helped determine the date for the feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8 (nine months earlier).

    The Church has celebrated Mary's birth since at least the sixth century.   

    Scripture does not give an account of Mary's birth. However, the apocryphal Protoevangelium of James fills in the gap. This work has no historical value, but it does reflect the development of Christian piety. According to this account, Anna and Joachim are infertile but pray for a child. They receive the promise of a child that will advance God's plan of salvation for the world. Such a story (like many biblical counterparts) stresses the special presence of God in Mary's life from the beginning.

St. Augustine connects Mary's birth with Jesus' saving work. He tells the earth to rejoice and shine forth in the light of her birth. "She is the flower of the field from whom bloomed the precious lily of the valley. Through her birth the nature inherited from our first parents is changed."

    Birthday celebrations bring happiness to the celebrant as well as to family and friends. Next to the birth of Jesus, Mary's birth offers the greatest possible happiness to the world. Each time we celebrate her birth we can confidently hope for an increase of peace in our hearts and in the world at large.

http://www.magnificat.ca/cal/engl/09-08.htm caridad16.jpg (15975 bytes)
http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/SaintOfDay/default.asp?id=1132
http://www.byzantines.net/SaintAthanasius/tract58.htm

Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre, La Caridad del Cobre, Cachita
Patroness of Cuba

    At the request of the veterans of the War of Independence, Our Lady of Charity, La Caridad del Cobre,  was declared the patroness of Cuba by Pope Benedict XV in 1916. Then image was solemnly crowned in the Eucharistic Congress at Santiago de Cuba in 1936. Pope Paul VI raised her sanctuary to a basilica in 1977. Pope John Paul II solemnly crowned her again in 1998.

    More Information
        - http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/mary0006.htm
        - http://biblia.com/apariciones/cuba.htm , Spanish,

 

Saints of September 8:

http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0908.htm

Art Galleries of Religions and Christianity

The Jerome Bible Commentary, book by book
1,093 prophecies and types of the Old Testament fulfilled in Jesus and His Church

Other Web Sites of Dr. Dominguez
(over 300 in English and Spanish)

Home-Index   E- Mail to: J. Dominguez, M.D.