By Emmanuel Gandu
HIGHLIGHTS
+ Introduction
+ Is Mary’s birth in the Bible ?
+ Why Catholic insistence on this teachings?
+ What is it all about?
+ Why the choice of September 8
+ What century/period did the celebration begin?
+ Mary’s birth in other Christian denominations
+ Mary’s birth in Islam scripture.
+ Conclusion
INTRODUCTION
The Church celebrates the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary on 8th of September every year.
According to the teachings of the Catholic Church, this celebration which comes in form of a feast is to commemorate the birthday of Mary the mother of Jesus, and is given prominence in the Church’s Liturgical calendar.
IS MARY’S BIRTH IN THE BIBLE ?
There is no where in the Bible where the account/narrative of Mary’s birth is found.
However, the earliest known account/narrative of her birth is found in the gospel of James 5:2.
This gospel of James is an apocryphal (non-canonical books) text from the late Second Century that is not included in the modern Bible.
BUT WHY THE CATHOLIC CHURCH INSISTENCE ON THIS TEACHINGS ?
(A) Since scripture does not give an account/ narrative of Mary’s birth, the Church’s tradition, documented evidence like iconography, and the apocryphal gospel of James fills in the gap, as they all do reflect the development of christian piety.
Yes, the circumstances of the Virgin Mary’s birth, infancy, and early childhood life are not recorded in the Bible, but other documents and traditions of the early church describe the circumstances of her birth, and are cited by some of the earliest christian writers from the first Centuries of the church.
These accounts, although not considered authoritative in the same manner as the Bible, outline some of the church’s traditional beliefs about the birth of Mary.
(B) Although direct Biblical references are absent on the birth of Mary, the christological – salvific orientation that forms the backdrop for contemplating the situating of Mary may be derived from, and in the following :
Micah 5:1-4; Romans 8:28-30; Matthew 1:1-16, 18; Gal.3:16.
WHAT IS THE ACCOUNT/NARRATIVE OF MARY’S BIRTH
Tradition, iconography, documents, writings of the earliest christians, and the gospel of James which was put into its final written form in the early second century, describes Mary’s father Joachim as a member of one of the Twelve Tribes of Israel.
Joachim was described as a wealthy man who possessed large herds and flocks, with homes in both Nazareth and Jerusalem.
He and his wife Anne were childless up into their old age.
With untiring prayers and devotion, God blessed Joachim and Anne with baby Mary at their old age.
(1) WHY CELEBRATE MARY’S BIRTH DAY ?
(2) WHY THE SEPTEMBER 8th DATE ?
(3) WHEN DID THIS CELEBRATION START ?
The Catholic Church celebrates the feast of Nativity (birth) of the Blessed Virgin Mary on the 8th September every year.
It’s not only the Catholic Church but all the ancient churches like the Anglican and other Orthodox, Coptic, Syriac, Armenian, Ethiopic hold on to this teaching and belief.
It is only the churches/denominations which arose in the 16th century who try to invent Christianity from scratch that go about with Bible – only scripture.
The Blessed Virgin Mary was a very special lady specially made by God, specially born and without stain of sin on her soul.
The church has celebrated Mary’s birthday since the 6th century.
The September birth date of 8 was chosen in order to give credence to the Immaculate Conception date of December 8 – hence a period of 9 months.
MARY’S BIRTH IN ISLAM SCRIPTURE
The birth of Blessed Virgin Mary is narrated in the third chapter (Sura) of the Qur’an.
The Qur’an make references to her father Imran, after whom the chapter is named, as well as her mother, Hannah.
Hannah prayed to God to fulfill her desire to have a child and vowed, if her prayer was accepted, that her child would be dedicated to the service of God.
CONCLUSION
Who on earth will not rejoice and celebrate the birth of a child ?
Why would anyone go all out to find non existing reasons to ilegitimize an already legitimate course of history ?
Therefore, if many will rejoice at the birth of John the forerunner (Luke 1:14), a much greater joy is stirred up by the birth of the mother of the Saviour.
Hence, this is a great feast that serves as a prelude to the joy to all people brought about by the birth of the Son of God at Christmas.
Happy feast of the Nativity of Mary.
Happy birthday Mother Mary 🎂
Peace 🙏
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