08/09/2026
𝗡𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗩𝗜𝗧𝗬 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗟𝗘𝗦𝗦𝗘𝗗 𝗩𝗜𝗥𝗚𝗜𝗡 𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗬
𝗦𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟴 | 𝗞𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗜𝗙𝗜
Today, September 8, is the Nativity or Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary by her parents Saint Anne & Saint Joachim. Tradition celebrates the event as a liturgical feast in the Catholic calendar of saints and in most Anglican including Aglipayan liturgical calendars on the 8th of September.
The IFI Articles of Religion No. 14 refers to the Blessed Virgin:
The Virgin Mary was chosen by God to be the Mother of Jesus Christ. As Jesus Christ is truly God and Mary is the Mother of Jesus Christ, she is the Mother of God in His human generation. She whom God honored is to be honored above all.
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.
The nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a very important feast, because it prepares the way for the birth of Christ.
Featured Image:
A mural painting depicting the virgin mary in traditional filipino attire preserved inside the Aglipay National Shrine in Batac, Ilocos Norte.
