Feast of the Birth of Mary
The Feast of the Birth of Mary, celebrated on September 8, commemorates the nativity of Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ. This feast is observed by the Roman Catholic Church and many Eastern Orthodox churches, although some Orthodox communities that follow the Julian calendar may celebrate it around September 21. The title "Theotokas," meaning "Mother of God," was officially affirmed for Mary during the Council of Ephesus in 431 AD. This feast has ancient origins, likely starting in the Middle East, with significant observance as early as the fifth century in Jerusalem. By the seventh century, it became an established part of Catholic liturgy and gained widespread recognition across Christendom by the 11th century.
Originally considered a holy day of obligation, the feast has since been reclassified in the Roman Catholic calendar due to the prominence of other Marian feasts such as the Assumption and the Immaculate Conception. In some northern European cultures, the Feast of the Nativity of Mary coincided with harvest celebrations, reflecting gratitude for agricultural abundance. Additionally, Mary is seen as a patron saint of winemakers, a title associated with her role in the Wedding at Cana. The feast also implicitly honors Mary's parents, Anne and Joachim, despite their dedicated feast day being in July. Overall, the Feast of the Birth of Mary serves as a significant religious observance that intertwines themes of motherhood, gratitude, and reverence within the Christian tradition.
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Feast of the Birth of Mary
Feast of the Birth of Mary
The feast of the birth or nativity of Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, is observed on September 8 of every year by the Roman Catholic Church. It is also marked on this date by Eastern Orthodox churches, except those that still adhere to the Old Style, or Julian, calendar and observe the feast on or about September 21. Among the Eastern Orthodox, the feast is known as the Nativity of Our Most Holy Lady, the Theotokas, or simply as the Nativity of the Theotokas.
Mary was declared Theotokas (mother of God) as a result of the Council of Ephesus, held in 431. The council had been summoned in order to discuss, among other issues, the first major theological controversy over Mary. Nestorius, a Syrian bishop, asserted that Mary was not the mother of the incarnate Son of God. Instead, he held, she had only given birth to a human being who was subsequently united to the Son of God. This view, which detracted from the divinity of Jesus by maintaining that his divine and human natures were not merged into one person from the start, was condemned as heretical at the council.
The feast of Mary's nativity is a very old observance, originating in the Middle East, probably in Syria or Palestine. At the end of the fifth century a.d., at least in Jerusalem, it held the same prestige as the Assumption as a major Marian celebration. In the seventh century the feast became established in the Catholic liturgy, a special service being prescribed with appropriate prayers. By the 11th century the September 8 feast had spread throughout Christendom. For centuries September 8 was enjoined as a holy day of obligation for all Christians. The observance was downgraded in 1918, however. The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, commemorating the taking up of Mary's body into heaven upon her death, and the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, celebrating Mary's preservation from original sin from the instant of her conception, superseded her birthday as the chief Marian feasts. In the newly revised Roman Catholic calendar, the September 8 observance became ranked as a feast.
In northern Europe where crops ripened in the early fall, the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lady functioned as the traditional harvest festival. Mary's birthday was regarded as the appropriate time to express thanks to her for the bountiful fields and to beg her protection, lest the harvest suffer damage before being fully gathered. The mother of Jesus was also considered the patron of winemakers, a designation most likely stemming from her important role at the wedding feast at Cana as related in the second chapter of the Gospel of John. It was she who called the attention of her son to the fact that the hosts had run out of wine, leading him to perform his first miracle, namely the changing of water into wine.
September 8 is sometimes regarded as a feast that is implicitly intended to commemorate Mary's parents, traditionally Anne and Joachim, as well as their daughter. The actual feast day of St. Anne and St. Joachim, however, occurs in July