Our Lady’s Birthday

Beloved brothers and sisters, dear devotees and children of Our Lady! Today we celebrate the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Every birth of a child is always a joyful event. The liturgy of today’s feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary also encourages us in the opening antiphon: “Let us rejoice in the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary, for from her has risen the sun of righteousness – Christ our God.” This happened when the “fullness of time” had come. We may ask: What is the fullness of time? It means that humanity has already matured to a better knowledge of God. People have come to understand that there is only one God – and have rejected polytheism. People have felt that God is the Creator of the whole world and have admired Him. People saw God as a righteous Judge – and feared him.

Above all, it was time for humanity also to recognize that God is our heavenly Father – and to come to love him. And this revelation of God’s love comes in spades. Somewhere in the unknown land of Canaan, a little girl – Miriam – is born. The parents are now elderly, and the girl Miriam – Mary – is the light of their old age. And these loving parents – Jehoiakim and Hannah (or Joachim and Anna) – have given Miriam a careful home upbringing. They give her the best education in the Temple school in Jerusalem. Then they want her to marry well so that she will fulfill her mission as a woman in the highest way – motherhood.

The little girl Mary, born today, is not only the light and joy of her parents but also the light and joy of all generations of Christians. Already in Christian antiquity, St. Gregory of Nyssa wrote verses that still show us today the beauty of the Virgin Mary: Gently beautiful. She lives in seclusion. She resembles her shyness and tenderness. Unassuming. She behaves modestly. She gratefully accepts whatever the day brings her. Worrying about the next moment does not weigh on her mind. She is free. She touches the ground lightly. The richness of her soul looks out of her eyes. With her whole being, she sings thanksgiving and love to God. Despite the distance of centuries, these verses testify to the tender love of the Christians of the early centuries for the Virgin Mary – how gracious they imagined her to be.

The Eastern Fathers call the Nativity of the Virgin Mary “the dawning of the new world which God has willed from eternity.” Before the way to this new world was opened to us by the birth of Christ from the Virgin Mary, before the Lord Jesus offered the ransom sacrifice for the world’s salvation, the Virgin Mary lived a tough life of faith. And we seldom realize this unless we know well the life of the Nazarene family and the life of the Virgin Mary. The Holy Father, Blessed John Paul II, of blessed memory, in his Marian encyclical “Redemptoris Mater,” writes that in the years of Jesus’ life hidden in the house of Nazareth, Mary’s life is also “with Christ hidden in God” through faith. A mother encounters the truth of her Son only in confidence and, above all, with conviction. Yes, Mary is blessed because she believed.

Let us try to imagine how the secret life of the Lord and His purified Mother Mary unfolded at home in Nazareth. Do you think the Lord Jesus was saying to His mother, “You know, Mom, I am the Son of God, in heaven, it looks like so-and-so, such and such will happen?” No, we must not mistakenly believe that the Lord Jesus made such or similar speeches. He lived like any ordinary child and like an average young person. And His Mother Mary certainly felt, but she was experiencing particular anguish of heart with the night of faith. And that faith crystallized in the “night” brought Our Lady to the pinnacle of holiness. Herein lies her greatness and personal merit. And here is also the path for each of us. We can say that thanks to Our Lady, we can be “born twice.” Like the exiled sons of Eve, we are born to die in the old world. But thanks to Our Lady, who gave us Christ the Redeemer, we are born again in Holy Baptism as beloved children of God – born for a new world. And this can be repeated many times in our lives, namely when we die again because of grave sin. The Lord Jesus confirmed this. Let us recall the parable of the prodigal son: He was dead and is alive again – that is: born again.

Thanks to Our Lady, we have the possibility of beginning again if we follow the way of faith. God, in His infinite mercy, gives us the chance of new birth. We do not need to believe in reincarnation to undo our previous lives, for we have come to know the great mysteries of salvation. That’s a beautiful thing. This is a fantastic wonder of the grace and love of God! Friends of God, we know from Jesus’ parable that the householder comes to hire laborers for his vineyard, even an hour before the end. And therefore, even one who will work only a short time in life can receive the same eternal reward. And we must not envy, for God is infinitely benevolent. And all this has been made possible by the most blessed Virgin and Mother of God, Mary. The beginning of the whole work of God is in her birth. Yes, Mary, from you, the Sun of eternal salvation has risen for us, the night has fled from the radiance of its light, the virtues of unearthly beauty have grown, and the whole earth has blossomed with new life. Blessed is the fruit of thy life – intercede for us always with thy Son!