Behold Your Mother, A Bouquit of Love to Mary From Her Childrens

This month, with our Mary Moments carnival, we're celebrating the birthday of Mary, the Blessed Mother. We're a bit late with it - the Church calendar has September 8 as the official observance. I'm pretty sure, though, that Mary won't mind. (In fact, if she's my mom, she's going to be delighted that we remembered!) We're going to keep things simple - no artwork this month. It's not a diss to our Mother; it's a way of letting the feast speak for itself.

This birthday is special for who it honors, but also for the fact that, in the Church calendar, there is only one other saint whose birthday is celebrated (John the Baptist on June 24). We don't know much about the Blessed Mother's birth - we don't find anything about her young life or her parents in Scripture - but we do know that it was miraculous, because she was conceived without sin. She had to be, you see, because she was going to be the Mother of God! (But, though God had intended her to be the Mother of His Son, she still had to say yes.)

So put on your party hat, and let's pause for a prayer before we kick off our birthday celebration.

Thy birth, O Virgin Mother of God,
heralded joy to all the world.
For from thou hast risen the Sun of justice,
Christ our God.

Destroying the curse, He gave blessing;
and damning death, He bestowed on us
life everlasting.

Blessed art thou among women
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.
For from thou hast risen of Sun of justice,
Christ our God.
                                                               From Morning Prayer in the Divine Office