The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Feast
- Feast Day
- September 8
The Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary celebrates the birth of the Mother of God, falling exactly nine months after the Solemnity of her Immaculate Conception (8 December). The feast originated in the East, where it was kept by the sixth century, and was introduced at Rome in the seventh century, possibly by Pope Sergius I (687-701), who instituted four Marian processional feasts.
Sacred Scripture does not record Mary's birth. The feast draws on the long tradition transmitted through the second-century Protoevangelium of James, which names her parents Joachim and Anne, while the Church reads no canonical history into the apocryphal narratives. The liturgy itself focuses not on legend but on the mystery: the dawn announcing the rising of the Sun of Justice, as the entrance antiphon proclaims.
Along with the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist (24 June) and the Nativity of the Lord (25 December), this is one of only three birthdays celebrated in the Roman Calendar. Each marks a person whom the Church holds was sanctified before birth: the Lord at his conception, John in the womb at the Visitation, and Mary in her Immaculate Conception.
The Nativity of Mary is the dawn that prepares the day of Christ. The Catechism teaches that from the first instant of her conception Mary was preserved free from original sin, and her birth into the world is the threshold between the long expectation of Israel and the imminent fulfillment of the promise. The feast is observed as a Feast (festum) on the General Roman Calendar.
Catholic Churches Named After The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
20 parishes on Catholic Church Times share The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary's name. Find their Mass times, confession schedules, and adoration hours:
- The Nativity, Aberfoyle Park — Aberfoyle Park, SA
- Our Lady of the Nativity — Las Navas, NORTHERN SAMAR
- Our Lady of the Nativity, Hamley Bridge — Hamley Bridge, SA
- Church of the Nativity — Lutherville, MD
- Church of the Nativity (Prince of Peace Parish) — Bethlehem, CT
- The Church of the Nativity at St. Leo's — Tully, NY
- Church of the Nativity — Midland Park, NJ
- Catholic Church of the Nativity — Bartlett, TN
- St. Mary's of the Nativity — Nassau, NY
- St. Mary of the Nativity — Marshall, WI
- Chapel of the Nativity - Parish of the Assumption — Barrington, NH
- Church of the Nativity — Dubuque, IA
- Parish of the Nativity — Eagle Lake, TX
- St. Mary of the Nativity — Salinas, CA
- The Cathedral Parish of the Nativity of Our Lady
- Chapel of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary — Quezon City
- Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary — Biloxi, MS
- Parish of the Nativity
- The Church of the Nativity — DIEGO MARTIN
- Church of the Nativity — Spring Hill, TN
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