Announcing a Novena for the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Announcing a Novena for the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Begins 30 August
In preparation for the Feast on 8 September

Many days passed before God finally completed the masterpiece of His creation. For nine months, the soul of Mary had given form to her virginal body and the hour of her happy birth approached. As the suffocating Palestinian summer neared its end, the mellowing sun poured abundant torrents of golden light on the opulent plain of Samaria, ripening the rich orchards of autumn fruit . On a magnificent September day, with nature adorned in radiant beauty, the most Holy Virgin came into the world in the white-walled city of Nazareth.

She was probably born in the same house where the great mystery of the Incarnation later took place and where Jesus spent most of His childhood and youth in work and prayer. The angels did not acclaim the coming of the glorious Queen with hymns of joy as they later did the birth of the Saviour . Invisible to the eyes of mortal men, the angels considered it an honour to mount guard around the humble crib over which Saints Joachim and Anne lovingly watched. The prophecy of Isaias had come to pass. The root of Jesse, ten centuries removed, had sprouted a new branch. On this same branch in but a few years more, would blossom the eternal Flower, the Incarnate Word.