The Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, September 8, 2020

Matthew1:18-23

This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the Holy Spirit. Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means “God is with us.”

The most ancient tradition of the Birth of the Virgin Mary comes from a document sometimes called the Proto-Gospel of James.  The identity of the author is unclear.  The document itself seems to have been composed in the East between the years 60 and 1oo A.D.  It is quoted or referred to by some of the earliest Fathers, such as Clement of Alexandria.  It provides us with the names of the Virgin’s parents, Joachim and Anne, and tells us of the time she spent in the temple in Jerusalem, which is celebrated by the Feast of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary, on November 21.  The story, in brief, tells of how the childless yet devout couple of Joachim and Anne pray for a child, and Anne receives a visit from an angel promising that her child would be “spoken of by all the world.”  Anne replies that she will dedicate her child to the service of God.  At the time of the birth of her child, Anne asked the midwife whether it was a boy or a girl. When the midwife responded that it was a girl, Anne answered, “This day has God magnified my soul.”  Since this book is not considered canonical Scripture, we do not have to uphold it as accurately reporting on the actual events it contains, but in the opening chapters in which these events are described, nothing esoteric or heretical appears, lending, lending them credibility.  Certainly, the medieval Christians accepted the book as history.  And although a certain folktale style permeates the work, it is not so different from, say, the canonically received Book of Tobit.  The Feast celebrating the Virgin Mary’s birth originated in the East some time following the Council of Ephesus in 431, which proclaimed, in opposition to a heresy denying the divinity of Christ, that she was the Theotokos, that is, the “God-bearer” — the Mother of God.

The translation of the Gospel reading for this Feast is somewhat problematical, to go by the opinions of the two greatest biblical scholars of ancient times, Origen and St. Jerome.  That is, the modern translation reflects a point of view that these men contested even in their own time: that St. Joseph suspected the Virgin Mary, his espoused wife, of committing adultery, and that he planned, essentially, to abandon her.  Both of these scholars offer a very different way of reading the text.  For instance the verse translated as, “Joseph her husband . . . unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly.”  By considering the context of these words and considering what the words really mean, we can also translate it as, “Joseph her husband . . . not wishing to publicly lead her to his home [as the final part of the wedding celebration], decided to release her [from the marriage agreement] privately.”  Let me quote from my own translation of St. Thomas Aquinas’ commentary on the Gospel of St. Matthew: “According to Jerome and Origen, he [Joseph] did not suspect adultery.  Joseph knew the chastity of Mary.  He read in the Scriptures that a virgin would conceive, as it is written in Isaiah 7, 14.  And from Isaiah 11, 1: A rod shall come forth from the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up from his root, he also knew that Mary was descended from the line of David.  It was, in fact, easier for him to believe that this [prophecy] was fulfilled in her than that she had committed fornication.  Accounting himself unworthy to live with such sanctity, he wished to send her away secretly, as Peter said, Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man (Luke 5, 8).  He did not wish to make a public display of her – leading her to his house and taking her as his wife, accounting himself unworthy.”

We give thanks to Almighty God for the gift to the human race of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who brought into the world his own Son.  No one but him ever walked the earth with as much virtue, grace, and love of God.

Bestow upon Your servants, we beseech You, O Lord, the gift of heavenly grace, that, as the child-bearing of the Blessed Virgin stood for the beginning of our salvation, so may the solemn feast of her Nativity bring about an increase of peace.  Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end.  Amen.