MARY, OUR MOTHER

The Nativity of Our Lady
by Andrea di Bartolo

THE NATIVITY OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

"For she is more beautiful than the sun, and above all the order of the stars: being compared with the light, she is found before it." (Wisdom 7: 29)

There's a wonderful story in Jan Connell's book "Visions of the Children": In the first few days of the Apparitions, the Blessed Mother was most gracious about the fear of the six visionaries, and gentle about the personal suffering each was enduring. She told the Children: “Would you Children like to give me some presents?” [To celebrate Her Birthday] Jacov sorrowfully blurted, “Dear Blessed Mother, I don’t have any money!” The Blessed Mother smiled joyfully and said: “Oh Jacov, my dearest little one, you don’t need money for my birthday presents! Tonight when you go home, no matter what your feelings tell you, no matter how you are stimulated, rather than speak the pain in your heart, run outside and look at the heavens and cry out, ‘Its all for the love of you, Dear Jesus.’”

Mirjana said the next evening at the Apparition, the Blessed Mother thanked Jacov for his gifts from the previous evening. By the time the Blessed Mother’s birthday arrived, Mirjana said that Jacov “was just bursting”. He had billions of presents for the Blessed Mother! High-strung and nervous by nature, young Jacov could hardly contain himself during the long rosary prayers that preceded the Apparition. Finally the moment came. The great flashes of light announced the arrival of the Queen of Heaven and Earth. As Jacov saw her he literally reached up and grabbed at the Mother of God as he cried out. “Happy Birthday, Dear Blessed Mother!” Realising what he had done, Jacov fell on the floor in shame and fear. Mirjana said she saw the Blessed Mother tenderly lean down and pick him up as she took his little nail-bitten hand in hers and kissed it.

Are we remembering that our Mother Mary's birthday is celebrated by the Church throughout the world on September 8th? Are we planning to give her a present too? Have we already picked a present that will please her? Have we some way to give it to Her?

All mothers are alike. When you were a young child, didn't your mother give you the money to buy her a present? The Mother of us all will be glad to pay for the present we wish to give Her, and she will enjoy it!

Why not give Her some gems and jewels? We say you can't afford such a gift. We can. We can give Her the jewel of modesty: purity of thought and word and action; these are precious gems; but we have to beg them from our Blessed Mother. Let us ask Her to give them to us so that, in turn, we can give them to Her as a gift on Her birthday.

Us parents; God has given us our children as precious gifts, why not offer them to Mother Mary on Her birthday, She will mold them into images of Jesus and Herslf; and make them Saints. I do this every day with my prayers saying: "I bind my children to the Immaculate Heart of Mary." When my daughter Elizabeth was baptized, we asked the priest to consecrate her to Mother Mary. He took us to a side altar of Our Lady and before her statue consecrated Elizabeth to Mary's Immaculate Heart. Whatever happens, I know that Our Lady will take care of my children's souls and lead them to heaven. Our Mother promises this, so never give up on your children!

Some other gifts that we could give to Our Blessed Mother are:
A handkerchief for Her tears; uniting our own tears of sorrow, disappointment, pain, and misunderstanding with Our Lady's Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart caused by the sins of the world.
A charming dress called humility, asking Mother Mary to give us the material we need to make us humble, modeled after her deep humility.
A pair of gloves; gloves for our hands that we used to do works of charity, deeds of kindness, love and devotion; Good Works! How She will love this gift!
Flowers. Mary loves flowers. She has asked us to adorn the Tabernacles where Her Dear Son, Jesus, waits for us to adore His True Presence, with flowers and candles. And praying the garland of flowers, the circlet of roses, the Holy Rosary, is a special gift from God the Father for Mother Mary; a gift we can present to Her every day of our lives!
And finally, the best gift of all! Holy Mass and Holy Communion! Why not be there on September 8th, to honor Our Lady's Birthday and present all these gifts to her in person. She is always present at Mass, just like She stood at the foot of the Cross at Calvary. She will always be next to Her Divine Son, Jesus, interceding for us from the moment we are born to the moment we die!

Happy Birthday, Mother Mary!
Deacon John