September 8: Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

A tradition which comes from the apocryphal gospels tells that the parents of the Virgin Mary were childless. When their prayer was heard, and Mary was born, her parents brought her to the Temple where she passed her days up to the time when she was engaged to Joseph. Today the Church honors Mary, who is blessed among women, and considers this day as the beginning of our salvation in her Son, Jesus Christ. The name, “Mary”, comes from Aramaic and signifies either “the elevated one” or “queen of the sea”. May the prayers of the Virgin, our Queen, protect us. Amen.

Synaxarion for the Birth of the Virgin, Maronite Prayer of the Faithful.