Written By: John Dye
Column: Reflection of the Month
Issue: Set to Appear in the October Issue of the Newsletter
“By your nativity, O most pure Virgin, Joachim and Anna are freed from barrenness; Adam and Eve from the corruption of death. And we, your people, freed from the guilt of sin, celebrate and sing to you: The barren woman gives birth to the Theotokos, the Nourisher of our Life.” (Kontakion of the Nativity of the Theotokos)
Every year on the 8th of September, the above hymn is sung from thousands of Churches around the world. The occasion for this ubiquitous exclamation is the miraculous birth of the Mother of God. While not officially recorded in the Bible, the story of Mary’s nativity has been handed down through strong tradition and apocryphal narrative.
Many years before the birth of Christ, an elderly Jewish couple wept that they were barren. As their tears dropped to the ground, their prayers climbed to God. He blessed them with a child, whom they dedicated to the Lord when she turned three. This child was Mary. Little did the parents know that the girl sent by God would grow up to be so virtuous, so perfect, and so righteous that she would be deemed worthy to be the mother of the Messiah.
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