Saints + Scripture: Feast of the Nativity of Mary

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'Tis the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (circa 15 B.C.): Madonna-link ūna, Madonna-link duæ, Madonna-link tria, & Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: Wayback Machine. Quoth Minute Meditations from the Popes:

Dear Jesus, today we celebrate the feast of the Birth of Your Mother Mary. Help me to imitate her so that my soul will glorify the Lord & my spirit will rejoice in God my Savior.

Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
The Book of Micah, chapter five, verses one thru four(a);
or, the Letter to the Romans, chapter eight, verses twenty-eight, twenty-nine, & thirty;
Psalm Thirteen (R/. the Book of Isaiah, chapter sixty-one, verse ten), verses six(a/b), six(c);
The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter one, verses one thru sixteen & eighteen thru twenty-three
(or, the Gospel according to Matthew, chapter one, verses eighteen thru twenty-three).

Commentary: Gospel reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire):

Friends, today we celebrate the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. And our Gospel declares that she will be the Mother of Jesus who would be “God with us.”

Mary is a rich and multivalent symbolic figure in all of the Gospels. In Luke’s infancy narrative, she emerges as the spokesperson for ancient Israel, speaking, in her Magnificat, in the words and cadences of Hannah.

In Matthew’s Christmas account, she is compelled to go into exile in Egypt and is then called back to her home, recapitulating thereby the journey of Israel from slavery to freedom. She is thus the symbolic embodiment of faithful and patient Israel, longing for deliverance.

In John’s Gospel, she is, above all, mother—the physical mother of Jesus and, through him, the mother of all who would come to new life in him. As mother of the Lord, she is, once again, Israel, that entire series of events and system of ideas from which Jesus emerged and in terms of which he alone becomes intelligible. Hans Urs von Balthasar commented in the same vein that Mary effectively awakened the messianic consciousness of Jesus through her recounting of the story of Israel to her son.

Video reflection by Father John M. McKenzie (U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops): Daily Reflection.

Video reflection by Rob Corzine (St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology): Daily Reflection.

'Tis also the festival of Saint Disibod, Bishop & Abbot (circa 619-700, A.K.A. Disen), founding bishop-abbot of the Disibodenberg Monastery (653, A.K.A. Disenberg): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Disibodenberg.

'Tis also the festival of Saint Sergius I, Pope (circa 650-701), eighty-fourth (LXXXIV) Bishop of Rome (687-701), foe of the invalid Quinisext Council (692) who added the Angus Dei to the Mass: Saint-link ūnus, Saint-link duo, & Wikipedia-link; Pontifex-link & Wikipedia-link Pontifex; & Wikipedia-link Quinisext & Wikipedia-link Angus Dei.

'Tis also the festival of Saint Corbinian, Bishop (circa 670-730, A.K.A. Waldegiso), missionary bishop at Freising (724-730) before the formal erection of the diocese (739): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Freising.

'Tis also the festival of Saint Seraphina Sforza, Abbess, O.S.C. (circa 1432-1478, A.K.A. Sveva da Montefeltro), abbess of the monastery at Pesaro (1475-1478): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link.

'Tis also the festival of Blessed Adam Bargielski, Priest & Martyr (1903-1942), martyred in the reign of the Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler, one of the One Hundred Eight Blessed Polish Martyrs: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link; Martyrs-link Polska & Wikipedia-link Polska.

Papal Quote o' the Day

"Mary, accepting the will of the Father, opens the path of salvation & makes it possible—through the presence of the Kingdom of God—for His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. Mary, proclaiming the faithfulness of God for all generations, assures the victory of the poor & the lowly."
—Pope St. John Paul II the Great (1920-2005, r. 1978-2005; feast: 22 October)

Saint Quote o' the Day

"May the mother of Jesus & our mother, always smile on your spirit, obtaining for it, from her most holy Son, every heavenly blessing."
—St. Pius of Pietrelcina, O.F.M. Cap. (1887-1968, feast: 23 September)

Mother Teresa Quote o' the Day

"Give Jesus a big smile each time your nothingness frightens you. Just keep the joy of Jesus as your strength—be happy & at peace accept whatever He gives or takes with a big smile."
—St. Teresa of Calcutta, M.C. (1910-1997, feast: 5 September)