On September 8 the Catholic Church will celebrate the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The birth of Virgin Mary was also miraculous. She was conceived without sin as a special grace because God had selected her to become the mother of His Son.
Her parents are not named in the canonical New Testament; however Church tradition and early non-biblical writings name her parents as Joachim and Anne.
The source for the story of the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary is the Protoevangelium of James, an apocryphal gospel written about A.D. 150. According to this account, Joachim and Anna were also beyond the years of child-bearing, but prayed and fasted that God would grant their desire for a child. They receive the promise of a child that will advance God’s plan of salvation for the world. Such a story (like many biblical counterparts) stresses the special presence of God in Mary’s life from the beginning.
Happy Birthday Mama Mary!
