On September 8th the church celebrates the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In the liturgical calendar of the Church only three persons have this distinction: St. John the Baptist, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and Jesus Christ himself.
Much can be said about the reasons for this but principally, by becoming the mother of the God-Man, Mary became the mother of God. On this extraordinary blessing, all other honors and titles of Mary depend.
When Bernadette of Lourdes was granted a vision of Mary, Bernadette asked the lady who she was. Mary replied, "I am the Immaculate Conception." She did not say, "I was immaculately conceived." By saying "I am the Immaculate Conception," she clearly states, "Immaculate Conception is my name: that is who I am."
When the Archangel Gabriel came to Mary at the Annunciation, he said, "Hail" or "Greetings, Full of Grace." Not, "Hail, Mary, you are full of grace." Gabriel was a messenger of God sent to Mary. His salutation, therefore, was not the name he, Gabriel, conferred upon her, but the name given by God, himself.
Something analogous to this appears in Matthew's Gospel when Simon answered Jesus by saying "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.! Jesus replied, "Blest are you, Simon son of John! No mere man has revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. I for my part declare to you, you are 'Rock', and on this rock I will build my church, and the jaws of death shall not prevail against it. Mt 16:16-19." At this moment, Simon became Peter. He is also referred to as "Simon Peter," but Peter is his name. On his own authority, Jesus confers the name "Rock" or "Peter on Simon. The Archangel Gabriel, as messenger of God addressed Mary by the name conferred by God, "Full of Grace."
What does "Full of Grace" mean? In the encyclical letter of John Paul II, Mother of the Redeemer, he writes, "In the language of the Bible "grace" means a special gift, which according to the New Testament has its source precisely in the Trinitarian life of God himself, God who is love (cf. 1 Jn. 4:8)."
Mary's role in the mystery of the Incarnation, the sublime event when the Eternal Son of God became man: true God and true man, (having two natures in one being), is unique in all creation. In the eternal plan of God, His plan for the salvation of the world, Mary was chosen "before the foundation of the world" and, as the Second Vatican Council said of her, she "stands out among the poor and humble of the Lord, who confidently await and receive salvation from him." Lumen Gentium, 55.
It is Mary, the mother of the Saviour of the world, whose birth we joyfully celebrate today!
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