SCRIPTURE CORNER NATIVITY OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

JOY OF THE WHOLE WORLD

"Today is the birthday of the holy Virgin Mary, whose glorious life sheds light on all Churches."
"With joy, let us celebrate the birthday of blessed Mary, that she may intercede for us with our Lord Jesus Christ."

Such are two of the antiphons for this feast. The joy and happiness of which these texts are full are the mark are the mark proper to all devotion to our Lady, not only in the liturgical texts, but in the many prayers and hymns by which Christian tradition, from generation to generation, has honoured her.
Mary, whose heart like no other, was full of the "good news", is the source of our happiness, the cause of our joy. "O joyful Maid, glory of all those who rejoice, obtain for me a share in the bliss of your Son, the bliss that never ceases, through all eternity".Organum Mariae of 1440.
The feast of the Nativitiy of Our Lady bears, more than any other, the mark of joy. The reason is given us in the antiphon for the Magnificat: "Thy birth, O Virgin Mary, proclaimed joy for the whole world, for them thee did dawn the Sun of Justice"
St. John Damascene, in a sermon for today's feast, says, "Now the salvation of the world begins, Let the whole world rejoice in the Lord. Sing and jubilate, and let the cords of the cithar resound. The Mother of God is born, who will bring forth the Lamb that takes away the sins of the world!"
The extension of this feast in the West is founded on a legend, as rich in meaning as in joy. For a long time, the date of Mary's birth was unknown. For several consecutive years, a holy man in his meditation on September 8th became aware of an extraordinary joy among angels in heaven. he humbly prayed that bthe cause of that joy might be revealed to him, and was answered that it was the day of Mary's birth, and was hidden to tell mankind that on this day earth must share in the jjoy of heaven.
Denis the Carthusian shed a joyous light over the feast when, on this same day, recalling the legend, he said, "The Church celebrates three birthdays: that of John the Bptist, that of Mary, and that of Christ. John, who first preached Christ openly, was the morning star whichh precedes the rising of the sun, Mary was the dawn, Christ, in whom the glory of the Father appeared, was the sunrise."
What in Mary was the cause of our joy was also the cause of her own. That is why all Marial hymns and antiphons repeat,"Gaudate et laetare!" Rejoice and be glad
Mary herself confessed her joy when in her Magnificat she sang, "My spirit has found joy in God my Saviour." The Church follows her: "Glorious Virgin, joy to thee!" "O Queen of heaven, rejoice; thou the joy of Israel"

REJOICE, MOTHER OF GOD AND IMMACULATE VIRGIN.
REJOICE, YOU WHO BORE HIM WHO IS THE JOY OF ANGELS.
REJOICE, YOU WHO GIVEN BIRTH TO LIGHT ETERNAL!
REJOICE, O MOTHER! REJOICE, O MAID!

Many texts in the Eastern Liturgy ended in a call to rejoice. The "Organum Mariae sings:

REJOICE, THOU FULL OF GRACE!
REJOICE, FOUNTAIN OF THE WATER OF LIFE!
REJOICE, BRANCH OF THE VINE ON WHICH THE BLESSED GRAPE RIPENED, THE FRUIT OF GLORY!
REJOICE, TABERNACLE OF LIGHT!
REJOICE, GOLDEN CENSER, THAT WAS FILLED WITH THE FIRE OF THE DIVINITY!
REJJOICE, O HEAVEN, THRONE OF THE SUN OF JUSTICE!
REJOICE, FIELD OF GOD, IN WHICH THE SEED GERMED.

O Mary, happiest and most joyful of mothers, with what fervour we celebrate your birthday, rejoicing in your jjoy. Cause of our joy, let us share in yours here on earth; obtain for us, by your intercession, the jjoy that is eternal, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

after "With the Church - Meditations on Topics from Missal and Breviary" edited by Fr Mathias Goossens, OFM