The Madonna’s Birthday: Was She Born on 5 August or 8 September?

The birthday of the Madonna: 5 August or 8 September? Let’s discover when and why the Church celebrates the Nativity of Mary, Mother of Jesus.

It is never easy to imagine what the lives of the protagonists of Christian history might have been like. If we think of the lives of the Saints, we can draw on numerous hagiographic and historical documents, which become increasingly numerous and comprehensive the closer we come to our own era. Some Saints, such as Saint Augustine, to name just one, have told the story of their own human and spiritual journey directly in their most famous writings. But things become more complicated when we pause to reflect on the lives of Jesus, the Madonna, and other figures central to the Gospels. Although the Gospels themselves provide us with precious information to reconstruct events, it is also true that some parts of their lives are completely left out, or almost so. Think of the lost years of Jesus, those years of His childhood and youth before He began to preach.

Even in the case of the Virgin Mary, it is difficult to reconstruct the events of her life after the Annunciation and the birth of Jesus, up to that fateful day at the foot of the Cross on Calvary. For example, have you ever wondered when the Madonna’s birthday is? We have previously dwelt on the figure of Saint Anne, Mary’s mother, and on Saint Joachim, her father, but it is important for Christians to reflect on the Nativity of the Madonna herself, celebrated on 8 September, for her role in being and remaining over time the symbol of a renewed covenant between God and mankind, a new Eve come to wash away Original Sin and carry within her own womb the Salvation for all. Blessed among women, just as Eve was cursed by God for her disobedience.

Why do we sometimes hear the 5th of August referred to as the Madonna’s birthday? As we have written, the Nativity of the Virgin is celebrated on 8 September, but the choice of this date is purely conventional, as there are no precise indications regarding the date of the Madonna’s birth. The main reason this date was chosen is that it coincides with the feast of the dedication of the Basilica of Saint Anne in Jerusalem, built in the 4th century AD on the site where the house of Mary’s parents once stood. It is here that still today, every year on 8 September, the Franciscans of the Custody of the Holy Land – the Franciscan Order that since the beginning of the 13th century has been responsible for promoting and encouraging pilgrimages to the Holy Places – celebrate the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Initially celebrated only in the East, the feast of the Nativity of Mary was later introduced in the West by Pope Sergius I in the 7th century AD.

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However, there are other traditions that associate the Madonna’s birthday with different dates. For example, on 5 August the feast of Our Lady of the Snows is celebrated. She is said to have appeared during the night of 4 August in the year 352 AD to a Roman patrician named John and his wife, and asked them to build a basilica in her name at the place where snow would fall the following day. And indeed, that August, snow did fall on the Esquiline Hill, and here, faithful to the promise made, John and his wife built what would become the Basilica of Saint Mary Major.

The Madonna’s Birthday in Medjugorje

The Madonna’s birthday is also celebrated on 5 August in Medjugorje. It is said that the Virgin herself indicated this date to the visionaries as her birthday, during the apparition of 1 August 1984, asking that three days of prayer and fasting be offered in preparation:
“On the next 5 August, the second millennium of my birth will be celebrated. On that day God allows me to grant you special graces and to give the world a special blessing. I ask you to prepare yourselves intensely with three days dedicated exclusively to me. During those days do not work. Take your rosary and pray. Fast on bread and water. Throughout all these centuries I have dedicated myself completely to you: is it too much if I now ask you to dedicate at least three days to me?”

The same date is said to have been indicated by the Madonna to other holy men during various apparitions.

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The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary According to the Church

The Church therefore recognises 8 September as the conventional date of Mary’s Nativity, and although devotion to the Child Mary has always existed, in 1572 Charles Borromeo consecrated the Cathedral of Milan, then nearing completion, precisely to the “Nascent Mary.”

Also in Milan, in 1720, the devotion to the Child Mary is said to have originated, linked to a small wax figure representing the newborn Madonna who was the protagonist of a miraculous healing. It was donated by the Franciscan nun Sister Chiara Isabella Fornari to the Capuchin Sisters of Saint Mary of the Angels. Still today, the sisters of the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of Lovere in Milan are called the Sisters of the Child Mary.

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Prayer to the Child Mary

We now present the Novena to the Child Mary, which grants partial indulgence once a day to those who recite it:

Holy Child of the royal lineage of David, Queen of the Angels, Mother of grace and love, I greet you with all the affection of my heart. Obtain for me from the Lord the grace to love Him with generous fidelity all the days of my life and grant me a most tender devotion to you, who are the Firstborn of Divine Love.
(Hail Mary,…)

O heavenly Little One, who like a white dove came into the world Immaculate and beautiful, my soul exults before You, true marvel of the wisdom and goodness of God. Unblemished and pure, help me to guard jealously, at the cost of any sacrifice, the angelic virtue of holy purity.
(Hail Mary,…)

Hail, gracious and Holy Child, spiritual paradise of delights where, on the day of the Incarnation, the true Tree of Life, the Saviour of the world, was planted. Since You love me so much, help me to flee and detest the poisoned fruits of worldly vanities and pleasures. Inspire in my soul the thoughts, affections, and virtues of Your Divine Son, most sweet fruits of immortal life.
(Hail Mary,…)

Hail, admirable Little One, enclosed garden, impenetrable to creatures, open only to the heavenly Spouse who delights in resting among the flowers of your exalted virtues. O lily of Paradise, marvellous example of a humble and hidden life: grant that the heavenly Spouse may always find the door of my heart open to the loving visits of His graces and inspirations.
(Hail Mary,…)

O Holy Child, mystical dawn, happy gate of Heaven, in You my soul trusts and hopes. How deep is my tepidity in the service of God! How great is the danger of my damnation! O powerful Advocate, from your little cradle stretch out your kind hand, awaken me from my painful lethargy, sustain me on the path of life… Grant that I may dedicate myself to the service of the Lord with fervour and perseverance until death, and so attain the eternal crown.
(Hail Mary,…)

But there are many prayers linked to the Nativity of Mary, to be recited on the occasion of the Madonna’s birthday or whenever one feels the need:

“O Most Holy Mary, chosen and destined to be the Mother of the Only-Begotten Son of the Father, foretold by the Prophets, awaited by the Patriarchs and desired by all peoples, shrine and living temple of the Holy Spirit, spotless sun, because conceived without sin, Lady of Heaven and earth, Queen of Angels, we humbly prostrate ourselves before you and rejoice in the annual commemoration of your most happy birth.
We beg you to be spiritually born in our souls, so that, captivated by your loveliness and gentleness, they may always remain united to your sweetest and most lovable Heart.”

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