Click here to learn about the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Only three birthdays are celebrated on the Church’s liturgical calendar: the Nativity of Our Lord (December 25), the Nativity of His forerunner, John the Baptist (June 24), and the Nativity of His Mother on September 8. Thus, the Church uniquely honors the three principal figures connected to the Incarnation and the Redemption.

Solemnities, Feasts, and Memorials are days which are celebrated in commemoration of the sacred mysteries and events recorded in the history of our redemption, in memory of the Virgin Mother of Christ, or of His apostles, martyrs, and saints.

About the image: El Nacimiento de la Virgen, an oil on canvas by Alessandro Turchi (1578-1649), and part of the Museo del Prado collection.