This is one of the most ancient Marian feasts. It is thought that this feast originated in connection with the Feast of the dedication of a church dedicated to Mary, now the Church of St Ann, in Jerusalem in the 6th century. Tradition holds that this is where the house of Mary’s parents, Joachim and Ann, stood and where she would have been born. The Feast began to be celebrated in Rome in the 8th century with Pope Sergius I ( + 8 September 701). It is the third such feast of a “nativity” on the Roman Calendar: the Nativity of Jesus, the Son of God (Christmas); the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist (24 June); and the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (8 September). Nothing can be found in the Gospels to confirm this feast. They do not even give the names of her parents, which are based on a tradition that stems from the 2nd century Protoevangelium (apocryphal) Gospel of James. The primary event in Mary’s life always remains the Annunciation. The Church looks on her as the Mother of God, but even more so as the disciple who can best offer us an example and model of the Christian life. In her faith, in her obedience to her Son, in the way she made herself a neighbor toward her cousin Elizabeth and to the couple in Cana on their wedding day, Mary is the woman to imitate especially in the trust shown during the darkest moments in the life of Jesus, her Son. Here, and in many other moments, she explains why the people of God know they can find their refuge and comfort, help and protection in her. In Milan, evidence of the celebration of this feast dates back to the 10th century.
