Wish your Momma a happy birthday!

The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Today is the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary - a fancy way of saying that today is Mary's birthday. It probably won't come as a surprise to say that Mary's birthday is one of only three birthdays on the Church's calendar. (The other two are John the Baptist and... Jesus -- of course!)

All of our traditions concerning Mary's birth (including the names of her parents: Anna and Joachim), come from two ancient, extra-biblical texts: the Gospel of the Nativity of Mary and the Proto-evangelium of James. Today's celebration, then, is a great example of how, while we recognize that some of our ancient traditions are not rooted in infallible Scripture, they can be valuable and can strengthen our devotional life as Christians.

Additionally, of interest to Mississippi Catholics, the cathedral for the Diocese of Biloxi is named in honor of today's feast. So, to all of our readers from the Biloxi Diocese, SFC wishes you a happy name day!

How can you honor Mary today? How about praying the rosary? If you want to join some other students who are doing just that, you can join their "Rosary walk" this evening.

The Rosary walk will be held each Thursday night, starting at 6:30pm at the main pavilion at Pat Lamar Park. If you want to carpool there, some of the students will be meeting at 6:15 in front of the Honor's College on campus. Hope you can join them!