September 8, 2026
Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Gospel: Mt 1:1-16, 18-23 or Mt 1:18-23

Today is Tuesday of the Twenty-Third Week in Ordinary Time. Today the Church celebrates the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The recently published Roman Missal tells us: “Nothing is known for sure about the details of the Blessed Virgin’s birth. Her parents, traditionally known as St Joachim and St Anne, are not mentioned in Sacred Scripture. Today’s feast originated in the East, probably during the sixth century, and was later introduced to the West. A French legend tells of a man hearing angels singing on the night of September 8 and being told that the Virgin Mary had been born on that night. Her earthly birth is celebrated (much like that of St John the Baptist) because it announced to the world the coming of Jesus, the beginning of the New Covenant.”

Today, the passage taken from the Gospel of Saint Matthew gives us an account of the parents of Jesus and introduces to us what took place between Joseph and the Blessed Virgin Mary before the birth of Jesus. I would like to take this opportunity to offer some reflections.

If we turn to the Scriptures, we discover that the New Testament contains two genealogies of our Lord Jesus Christ: one recorded by Saint Matthew — which is the Gospel we read today — and the other by Saint Luke (Cf. Lk 3:23-38). Although the two genealogies differ, they both set forth the same origin of Christ. The genealogy recorded by Saint Matthew begins with Abraham, the servant of God, who is called the father of many nations, for God said to him: “I will indeed bless you and multiply your descendants beyond count, like the stars of heaven and the sands on the seashore. Your descendants shall take possession of the gates of their enemies, and in your descendants all the nations of the earth shall find blessing — because you have obeyed my word” (cf. Gn 22:17-18), so as to prove that Jesus is the Messiah whom God promised to his chosen people. The genealogy recorded by Luke begins with the first Adam, from whose rib God brought forth the first Eve (Cf. Gn 2:18-25), to show that Jesus is the Savior of all humanity. Thus, through the account of the Evangelists, we can catch a glimpse of how God, through his only Son, fulfills his promise to the world.

After presenting to us the lineage of Jesus, Matthew immediately sets before us the episode that took place between Saint Joseph and the Blessed Virgin Mary (Cf. Mt 1:18-23). In this episode we behold the obedience of Saint Joseph and the fulfillment of the prophecy of the Messiah spoken by the prophet Isaiah. The prophet says: “But a shot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom. The spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him: a spirit of wisdom and understanding, a spirit of counsel and strength, a spirit of knowledge and fear of the LORD” (Cf. Is 11:1-3). The prophecy of the prophet Jeremiah was likewise fulfilled through the obedience of Saint Joseph. The prophet says: “On those days, at that time, I will make a righteous shoot spring forth for David; he shall do what is just and right in the land. In those days Judah shall be saved, Jerusalem shall dwell secure; this is what shall be called: ‘The LORD our justice'” (Cf. Jer 33:15-16).

Today, on this Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, let us with one heart, together with the Blessed Virgin Mary, offer our prayer to God:

Impart to your servants, we pray, O Lord,
the gift of heavenly grace,
that the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin
may bring deeper peace
to those for whom the birth of her Son
was the dawning of salvation.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.

©Totus Tuus 2026
Cum Approbatione Ecclesiastica