Happy Birthday to the Mother of God!

Today the Catholic and Orthodox Churches celebrate the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary–God’s gift to mankind:

“Your Nativity, O Virgin Mother of God, was the herald of joy to the whole world; since from you arose the Sun of Justice, Christ our God, who, destroying the curse, bestowed the blessing, and confounding death, rewarded us with life everlasting.” – Marian Antiphon for Sept. 8