Papu Village

Mary is our Mother, and her birthday is important for all her children. Blessed Cardinal Ildefons Schuster wrote, "As the first Eve was drawn from the side of Adam, all radiant with life and innocence, so Mary, glorious and Immaculate, came out from the heart of the eternal Word who, by the work of the Holy Spirit, as the liturgy teaches us, wanted Himself to shape that body and that soul which one day had to serve Him as tabernacle and alter. This, therefore, is the sublime meaning of the feast of the nativity of the Blessed Mother." Her birth brightened the prospect of the entire human race that dwelt in the shadow of death. She is the hope and the dawn of salvation for the whole world. Her birth is a salvific event because she was inseparably associated with the birth of the Saviour- Emmanuel, God with us.

St. Andrew of Crete says "Let the whole creating sing praise and dance and unite to celebrate the glorious of her birthday. Today let there be a common feast of those in heaven and those on earth. Let everything that is, in the world and above the world, join together in rejoicing. For today a shrine is built for the Creator of the universe. The creature is newly made ready as a divine dwelling for the Creator." She was born of the royal race of David, and through her the salvation of the world was made manifest. From her rose up the Sun of justice, Jesus the Lord.

Let us ask Mary, the greatest girl child ever born, to help all to understand the value and beauty of every girl, and to guide us in nurturing and educating every girl child in the spirit of equality, justice and love.