Dear Father Angelo,

Please forgive me for a greeting and a question, today, 05.08.2023, regarding the alleged birthday of the Most Holy Virgin Mary which according to some private revelations not yet recognized by the Church of Rome would be today.

The one who is called Our Lady of Medjugorje would have said in a private revelation that Her dies natalis would be today and not the day that the Church of Rome usually considers as the day of the Nativity of the Most Holy Mary, that is, September 8.

Similar “testimonies” would have been recorded by the visionaries in Jacarei (Brazil) and by Maria de Agreda: I know all these things because in the years of confusion that I spoke to you about a few days ago I went to get curious about all these things as “revenge” for my sinful visions on the internet.

Now, assuming that the consideration of the birthday of the Most Holy Virgin Mary is August 5th and not September 8th and this is not a dogma of faith, at least according to what I understand, I would be pleased to have a clarification on this matter from you as soon as you have the availability to dedicate to me.

I greet you and thank you with respectful affection.

God bless you.

Pier Filippo

Priest’s answer

Dear Pier Filippo,

1. Neither the Gospels nor any other historical document report the date of the Nativity of Mary.

2. Blessed Jacopo da Varazze in his “Golden Legend” writes: “The day of the Blessed Virgin’s birth was unknown to the faithful for a long time. Then, as John Beleth tells it, there was a holy man, diligent in the practice of contemplation, who, every year on the eighth day of September, heard, as he prayed, the joyous choirs of angels chanting solemn paeans. He devoutly prayed to know why he heard this annually on this day and on no other. He received a response from God, that on this day the glorious Virgin Mary had been born to the world, and that he should make this known to the children of Holy Church so that they might join the court of heaven in celebrating her birthday. He passed this knowledge on to the supreme pontiff and others, and they, fasting and praying and searching the Scriptures and ancient documents to ascertain the truth, decreed that this day should be celebrated throughout the world in honor of holy Mary’s birth”.

This is a private revelation and Blessed Jacopo narrates it to present the only information handed down in the 13th century on the institution of this feast on September 8th.

3. Some think that this date was set following indications of the apocrypha, which however are not reliable.

4. Father Gabriele Amorth in his “Dialogues are Mary” asks: “On what day was the Virgin Mary born? September 8th? August 5th?”. 

And he answers: “The question is very modern, especially for those who follow private revelations that have had wide diffusion. Historically we cannot prove anything.

In ancient times the Nativity of Mary was celebrated on various dates, but always suggested by reasons of worship, not by historical reasons”. 

Of course it is an important celebration: only for Jesus, Mary and the Baptist does the liturgy celebrate the birth. Since there are no historical reasons to support it, anyone who wants to privately celebrate the birth of Mary on another date is free to do so” (pp. 13-14). T-N

5. Father Amorth knew that in Medjugorie they speak of August 5. However, since it is a private revelation, he does not commit himself.

Therefore, the liturgical calendar must be followed.

In the private devotion of the faithful it is not forbidden to celebrate it on another date.

6. To be precise, the dies natalis of a saint and therefore also of the Blessed Virgin is not the day of their birth to earth, but the day in which they were born to heaven, that is, the day in which they died to earth.

I thank you for the greeting, full of faith, I wish you all the best, I bless you and I remember you in prayer.

Father Angelo

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