Mary, unblemished flower of the field of God’s earth from whom bloomed forth the precious lily who would radiate the light of the dawn of salvation to the most cherished of God’s creation, the human race. Created in God’s form and likeness, brought to life by his breath and Spirit, yet doomed for all time through betrayal of our first parents, God, consumed by his passionate, pure love for his creation, sent his beloved Word made flesh into the world to save and redeem mankind by his death and resurrection, taking upon himself our transgressions in exchange for our eternal redemption. And Mary, you became the chosen vessel, the channel through which God would assume human flesh, become incarnate as the Son of Man and bring to fruition his eternal plan of adoption of the human race to sonship and an eternal inheritance as a free gift of his love. You are the foreshadowing of God’s perfect love for mankind through his Son Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer. The feast of your Nativity, therefore, is an unparalleled veneration of your incomparable purity, beauty, innocence and your total acceptance and obedience of God’s plan of salvation for the world. You entered this world sinless through the privilege of the Immaculate Conception and are thus the firstborn of the redeemed. Your nativity is a cause for great joy as it is considered the “dawn of our salvation.” In you, the whole of creation is exalted. God gave you the richest personality imaginable and the added gifts of supernatural order, treasures of elevated thought and perfect nature, the most precious graces God ever gave to any human creature. Your parents, Anna and Joachim were blessed when they received the promise of a child who would advance God’s plan of salvation for mankind, stressing the special presence of God in your life from the beginning. You, Mother Mary, are the personification of God’s perfect creation and we honor your birthday as the day the world returned to the nature God intended it to be. Amen