NOTES for Mat 1:1-16

As a rule, the Church celebrates not a saint's birthday but the day of his or her ascent to God. There are only three exceptions to this rule. First of all, there is the Nativity of Christ, and this is understandable, because the Incarnation is an entirely special moment in the relationship between God and humanity. Secondly, there is the Nativity of John the Baptist, the only birth of a human being celebrated in the New Testament, and one that is connected, as we should note, with the Nativity of Christ.

And the third feast is today's, and the passages we read also connect it with the birth of Christ. In this way the Church testifies that the birth of the Most Holy Mother of God was sanctified by God's grace, and that this sanctification, in some mysterious way beyond our understanding, proceeds from the future descent of the Holy Spirit and the indwelling of the Son of God in the womb of the Virgin Mary. On this day we glorify God and thank Him for Her whom He chose as Mother for Himself and for us.