8 September – Feast of the Nativity of Mary and a “flash of anamnesis”

The Nativity of Mary, which we celebrate on 8 September – let’s get out ahead of it this time – is older than the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, which was precisely nine months ago.

Stop for a moment.  Consider what our eternal prospects were before the birth not only of Our Lord, but also before the birth of His Mother, from whom He took our human nature, the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Ponder the state of slavery to sin in which we were bound and, after death, the strong possibility of everlasting separation from God.

Given what our prospects were, celebrating the birth of our fallen humanity’s solitary boast is a really good idea.

Holy Church, in celebrating liturgically her holy birth for a long time, ultimately reasoned back to Mary’s holy conception. As St. Thomas Aquinas argued,

“The Church celebrates the feast of our Lady’s Nativity. Now the Church does not celebrate feasts except of those who are holy. Therefore, even in her birth the Blessed Virgin was holy. Therefore, she was sanctified in the womb.” (STh III, q. 27, a. 1)

As we worship, so do we believe.

As we believe, so do we worship.

Change our worship you change belief, and vice versa.

We are our rites.

Here is the entry in the Roman Martyrology for today’s feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary:

Festum Nativitatis beatae Mariae Virginis, ex semine Abrahae, de tribu Iuda ortae, ex progenie regis David, e qua Filius Dei natus est, factus homo de Spiritu Sancto, ut homines vetusta servitute peccati liberaret.

The feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, sprung from the seed of Abraham [and] from the tribe of Judah, from the line of David the king, from which was born the Son of God, made man of the Holy Ghost, that he might free men from the ancient slavery to sin.

We can look at her Collect as well.

Fámulis tuis, qu?sumus, Dómine, cœléstis grátiæ munus impertíre: ut, quibus beátæ Vírginis partus éxstitit salútis exórdium; Nativitátis eius votíva sollémnitas pacis tríbuat increméntum.

That impertire looks like the infinitive of impertio, and it is!  However, there is also a deponent verb impertior, which would make that form an imperative.  After all, we need a verb in there, right?   It’s a little tricky to deal with that quibus.

Bestow upon Your servants, we beseech You, O Lord, the gift of heavenly grace: so that, for whom the birth of the Blessed Virgin projected the beginning of our salvation, the solemn feast of her Nativity may bring about an increase of peace.

Fámulis tuis, quǽsumus, Dómine, cœléstis grátiæ munus impertíre:
└── ut
└── [Relative clause] quibus beátæ Vírginis partus éxstitit salútis exórdium
└── [Main ut-clause] Nativitátis eius votíva sollémnitas pacis tríbuat increméntum

Right now, the gravely voice of the late Fr. Reginald Foster is growling into the ear of my memory. “Zuhlsdorf! What is that quibus doing in the sentence?” “It’s a dative of reference referring to famulis tuis.” “AND?!?” “It’s the implicit explanation for the petition, a hinge that takes us from memory of the exordium to what we look for in the future. It’s a “flash of anamnesis.” “Very poetic.”

The quibus clause is a kind of hinge, deliberately placed between the ut and main petition. Even in the recitation of the prayer that quibus catches our attention. It is a reminder of the “why” we are celebrating the feast by linking the petition with the event in salvation history. This structure is often found in our Roman Collects. William Durandus of Mende (†1296 – aka Durandus) in his Rationale divinorum officiorum (IV, 14), explains a Collect’s ordering:

“In orationibus tria continentur: invocatio Dei, commemoratio beneficiorum, petitio iustorum. … In the prayers three things are contained: the invocation of God, the commemoration of His benefits, and the petition for what is just.”

He also points out the intercalated relative clauses:

“Saepe etiam interponitur clausula quae ostendit causam vel rationem, cur petatur. … Often too a clause is inserted which shows the cause or reason why the petition is made.”

That is exactly what quibus is doing in the Collect for the Nativity of Mary. Quibus supplies the “ratio” of the petition. Because Mary’s birth once brought salvation, the present feast can bring peace.