Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

“But you, Bethlehem-Ephrathaha
least among the clans of Judah,
From you shall come forth for me
one who is to be ruler in Israel;
Whose origin is from of old,
from ancient times.” (Micah 5:1.)

Saint Augustine of Hippo comments on this verse from the First Reading proclaimed at Mass today:

“By designating Bethlehem, they [the Jews] were like the builders of Noah’s ark, providing others the means of escape, yet themselves perishing in the flood. Like milestones, they showed the way but were incapable of walking along it. They were asked where the Christ was to be born. They answered, “In Bethlehem of Judah. For thus it was written by the prophet”—they were repeating from memory, you see, what had been written about this by Micah: “And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are not the least among the leaders of Judah; for from you shall come forth the king who is going to be the shepherd of my people Israel.” (Sermon 373)

Collect

Impart to Your servants,
we pray, O Lord,
the gift of heavenly grace,
that the feast of the
Nativity of the Blessed Virgin
may bring deeper peace to those
for whom the birth of her Son
was the dawning of salvation.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Glory to the Father
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen