The Catholic Church and Marian devotees celebrate on Tuesday the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, one of the oldest Marian solemnities and one of the cardinal feasts of the liturgical devotion to the Blessed Mother.

Catholic churches, Marian shrines and congregations, and schools named in honor of the Holy Mother will hold masses, novenas, special devotions, living rosaries, and processions in observance of the birth of Mary, the greatest of all Christian saints and the mother of the Christian faith.

The Liturgy of the Hours, one of the highest expressions of liturgical worship, which involves the recitation of morning, midday, and evening prayers, will be held in many churches. Marian devotees will recite the Holy Rosary, including the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Many religious congregations, such as the Sons of the Holy Mary Immaculate, will profess their religious vows today to signify their total love, devotion, and commitment to the Virgin Mary.

The Church calendar observes only two birth anniversaries of saints, that of Mary, the mother of Jesus, and St. John the Baptist, the precursor of Christ, on June 24.

“The Church, in commemorating the feast of the birth of the Blessed Mother, celebrates the dawning of the day of redemption, the moment when she, who was to be the mother of our Savior, was born. In celebrating the nativity of Mary, Christians anticipate the Incarnation and birth of her Divine Son and give honor to the mother of our Lord,” Church officials said. (With a report from Elena L. Aben)