Happy Birthday, Mary

September 8th is the day set aside to remember the day that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was born. Why would we celebrate that? Basically, because it is part of salvation's history. Jesus' timeline. How do you know it's her birthday?

Christians of the second century A.D. recorded the details of Mary's birth in such documents as the Protoevangelium of James and the Gospel of the Nativity of Mary. While neither document bears the authority of Scripture, they provide us with everything that we know about the life of Mary before the Annunciation

including the names of Saint Mary's parents, Saint Joachim and Saint Anna (or Anne). It's a good example of Tradition, which compliments (while never contradicting) Scripture.

copied from here.

So, what's a birthday without presents? This was a quick craft, borrowed from this site, where the kiddos decorated gift boxes shaped like cake pieces. They each thought of something nice they could do for the other family members since Mary gave us such a beautiful example of service to others.

Here we hid the "gifts" inside.

Here's the template I drew based on the picture I saw on this site. Unfortunately, I couldn't get my printer to print, which is why I was creating one. I suggest if you need a cake box, just print their template. I made mine on a file folder so the box was really sturdy.

Here is the cheesecake we enjoyed in honor of Our Blessed Mother. White and pure, just like her.

One blue candle, two gift boxes, and four ravenous stomachs. It was a quaint, but meaningful celebration.