September 8 Birth of Our Exceedingly Holy Mistress, She who Gave Birth to God

The first major feast of the ecclesiastical year, which begins on September 1, is the Birth of Our Exceedingly Holy Mistress, She who Gave Birth to God.

The most concise explanation of this feast is found in this hymn, attributed to Sergius, chanted in Vespers of the Feast:

Today God who abides in the heavenly thrones has prepared for himself a holy throne upon the earth.  He who in wisdom established the Heavens has in love for mankind created a heaven with a living, rational soul.  For from a barren root he has made to grow for us a life-bearing plant, his Mother.  O God of the wonders and hope of the hopeless, glory to you!

God who abides in the highest order of angels, who gaze on him through the Word of God, has for the sake of his Incarnation prepared for himself a holy throne upon the earth.  God who with wisdom established the Heavens with their multifarious stars and constellations has in love for mankind stooped to create a new heaven upon the earth, a heaven that will contain his Son, the Word of God.  And that new Heaven has a living, rational soul: that new Heaven is a person like us, Mariam, the daughter of sterile Ann and her husband the blessed Joachim.  The daughter of the sterile woman gives birth in virginity to the Word of God made flesh.  O God of wonders and hope of the hopeless, glory to you, who have loved mankind which remained in despair after the fall of Adam and Eve.