Name day calendar: Who celebrates on September 8

September 8 celebrates the Nativity of the Theotokos, one of the major Marian feasts of Christianity. The Church regards the birth of Mary as the “prelude to universal joy,” because it prepared the way for the coming and birth of Jesus Christ. Despina Tsampika and Tsampikos are among those marking their name day, while the Church also commemorates Neomartyr Athanasius of Koulakia, or Athanasius of Xirokrini.

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prelude to universal joy

The four Gospels do not give details about the Virgin Mary’s birth. The account comes from Holy Tradition and the second-century apocryphal Christian text known as the Protoevangelium of James. According to that tradition, her parents were Joachim, from the tribe of Judah and the line of David, and Anna, the daughter of the priest Matthan. They were devout, righteous and prosperous, but deeply distressed because they had no children. In the society of ancient Israel, childlessness was regarded as a curse and a source of shame.

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New Eve

Tradition says priests once refused Joachim’s offerings at the Temple, telling him he had no right to present them because he had left no descendants in Israel. Wounded, he withdrew to the desert to fast and pray, while Anna mourned and prayed in her garden. Both promised God that, if granted a child, they would dedicate the child to Him. An angel then appeared separately to each of them and announced that Anna would conceive a child whose name would be glorified throughout the world. The promise was fulfilled, and the elderly Anna miraculously gave birth to Mary.

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lily among thorns

The Church gives the feast deep theological meaning. Just as Eve’s disobedience brought humanity’s fall, Mary’s obedience to God’s will made her the “New Eve” who brought salvation. John of Damascus described her in his hymns as a “lily among thorns,” the earthly palace where God would dwell and heaven would unite with earth. The feast began in Jerusalem, spread to the West through Greek monks fleeing Arab raids, and was formalized by Pope Sergius I, who was of Greek origin. By the 11th century, it had become established throughout the Christian world and was recognized as the first major feast of the new ecclesiastical year.

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Your birth, Theotokos, proclaimed joy to all the world. For from you rose the sun of righteousness, Christ our God, who broke the curse, gave the blessing, abolished death and granted us eternal life.