Today we celebrate the birth of the Virgin Mary. Since the Council of Ephesus in 431, Mariology has developed in the Church despite the absence of reference to the life of the Blessed Virgin in the holy texts. The feast of her Nativity is particularly celebrated. The Evangelists do not tell us where Mary was born; we only know that she was related to Elizabeth, who lived in Judea. It is therefore possible that Mary herself was born in Jerusalem, an ancient tradition that can be traced in the apocryphal Gospel of James, which tells us about the Virgin’s parents, Joachim and Anne. There was also a house in Jerusalem in ancient times called ‘Anne's House’; a church was erected near this house and was dedicated on 8 September. The anniversary of this dedication has been commemorated every year, a tradition that dates back to the early days of the Church. The feast of Mary's Nativity is an opportunity to be in the presence of the one who had the courage to say yes, unconditionally, to God. 

The melody of the offertory Beata es, Virgo Maria is borrowed from the second verse of the offertory Posuisti, an ancient and very fine adaptation. It is a melody that presents a great analogy with other 8th mode offertories, such as the offertory Angelus Domini or Assumpta est. We can notice a broad movement, accompanied by a great vocal amplitude that lends itself flexibly to all the fluctuations of the melody, underlining the great musical accents, Virgo, portasti, Creatorem, fecit… Above all, it is worth highlighting the melodic movements around the two degrees that structure the 8th mode, SOL-DO, in these last two words (Creatorem and fecit): of utmost importance for the feast of Mary’s Nativity.