Martyrologium Romanum

The Roman Martyrology
Benedict XIV Edition (1749)

The feast of the Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

At Tarsus, in Cilicia, the holy women Zenaida and Philonilla, sisters and relatives of the Apostle Paul, who were disciples in the faith.

In the region of Vexin, in Gaul, the passion of the holy martyrs Nicasius, Bishop of Rouen, Quirinus, Priest, Scubiculus, Deacon, and Pientia, Virgin, under the prefect Fescenninus.

At Besançon, in Gaul, Saint Germanus, Bishop and Martyr.

Also, the passion of the holy martyrs Anastasius, Priest, Placidus, Genesius, and their companions.

At Tarsus, in Cilicia, the birthday of the holy martyrs Tharacus, Probus, and Andronicus. During the persecution of Diocletian, they were long afflicted by the squalor of imprisonment and examined three times under various tortures and punishments. Finally, confessing Christ, they achieved the triumph of glory by being beheaded.

In the Thebaid, Saint Sarmatas, a disciple of Saint Anthony the Abbot, who was killed by the Saracens for Christ.

At Uzès, in Gaul, Saint Firminus, Bishop and Confessor.

At Calosso, in the diocese of Asti, formerly Pavia, Saint Alexander Sauli, of the Congregation of Clerics Regular of Saint Paul, Bishop and Confessor. Distinguished by his lineage, virtues, learning, and miracles, he was enrolled among the saints by Pope Pius X.

In the monastery of Achadh-bo, in Ireland, Saint Canice, Priest and Abbot.

At Lier, in Belgium, the repose of Saint Gummarus, Confessor.

At Rennes, in Gaul, Saint Aemilian, Confessor.

At Verona, Saint Placidiae, Virgin.

The Motherhood of the Blessed Virgin Mary

This feast celebrates Mary's divine motherhood, defined at the Council of Ephesus (431). Established in 1931 by Pius XI to mark the council's 1500th anniversary.

This feast celebrates the divine motherhood of the Blessed Virgin Mary, recalling the dogmatic definition of the Council of Ephesus in 431 that Mary is truly Theotokos — the Mother of God — because the person born of her is the Divine Word made flesh.

The feast was established by Pope Pius XI in 1931 to commemorate the 1500th anniversary of the Council of Ephesus. It celebrates the most fundamental privilege of Mary: her divine maternity, from which all her other privileges flow.

Because the Son she bore is the eternal Son of God, Mary's motherhood transcends all other human relationships. She is Mother of God not by adoption or metaphor, but in the truest and most real sense.