Meritxell Day in Andorra
Meritxell Day is the National Day of Andorra. It takes place on September 8th, the feast day of Our Lady of Mertixell. In the 12th century a statue of the Virgin Mary was found and placed in a Church. As with other icons of Mary, the statue kept disappearing from its nw home and reappearing where it was found, with locals taking the hint and building a chapel on the spot.
The statue became the patron saint of Andorra, with the feast of the nativity of Mary becoming the national day of this principality.
Did you know?
Andorra la Vella is officially Europe’s highest capital. It is 1,023 metres (3,356 feet) above sea level.
When is the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary?
This holiday is always celebrated on September 8th. It is a national holiday in Malta, and is known as the 'Feast of Our Lady of Victories'. It is a regional holiday in Spain in Asturias, Melilla, and Extremadura. It is also the national day of Andorra (Meritxell Day) and is a public holiday in Liechtenstein.
In the Philippines in 2019, President Rodrigo Duterte has signed a law declaring September 8th of every year as a special working holiday nationwide to commemorate the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
This day marks the Feast Day of the Nativity (birth) of the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus.
History of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary
The date of birth of Mary is not recorded in the bible. The earliest writings about her life come from the 'Protoevangelium of James' which was written in the 2nd century AD. In this, her father is said to be Joachim, a member of one of the Twelve Tribes of Israel and his wife is Anne.
Though it's not sure which date was decided first, the nativity of Mary is not surprisingly exactly nine months after the feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary (December 8th).
This feast day originated in Jerusalem in the 5th century as the feast of the Basilica of Saint Anne, which was said to have been built on the shepherd's field that was said to have been the home of Mary's parents.
By the seventh century, the feast was being celebrated by the Byzantines and it was brought to Rome during the 7th century by Eastern monks. It would be a few more centuries before it became a feast day across Western Europe.
Another important feast day for Mary is Assumption Day (August 15th) which marks the assumption of her body into Heaven. This is seen as the most important feast day for Mary and observed in many countries as a public holiday. Due to the closeness of the dates of Assumption and the Nativity of Mary, the latter is not as widely celebrated as it once was.
Christians normally celebrate the day on which saints died to mark the beginning of their eternal life. There are three exceptions - Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, and Saint John the Baptist. Their births are also feast days as all three were born without Original Sin.
