A Building and a Blessing

Appreciating the birthday of the Blessed Virgin Mary

09/08/2025

Matthew 1:18-23 This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the Holy Spirit. Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means "God is with us."

Sometimes Catholics get married “outside the Church.” That means they not only get married outside the church building, but more importantly, also without the Church’s blessing. When you opt out of the building, you also omit receiving the blessing. That is, they get married civilly – according to the laws of the state of Arkansas – but not sacramentally, according to the canon laws of the Catholic Church. In a sense, they are married in the eyes of the governor but not in the eyes of God.

Now, according to canon law there are two ways to remedy such an irregular marriage, outside the Church. The more common practice is to renew your wedding vows in the church. So, you have a small but sacramentally significant wedding with the priest and at least two witnesses. That is how most couples who were married “outside the Church” get married “inside the Church.” They come back to the building and they once again enjoy the blessing.

But there is another little known way to remedy an irregular marriage called a radical sanation. Bet you haven’t heard of that. That sounds dramatic like we are going to amputate a leg. But it is actually the opposite of an amputation. The words “radical” and “sanation” come from the Latin words “radix” and “sanatio” which mean to heal something from its roots.

With a radical sanation, the couple does not begin a new sacramental marriage years after the civil marriage. Rather, the Church allows them to go back in time and heal their marriage from its inception, when they first said their vows. Speaking sacramentally, we allow both the building and the blessing to be present on the original day they said “I do.” Hence, they do not have two wedding anniversaries, and that is much more merciful for the poor male memory.

This notion of a radical sanation, healing from the roots, can give us an insight into the feast we celebrate today, the Nativity (or Birthday) of the Blessed Virgin Mary. How so? Well, when Jesus came to save humanity – and we might use here the analogy of marrying humanity, because our Lord is not only our Savior but also our Spouse – he chose the path of a radical sanation.

Thus, since the roots of humanity’s disgrace from God began with a woman (sorry ladies), namely, Eve, so Jesus would heal that disgrace by making a woman full of grace, namely, Mary (you’re welcome ladies). In a sense, Mary’s immaculately conceived body is the building housing God’s greatest blessing, who is Jesus.

In her sinless womb, therefore, would occur the nuptials of humanity with divinity. In Mary human nature would marry the Godhead in the incarnation of the Son of God as the Son of Man. And this is why we encourage couples to marry in a building to receive the blessing of marriage.

Because every earthly marriage between a man and a woman seeks to imitate the holiness, humility, harmony and happiness that exists in that eternal marriage between God and man that took place in the virginal womb of Mary. She is the building in which we find the greatest marriage blessing.

This is why we celebrate the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. God is not content to put a band-aid on his broken creation. Instead, he goes back to our rotten roots – the roots of sin and death – and heals humanity’s marriage with God from its inception: it all began with a woman. In other words, salvation is a radical sanation, and both the building and the blessing are unveiled on the Birthday of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

It is for this reason that Joseph was not allowed to divorce Mary when he discovered she was pregnant, and that he was not “the baby daddy.” As Isaiah the prophet had foretold: “Behold the virgin will be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means ‘God is with us’.” And God would henceforth be with us in the most radical way, that is, “from the roots.”

Praised be Jesus Christ!