Nativity of the Theotokos

September 8th Beginning the liturgical feasts is the Nativity of the Theotokos, or the Virgin Mary, which while not recorded in Scripture is nevertheless a historical fact. The icon shows the Virgin’s mother, Saint Ann, on her bed while her husband, Saint Joachim, watches discreetly from above the tower. It is a traveling narrative, in that while the image shows Saint Ann awaiting the birth while being fanned by attendants, the image continues showing the newborn Virgin being bathed by a midwife and then laid, as her own Son would be, in a manger in swaddling clothes.