May 28

e have Saint Augustine's authority for calling this feast of the resurrection a second birth of Christ. The saint says that Christ had two births. The first occurred when he was born from the matchless virginal womb of Mary, for there has not been and never will be another of comparable virginity. This first birth was truly a birth. The second birth occurred when Christ emerged from the tomb and was a metaphorical birth. He thus dwelt in two unique wombs, for the womb of the sepulcher was as unique in its own way as the Virgin's womb was in its way.

In this second birth the Mother of God, who had ceased to be a mother, was again chosen to be Mother of God. Let us go a step further and see which feast was more fully hers: the feast of the resurrection or the feast of the nativity. Truly, the former was much more hers! At the nativity she truly became the Mother of God because she gave birth to him; at the resurrection, however, she became the Mother of God by recovering what she had lost. At the nativity she became a mother who would cease to be a mother; at the resurrection she became a mother who would not again cease to be a mother.

From John E. Rotelle, O.S.A., Tradition Day by Day: Readings from Church Writers. Augustinian Press. Villanova, PA, 1994.

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