September 8th is the feast day of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a feast that now passes by rather quietly and without observance (except in St Augustine, Florida, since it is the day of our founding). However, once upon a time, there was a fair amount of devotion to the image of the Virgin as a child, as well as to her parents, traditionally known as Sts Joachim and Anna.
The feast dates back to the 6th century, and was important until fairly recent times. Here we see the Baroque façade of a church in the Czech Republic that is dedicated to the Nativity of the Virgin.
The Transalpine Redemptorists, a new religious order living on a tiny island off the coast of Scotland known as Papa Stronsay, have a very nice blog, and they have posted the images of the Virgin as an infant and child that you can see if you click here.
