Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Today the Church celebrates the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The collect assigned in The Brotherhood Prayer Book is:

Grant, O Lord, we beseech Thee, unto Thy servants the gift of Thy heavenly grace that as the child-bearing of the blessed virgin Mary was the beginning of salvation, so the joyful festival of her nativity may bring us an increase of peace; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord...

On this day it seems fitting to offer for meditation a medieval English Carol:

Mary the Dawn, but Christ the perfect Day:
Mary the Gate, but Christ the heavenly Way.
Mary the Root, but Christ the mystic Vine:
Mary the Grape, but Christ the sacred Wine.
Mary the Corn-sheaf, Christ the living Bread:
Mary the Rose-tree, Christ the Rose blood-red.
Mary the Fount, but Christ the cleansing Flood:
Mary the Chalice, Christ the holy Blood.
Mary the Temple, Christ the Temple's Lord:
Mary the Shrine, but Christ its God adored.
Mary the Beacon, Christ the Haven's Rest:
Mary the Mirror, Christ the Vision blest. Amen.