Religious Place Names

Mecca, Saudi Arabia: The name of this city is believed to have derived from the Arabic word “makorab” (“shrine”).

Benghazi, Libya: This modern name of this city is probably from a local Muslim saint,  Marsa ibn Ghazi.

Baku, Azebiajan: There are several possible origins for this name.  One explains the name as being from Iranian “abad” = “town” plus “ku” = “fire,”  a reference to the existence of a fire worship religion.

Asuncion, Paraguay: Asuncion is Spanish for “Assumption.” The city was founded in 1536 on the day of the Feast of the Assumption.

Arkhangelsk, Russia:  The name means “Archangel.”

Feast of the Birth of Mary/Nativity of the Theotokos

The Orthodox, Anglican, and Roman Catholic Churches celebrate today as the day of the birthday of Mary, mother of Jesus.  She was declared in 431 by the Council of Ephesus to be the Theotokos, literally in Greek "the God-bearer" or "the God-birther."  Those of some other Christian traditions prefer to call Mary the "Mother of God" or the "Mother of Jesus" because they are bothered by the elevation of any human to what they see as a semi-divine state.  They believe that Mary was blessed to be Jesus' mother, but that she was not a divine or even semi-divine figure.  She was what Jesus called her, a woman (John 19:26).