Important Dates in the Lives of Jesus and Mary 

and mathematics. The Pope asked Dionysius to determine the dates for Easter for the coming years. But when 

Dionysius had determined those dates, he did not want to write the number of the years using the usual system 

of his day counting the number of years since the reign of the emperor Diocletian because that Roman 

emperor persecuted and killed many faithful Christians. So, he decided that the years should be numbered 

according to the years since the Incarnation of Jesus Christ:  ab incarnatione Domini  (from the Incarnation 

of the Lord).

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    Dionysius began the count of the years with the first calendar year after the Incarnation and Birth of Christ; 

this became 

A.D.

 1. He believed that the Incarnation and Birth of Jesus Christ occurred in the previous year, 

now called 1 

B.C.

 This system places the first anniversary of Christ's Incarnation in the year 

A.D.

 1. That same 

year, 

A.D.

 1, would then contain both the first anniversary of the Incarnation and the first anniversary of the 

Birth of Christ. If Dionysius chose correctly, then the years of the Christian calendar would match the years of 

Christ's life. In such a case, 

A.D.

 1 would be the year in which Christ completed one year of life from His 

Incarnation and 

A.D.

 2000 would be the year that Christ completed 2000 years from His Incarnation. 

However, scholars today do not generally believe that Dionysius chose the correct year for the Incarnation of 

Jesus Christ. 

    So, when the Virgin Mary spoke about her 2000th birthday, she was referring only to the date in the 

liturgical calendar, not to the actual date. The Virgin Mary knows that the year 

A.D.

 2000 is not the actual 

2000th anniversary of the Birth of Jesus Christ, but she spoke according to the liturgical calendar currently in 

use. In a similar way, the Church celebrates the Birth of Jesus Christ on Dec. 25 in the liturgical calendar, even 

though the Church does not teach that Jesus was born on Dec. 25. In asking Christians to celebrate her 2000th 

birthday in 1984, the Virgin Mary was not, in effect, telling us the actual year of her birth. However, she does 

in this way reveal that the year of her actual birth was a certain number of years before the birth of her Divine 

Son Jesus Christ. 

    Now the first anniversary of someone's birth is the year after they were born. But we should count the actual 

day of someone's birth as their first birthday because it is their birthday in the fullest sense of the word the 

day of their birth. Counting this way (including the day of one's birth), Christ's first birthday in the liturgical 

calendar would be 1 

B.C.

, then His second birthday would occur in 

A.D.

 1. Thus, 

A.D.

 1999 would be Christ's 

2000th birthday, inclusive, according to the current liturgical calendar; and 

A.D.

 2000 would be the 2000th 

anniversary of Christ's Birth. In the same way, 1984 would be Mary's 2000th birthday, counting the actual 

day of her birth as her first birthday, but only within the current liturgical calendar system. 

    Why would the Virgin Mary speak about her 2000th birthday as including the day of her birth, rather than 

using the more familiar way of counting birthdays starting with the first anniversary of her birth? First, the day 

of Mary's birth was a very holy and special day. We should not leave that day out of our count of the number 

of the Holy Virgin's birthdays. Second, we are told that the Virgin Mary said 1984 was her  2000th birthday,  

not the  2000th anniversary  of her birth.

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 Third, the Virgin Mary was conceived in the calendar year before 

the year of her birth. She was conceived in November and so was born in the following calendar year (in 

August). As a result, the year of the Virgin Mary's 2000th birthday (inclusive) is also the year of the 2000th 

anniversary of her Immaculate Conception. That same year contains those two important events, so the 

Virgin Mary pointed out that year, rather than the year of the 2000th anniversary of her birth, as deserving 

special devotion. 

    Using the current liturgical calendar, the Virgin Mary placed her 2000th birthday in 1984, which is 15 years 

before Christ's 2000th birthday in 1999, (counting inclusively). Therefore, the actual year of the Virgin Mary's 

birth occurred 15 years before the actual year of Christ's Birth. Since Christ was born in 15 

B.C.

, the Virgin 

Mary must have been born in 30 

B.C.

 Therefore, the Virgin Mary was born on August 5 of 30 

B.C.

    The Blessed Virgin Mary also revealed at Medjugorje that a large cross, which was built on a hilltop in 

Medjugorje in 1933, was to commemorate the 1900th anniversary of the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ. If Christ 

was crucified in 

A.D.

 33, the 1900th anniversary would be in 

A.D.

 1933, the year the large cross was built at 

Medjugorje. However, the Virgin Mary did not say that Christ was crucified in 

A.D.

 33. She said that 

A.D.

1933 was the 1900th anniversary of the Crucifixion because she was speaking in terms of the current liturgical 

calendar. 

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