“Book of the birth of Saint Mary, or Libellus de Nativitate Sanctae Mariae”
From “Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 8”, Edited by Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, and A. Cleveland Coxe. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1886.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight.
Aurelio de Santos Otero says:
“It is an abbreviated recast of Ps. Mt. [Pseudo-Matthew] During the Middle Ages this apocryphal was attributed to Saint Jerome in his History Joachim et Annae. Even today it is found among the works of the holy Doctor (PL 30,297-305). The cause of all this must be sought in the letter of Saint Jerome to Chromatius and Heliodorus, which, as we said when dealing with Ps. Mt., is found in many manuscripts as a prologue to De nativitate Mariae.”
“The style is more delicate and elegant than that of its original. On the other hand, his biblical exegesis, quite advanced, shows influences from doctors such as Bede († 733) or Alcuin († 804). All this gives us reason to conclude with Amann (p. 108) that the author must have been a contemporary of Charlemagne (9th century). He has been eliminating from the story everything that could clash with the mentality of his time: Joseph’s first marriage, the trial of the bitter waters, Salome’s shocking discovery, etc. He specifies some hesitant concepts of his predecessors: for example, regarding the bond that unites Mary and Joseph, he does not hesitate to describe it as a true marriage and distinguishes it conceptually and temporally from betrothals. In general he manifests a more delicate devotion to the Blessed Virgin.”
“He was included entirely in the Legenda aurea of Jacob de Voragine.”