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The Nativity of Mother Mary: How Monthi fest came to be

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The birth of Mother Mary or the “Monthi Saibinnichem Festh” as the Konkani community of Kudla calls this feast is celebrated with grandeur and pomp all over India, on September 8th, but in the coastal districts where there are a fair sprinkling of Catholics, it is special. It is celebrated as a feast of the family and a feast for the family.

It’s an occasion, when families come together and renew their bonds over a meal that contains grain from the first harvest blessed by a priest at a Eucharistic Celebration. Tradition demands that the family sit down together after the angelus (A prayer to Mother Mary) and taste the new corn in a vegetarian meal (having normally an odd no. locally available vegetables, ranging in number from 3 to 9) served on banana leaves.

The preparations for the grand feast begin 9 days in advance. Children and adults alike, attend daily mass and shower flowers on Infant Mary in a novena of payer and song. The tradition of showering flowers on the statue of Infant Mary or ‘Maria Bambina’ is long one. The statue “Maria Bambina” was modeled in wax in 1735 by Sr. Izabella Chaara Fornari, superior of the Poor Clare Sisters in Italy.  This statue was venerated in public only on 8 September and due to this public appearance and devotion many were benefitted and hence globally this statue was christened as “Statue of Miracle”.  It was transferred in 1856 to the Mother House of Sisters of Charity in Milan (Italy).  This statue is in the possession of Sisters of Charity even today and it has been used for spreading the devotion.

The local catholic community however refers to it as “Monthi Saibinnichi Imaz” and the reason as to why the feast has become a rage in the Mangalurean catholic community is because it has been handed down to them by their ancestors. The Fransican Church at Arkulla in Farangipet, was one of three built during the 15th century, in  the place where the portuguese conducted their trade. It was at this church, that Fr. Joachim Miranda, started a seminary for Priests called the ‘Monthe Mairano’ in 1763. He was attracted by statue of “Maria Bambina” made by Sister of Franciscan, Italy.  He introduced this statue to the Monthi Fest and the new spirit and enthusiasm was created for celebration.

On the feast day, the new corn (Novem) is blessed and distributed and each family has its own way of consuming it depending on the region and can vary as a ingredient in Milk, coconut milk, Payasam (Vorn) or even in beaten-sweet-rice. Its on this occaison, that the Mother Mary’s devotees, thank her for her love and support to their families and the abundance of the almighty in catering to humanity’s material needs.

People celebrate this great feast Monthi Fest with devotion and pray that they spread the love and unity within their families and among all Mangaloreans all over the world.

The story behind the blessed day:

The Church celebrates the first dawning of redemption with the appearance in the world of the Jesus’ mother, Mary. The Blessed Virgin occupies a unique place in the history of salvation.

Since September 8 marks the end of summer and beginning of fall, this day has many thanksgiving celebrations and customs attached to it. In the Old Roman Ritual there is a blessing of the summer harvest and fall planting seeds for this day.

The Catholic Church celebrates on September 8,the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary, nine months after the December 8 celebration of her Immaculate Conception as the child of Saints Joachim and Anne.

The circumstances of the Virgin Mary’s infancy and early life are not directly recorded in the Bible, but other documents and traditions describing the circumstances of her birth are cited by some of the earliest Christian writers from the first centuries of the Church.

These accounts, although not considered authoritative in the same manner as the Bible, outline some of the Church’s traditional beliefs about the birth of Mary.

The “Protoevangelium of James,” which was probably put into its final written form in the early second century, describes Mary’s father Joachim as a wealthy member of one of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. Joachim was deeply grieved, along with his wife Anne, by their childlessness. “He called to mind Abraham,” the early Christian writing says, “that in the last day God gave him a son Isaac.”

Joachim and Anne began to devote themselves extensively and rigorously to prayer and fasting, initially wondering whether their inability to conceive a child might signify God’s displeasure with them.

As it turned out, however, the couple were to be blessed even more abundantly than Abraham and Sarah, as an angel revealed to Anne when he appeared to her and prophesied that all generations would honor their future child: “The Lord has heard your prayer, and you shall conceive, and shall bring forth, and your seed shall be spoken of in all the world.”

After Mary’s birth, according to the Protoevangelium of James, Anne “made a sanctuary” in the infant girl’s room, and “allowed nothing common or unclean” on account of the special holiness of the child. The same writing records that when she was one year old, her father “made a great feast, and invited the priests, and the scribes, and the elders, and all the people of Israel.”

“And Joachim brought the child to the priests,” the account continues, “and they blessed her, saying: ‘O God of our fathers, bless this child, and give her an everlasting name to be named in all generations’ . . . And he brought her to the chief priests, and they blessed her, saying: ‘O God most high, look upon this child, and bless her with the utmost blessing, which shall be for ever.’”

The protoevangelium goes on to describe how Mary’s parents, along with the temple priests, subsequently decided that she would be offered to God as a consecrated Virgin for the rest of her life, and enter a chaste marriage with the carpenter Joseph.

Saint Augustine described the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary as an event of cosmic and historic significance, and an appropriate prelude to the birth of Jesus Christ. “She is the flower of the field from who bloomed the precious lily of the valley,” he said.

As people celebrate this great feast with devotion, Team NewsKarnataka wishes all its readers a Blessed Feast of Nativity or Monthi Fest.

 

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