By Fr. Peter Mascarenhas, SMM –
September 8th is special day for Christians at large and a special day for the metropolis of Bangalore as the minor Basilica of the Church of our Lady of the Presentation (also known as Kaanike Mathe Devalaya in Tamil) is situated at Shivajinagar (colloquially known as ‘‘Blackpally’’) in the heart of Bangalore.
People from all walks of life throng to this beautiful shrine to pray. They participate, celebrate and receive graces, blessings, favours and healing from our Blessed Mother. She is the great Intercessor. It is the Nativity of Mary our heavenly mother. We celebrate with great pomp and glory because it is the birth of a child through whom God the Father initiated his Plan for the world and the Church. It is a family feast, where the whole family participates in the preparation of nine days of novena and the Holy mass. We believe that Mary our heavenly mother blesses all and keeps us close to her son with graces and blessings to live our daily life.
Mother of Redeemer
We believe that, on Our Lady’s birthday the Church celebrates the first dawning of redemption with the appearance in the world of the Saviour’s mother, Mary. The Blessed Virgin occupies a unique place in the history of salvation, and she has the highest mission ever commended to any creature. We rejoice that the Mother of God is our Mother, too. Let us often call upon the Blessed Virgin as “Cause of our joy”, one of the most beautiful titles in her litany. The birth of the Blessed Virgin was, one of the foremost events of history. According to certain traditions, no one in the small town of Nazareth where Saints Joachim and Anne lived paid heed to the new arrival. Anne and Joachim had been childless for many years, but the Lord had at last answered their prayers. They did not realize that the Mother of the Redeemer lay in their loving arms.
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 where bloomed the precious lily of the valley,” he said. In Mary all human nature is exalted. We rejoice in her birthday, as the Church has done from the earliest times. This is one of the three birthdays in the Church Calendar — the Birth of Jesus (December 25), the Birth of John the Baptist (June 24) and the Birthday of Mary. All three were born without original sin, although Mary and Jesus were conceived without sin, and St. John was cleansed of original sin while in the womb at the Visitation of Mary.
Saint Thomas of Villanova explained in a sermon that Mary is the heavenly dawn, not only for the world, but especially for each individual soul. He recalled the great truth taught by Catholic tradition that a soul imbued with devotion to the Blessed Virgin carries within it the sign of entering into heavenly abode. Do you firmly desire to be saved from final damnation? Then faithfully honour Mary. Do you wish to guarantee the salvation of those who are dear to you? Obtain from them the promise that they not fail to recite some prayer to Mary every day. Catholic Tradition states that a servant of Our Lady cannot perish. He will forever sing the mercy of Jesus and of His holy Mother.
Honouring Mother
When Mary was born, the world did not know who she was. Sometimes others — and maybe even you — don’t see how special you are. Maybe you forget that God is calling you, too, right now, to do what Mary did — to bring Jesus into the world. When we celebrate his mother’s birth, we honour Jesus too. Today we thank God for the gift of life, and give honour to both Mary and Jesus by showing respect and concern for one another — remembering that God has created each person with love and with a call to something very special in life.
A few things we could to do honour Our Blessed Mother:
- Learn prayers to Mary, such as the Angelus, Litany of Loreto, Memorare, Hail Mary, and Hail Holy Queen.
- Learn and sing various hymns to Mary, such as the Salve Regina, Immaculate Mary, Hail Holy Queen.
- Contemplate on how all the feasts of Mary point to the mysteries of Christ and our salvation history. Biblical readings: Proverbs 8:22-35 and Matthew 1:1-16 (this points to the appreciation of the heritage and family of Jesus).
- Have a birthday party for Mary, with a specially decorated birthday cake and birthday decorations.
- Blue is the traditional colour of Mary’s mantle, so incorporating blue into the decor and food is quite appropriate. Try making an all white cake symbolizing Mary’s purity, or cookies with white icing. White meringue cookies (or kisses) would also remind one of Mary’s sinlessness. Birthday parties don’t need special explanations for children. Have each child present a “gift” to their Mother.
- Mary, such as spiritual bouquets, faults or virtues to work on, corporal works of mercy, etc. Learn to make string knot rosaries to give as “favours.”
- Decorate the house, family table or family altar with flowers or special Marian decor.
- Eat some form of blueberries on this day, particularly in the morning — blueberry muffins or blueberry pancakes, blueberry pie or just fresh blueberries on your cereal. The blue is symbolic of Mary’s blue mantle. (Excerpted from The Holyday Book by Fr. Francis Weiser, SJ.)
Prayer
Most loveable Mother Mary, our Father in Heaven created you with delight. You are His creature whom He made worthy to become the holy Mother of His Son. You were born into a family of Saints. Pray for me today that my joy in your Son will increase and that my family may become more holy.