Festival of
Harvest
Every birth on this earth is an expression of
God’s unconditional love for us. Every birth has a unique call from God to fulfill our mission before we return to Him, the
source of our life. The call of God was magnificently evident in the birth of
Mary our mother. Joachim and Anna her parents helped their daughter to fulfill
all that God had planned for his creation. Mary’s ‘Yes’ was a signature on a
blank cheque through which we still draw God’s love and mercy. The birth of
Mary has brought immense joy to this world.
The feast of the nativity of Mary has a
profound meaning to the people of South Canara of Karnataka.
Konkani speaking people of and from Mangalore
celebrate the feast day of our Mother along with the harvest festival on the
same day as thanksgiving for the new crops. The feast is called Monthi Fest. However the preparations to
honour Mother Mary start nine days prior to the feast along with novena
prayers. People of every age attend novena prayers with fresh flowers as
offering to Mary during the nine days leading up to the feast day. Children
offer flowers standing around the statue of Infant Mary.
On the feast day the devotees, including
children with flowers, and community leaders with freshly harvested paddy enter
the church in procession after the
blessing, as an offering of the first
bounty of nature to Mother Mary. A small statue of infant Mary is placed on a
table in front of the altar. The paddy
is placed next to the statue to be blessed and distributed to the
congregation after Mass, and children approach the table in a single line and
throw flowers with the accompaniment of the age-old hymns “Moriyek Hogolsian” and “Sokkod
Sangatha Melyan” to express our love and thanksgiving to our heavenly Mother.
After the Mass the blessed paddy is
distributed. The elders of each family usually collect them and take them home
for further celebration. When the blessed paddy is brought to the house, it is
kept at the altar. Varieties of vegetables are cooked. Some prepare 7 items and
many 9. Once the meal is ready, some of the blessed new paddy is powdered and
mixed with milk. The elder of the family then distributes the milk and it is
taken with much devotion.
The beauty of this celebration is that the
family members sit on the floor and have meal on banana leaves (like the Onam meal in Kerala).
It is very much a family celebration. The missing family members are fondly
remembered and some of the blessed new paddy is sent to them by post.
Though we witness a lot of changes in most of
the religious practices today, the feast of the Nativity of Mary has remained
very unique to Mangaloreans even to this day. Those same old hymns, fragrance
of new crop, vegetables and other produce, take them back to their childhood memories.
Devotion to Mother Mary has always remained the same till today.
I am told that the Jesuits from Karnataka
working in Nagaland celebrate this feast there as well with much gradeur.
Let us thank her and continue to draw through
her intercession God’s love and mercy for our land.
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