The nativity of Mother Mary ‘Monthi Fest’
“Let us celebrate with joy the birth of the blessed Virgin Mary that she may intercede for us with our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Mary, by a special grace, was selected to become the Mother of Jesus, through Immaculate Conception. Her birth is the prime cause for the immense joy and happiness we share on this special day. As the Divine Mother of God; Mary being a flawless example of purity, modesty, chastity, humbleness and obedience, unceasingly was forthright and archaic to the Almighty’s will. In order to commemorate this occasion on the 8th of September being her birthday, we venerate her for her explicit nature and for the gift of our Lord, whom she bore and gave to mankind.
The nativity of Mother Mary, popularly known as ‘Monthi Fest’, has a unique quality of fetching all Christians under one big roof for celebration. Since this feast falls on the season of the harvest, it is termed as the feast of new harvest.
The 9 days Novena celebrating the feast of the Nativity of our beloved Mother Mary, culminated in a grand celebration on Friday, the 2nd of September 2016, at Our Lady Of Arabia Church, Ahmadi. The Bambina of the Virgin Mary was taken in a procession, which resumed at 10:00am. Our beloved priest, Fr Xavier Fernandes, the spiritual director of the Konkani community led the procession along with Fr Frederick Braggs(Cap), who was the guest priest from Mangalore for this auspicious occasion.
A large multitude of devotees attended the celebration irrespective of their origin. It was a crowd of the Konkani community that was present for the celebration in the church. It was quite obvious to have such a large crowd, considering the love and dedication that the people expressed towards Mother Mary.
The grand celebration began with the blessing of the New Harvest, strewing of flowers to Mother Mary, followed by the Eucharistic celebration. A very effective homily was rendered by the guest priest, Fr Frederick Braggs and the melodious choir both the children & Adults of Our Lady Of Arabia church, with large devotees joining actively with the choir made it lively throughout the celebration a memorable one.
After the mass, Fr Xavier expressed his gratitude and thanks to all the parishioners, the Donors, Well wishers for their varied support in preparing this feast on a grand scale, people from all over Kuwait joining Our Lady of Ahmadi Parishioners giving their whole-hearted co-operation in preparing and carrying out the celebration. The celebration ended with the Holy Hour being the First Friday of the month and everyone with their family joining the fellowship Lunch, where everyone was served with the traditional ‘Festive Meal’ better called as “Festhachen Jevan”. Around 1700 members from all over Kuwait were present for the same. The ceaseless efforts, the incessant zeal and the constant unity of the Konkani community of our Lady of Arabia, resulted in the grand success of the celebration.
by Pratiksha D’silva
Pics By Alban D’souza