Feasts in honor of St. Mary, Mother of God.

The Holy Church observes five feasts every year, starting from Jan 15^th. The main feasts in honor of St. Mary are the following:

1) On 15^thJanuary – for the sake of seeds, as the first step of sowing

2) On 15^thMay – for the sake of spikes, as the first step of harvesting

3) On 15^thAugust – in honor of St. Mary’s Assumption to heaven ,

4) On 8^thSept – in honor of the Birthday of St. Mary

5) On 26^thDecember – to glorify Mother of God. (Feast of glorification)

Among the above five feasts, the first two were so important for the Indian Christians, who were mostly agriculturalists. There was a time when the entire efforts linked with the agriculture were submitted to the care and protection of St. Mary, Mother of God, as well as all the Saints including the Apostles. Our forefathers used to take out the seeds from the store houses which were commonly known as “Ara”, only after prayers and intercessory prayers. St. Mary was considered as a special fort around their efforts during the entire season and especially when the crops were almost ripe from natural calamities breakage of the boundary (varambu) and thereby the flow of water from neighboring canals or rivers. Our forefathers used to whisper every time “My God and My Mother” (“Ente Daivame and ente Maathave) Their faith was so sound and solid. During the harvest season, the first and best bundle of crop was kept apart for submitting in the Parish Church.

Though the Holy Church observes all the feasts on the exact dates still, many of us are least bothered about them. Many of us remember the feast of 8^thSept alone and forget others. So what happens? We are losing the agriculture and the blessings from it. Our forefathers were eager in agriculture not only for their sake and happiness but also for the poor and needy around them. They never harvested from the sides of the boundary or to collect the left overs during the harvest and those spikes were left for the poor and needy. From our Pampakkuda Prayer book, we do pray: “Lord, bless the 12 months of the year by the intercession of the 12 Apostles chosen by you. Let there be summer and winter be given at the routine periods systematically so that we could avail the heavenly blessings and the earthly crops. Lord let the crops and fruits to grow more so that the poor and destitute could praise thee after having them and get satisfied and enable us to have regular and needy rains,”

Let us not lose the tradition of seeking the intercession and protection of St. Mary, Mother of God in our day to day affairs. Let seek the continuous intercession of the Mother of God and to avil the blessings let us call her “Ente Daiva Maathave “ For each and every need in our houses,like children getting sick all of a sudden or so, our Mothers used to utter “Daivamaathave” first before seeking the worldly remedies. Let us inculcate the great and rich tradition in our lives too.

May God bless us all

Jose Kurian Puliy