FEAST OF THE NATIVITY OF MARY! : PUSHPASHRAMA
Graceful Mother, born without any sin, Graceful Mother of Jesus, save us from life’s din!

The feast every catholic looks forward, a joy for the Marian, a delight for a vegetarian and a glee for a communitarian - ‘The Monthi Feast’. The feast of the nativity of the Blessed mother of God was solemnized at Infant Jesus Shrine Pushpashrama! This year the feast fell on a Sunday, giving us the opportunity to double the celebrations. Right before the Mass, at 8 am, the entire congregation gathered before the grotto of our Lady, and everyone, young and old, offered flowers to the new-born Blessed Virgin! Also the new harvest keeping up with our tradition of offering the first fruits were blessed. After the offering, everyone moved to the church in a procession, carrying the Infant Mary’s statue! The solemnity, as usual on a Sunday, was celebrated in English. Most of the community fathers joined in the con celebration of the Eucharistic Meal! It was Fr. Oswald who presided over the celebration who with his comprehensive grasp of the Holy Bible showcased how the birth of Mother Mary was foreseen in the Sacred Scripture.

Our brothers having animated the liturgy; put up an act accentuating the aspect of loneliness in the life of a young man, and how he could be healed by few kind words! It was a heart-touching performance! People were moved to tears and hopefully they must have carried the message home. Many young children joined the brothers in creating a melodious singing that filled the congregation with angelic joy! The prayers of faithful was prayed in different languages to promote the diversity of the feast and its culture. All the children who attended the novena faithfully were felicitated along with the other kids.

After the mass everyone was given sugarcane, to enhance the joy of the day! We were very happy that many sponsors came forward to contribute towards the expenses of the sugarcane on the feast day as well as to sponsor sweets to children on the days of novena!

Soon after the Holy Sacrifice, the community got busy in preparing house for the celebrations; it included decorating the common refectory, cooking a delicious meal from very many vegetables and much more! At lunch time, the community gathered together and brothers briefed everyone about the significance of the celebration of Monti fest as per the Mangalorean tradition as well as the legend behind the Onam celebrations. Prayers were then made for several intentions in various languages from the east to west, which again emphasized the cultural dynamism that we enjoy in the house! Following this, was a skit put up by the ‘mundu’ clad brothers bringing out the significance of vegetables. Creative as they are, they played the skit in a unique way considering how it would be if the vegetables had a provincial chapter at Pushpashrama.

The sumptuous vegetarian meal was then served which was cooked by the community! After the meal, the celebrations concluded with the singing of the ‘Laudate domine,’ an ancient hymn in praise of Almighty God, who is the Giver of all graces!