Pics: Dayanand Kukkaje
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru
Mangaluru, Sep 8: Churches brimmed with thousands of faithful on Tuesday September 8 as the feast of Our Lady of Nativity, or Monthi Fest, was celebrated with much devotion.
The feast, marking the birthday of Mother Mary, is celebrated the world over by Catholics as the feast of Immaculate Conception.
Bondel Church
For Konkani Christians, Monthi Fest is also the festival of the new corn (harvest).
People dressed in colourful attires, carrying paddy and baskets of flowers, were seen going to the churches in processions. Churches across the city and everywhere else brimmed with devotees and reverberated with traditional hymns.
Nine-day Novenas to the Blessed Virgin Mary precede the feast, at the end of which children offer flowers in a ceremonious manner at the grotto of Mother Mary. Sweets are distributed to all the children on the novena days.
The paddy or first grain is brought to the Altar in a procession and blessed by the priest. The offertory procession includes the statue of Mother Mary, sugarcane, vegetables, flowers, fruits, bread and wine.
The blessed paddy and sugarcanes are then taken home, and the grains are crushed, added to milk, and served to the family members.
It is also an occasion for family reunions, with members of the family sharing a festal lunch comprising sumptuous vegetarian dishes. Mangalurean Catholics celebrate this festival with great fervour, no matter which part of the world they are in.