The Catholic Church celebrates the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary on its traditional fixed date of September 8, nine months after the December 8 celebration of her Immaculate Conception as the child of Saints Joachim and Anne.
‘As children, I remember my mother who cultivated groundnuts would reserve for us, a small basket full of them to be boiled and relished by the family during the evening of the feast day’, says Antoneta Carvalho, from Margao.
The circumstances of the Virgin Mary's infancy and early life are not directly recorded in the Bible, but other documents and traditions describing the circumstances of her birth are cited by some of the earliest Christian writers from the first centuries of the Church.
These accounts, although not considered authoritative in the same manner as the Bible, outline some of the Church's traditional beliefs about the birth of Mary.
The ‘Protoevangelium of James’, which was probably put into its final written form in the early second century, describes Mary's father Joachim as a wealthy member of one of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. Joachim was deeply grieved, along with his wife Anne, by their childlessness.
Joachim and Anne began to devote themselves extensively and rigorously to prayer and fasting, initially wondering whether their inability to conceive a child might signify God's displeasure with them.
As it turned out, however, the couple were to be blessed even more abundantly than Abraham and Sarah, as an angel revealed to Anne when he appeared to her and prophesied that all generations would honor their future child: ‘The Lord has heard your prayer, and you shall conceive, and shall bring forth, and your seed shall be spoken of in all the world’.
After Mary's birth, according to the Protoevangelium of James, Anne made a sanctuary in the infant girl's room, and allowed nothing common or unclean on account of the special holiness of the child. The same writing records that when she was one year old, her father made a great feast, and invited the priests, and the scribes, and the elders, and all the people of Israel. And Joachim brought the child to the priests, the account continues, and they blessed her, saying: 'O God of our fathers, bless this child, and give her an everlasting name to be named in all generations’.And he brought her to the chief priests, and they blessed her, saying: 'O God most high, look upon this child, and bless her with the utmost blessing, which shall be forever’. The protoevangelium goes on to describe how Mary's parents, along with the temple priests, subsequently decided that she would be offered to God as a consecrated Virgin for the rest of her life, and enter a chaste marriage with the carpenter Joseph.
As kids, I recall taking a flower or two from my garden for Mother Mary, when I walked to our chapel for the novena mass in the evening. I would rush to the statue of Our Lady and place my flowers at her feet. After placing my flowers there, I would look around to see if I could spot some small twigs or mature marry golds, which I would carry back with me as I returned home from mass, and plant the seeds and twigs in my garden, praying to Mary that they may grow quickly
Blessy Aguiar e Andrade, Colva
Further, Blessy mentioned that if she did not have flowers in her garden, she would borrow them from her neighbor. ‘As children we never purchased flowers from the florist. They were humble offerings made with a pure heart with absolutely no intent of competing with what our neighbor may have placed at the feet of the Virgin’, she says.
Every year, on the day of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, people come together in Majorda, South Goa, to uphold a centuries-old custom that fosters unity and faith. The celebration of this feast is observed by the parishioners of Igreja da Mãe de Deus in Majorda in the same manner as other Goan celebrations. Nonetheless, this parish is known for a particular custom involving boats that are specially constructed from coconut palm leaves.
Traditionally, the residents of Majorda would bring flowers from their gardens along with a beautifully decorated palm leaf basket (bandeja) for the ten-day celebration. Many of the Majorda natives at the time were members of the seafaring community. Tragic events happened once when a boat got caught in a particularly strong storm. Those on board feared they would sink with the boat, and fear and anxiety pervaded the air. They cried out to Mary to save them at that very moment. If they made it to land safely, they promised to bring the flowers for the feast in a boat, instead of a traditional hand-held basket.
From that point on, flowers are carried inside the church on boats decorated with palm leaves, all the way up to the main altar on the feast day. The villagers would take their boats to their designated wards, burning crackers along the way, following the high mass and their flower offering, which was done in the morning. To build these boats, the villagers worked long hours. They get together each evening before the feast day to weave palm leaves for adorning the boats, which are subsequently embellished with lights and flowers.
They believe that because palm leaves were an easily accessible and local material in the past, these boats were decorated using them. Due to their environmental friendliness, palm leaves are still strictly used today. Historically, there used to be just two boats from Majorda and Calata, but in more recent times, residents of Dongorim, also get one of theirs. All of the participants unite as a single community, exchanging ideas, exhibiting camaraderie, and striving to carry on this venerable custom that is exclusive to the Majorda Parish. On the feast day, the boats are all on display in front of the church, and purchased flowers are presented at the start of mass, when followers of Our Lady process in a procession and lay the flowers at her feet.
Goa is known for her vibrant and diverse religious celebrations, which reflect her unique cultural and historical heritage. Here’s to the people of Majorda, who keep their rich tradition alive after it was revived some years back under the guidance of Fr Ave Maria, with passion and pride. To the festivals that light up the streets, the food that delights the senses, and the warmth of the Goan spirit—cheers to it all!