As summer turns to fall, there are silver bells ringing in the distance – less than three months from now, the world will celebrate the Nativity of Our Lord on Christmas. But in many parts of the Christian world, Sept. 8, the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is celebrated as a major holiday, too.
India is one of those places. “In India, whether you’re Syro-Malabar Catholic or Roman Catholic, the biggest feast is the Nativity of Our Lady,” said Daniel Villar, director of the diocesan Office of Ethnic Ministries.
This year, the Indian Catholic community in our diocese celebrated Our Lady’s nativity on Saturday, Sept. 14, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. At St. Michael the Archangel, Glen Allen, about 100 people gathered for a Mass celebrated by Father Dan Brady at 11 a.m. that day.
The readings focused on the incarnation of Christ and the salvation he delivered. Father Brady took the opportunity to remember Mary’s role in that story.
“One of the reasons we celebrate the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross is because Christ came into the world, by the grace of God, through Mary,” said Father Brady.
“We talk about exalting the cross because the resurrection changed the image of that cross from something that was fearful to a vision of hope,” Father Brady continued. “Imagine how Mary went through the feelings of absolute despair. She knew who Jesus was to the extent any human being could understand it. And still, she watched him die on the cross. This was her baby, her son.”
“She’s a perfect example of someone who would have known exactly how the cross went from being an instrument of terror to something that was defeated, no longer a sign of earthly power, but of God’s power,” he added.
The Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary falls on Sept. 8 because it is exactly nine months from the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, Dec. 8. However, the Indian Catholic community moved its celebration to the following Saturday this year due to a scheduling conflict, and the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross cannot be replaced.
“In some ways, it was God’s gift to us, to give us another perspective of what an example she is to us of heroic and saintly behavior,” said Father Brady.
Before the offertory hymn, Father Brady sang Marian hymns while those in attendance lined up to place flowers at the feet of the statue of Mary in the St. Michael sanctuary.
Father Shanoy John, pastor of St. Alphonsa Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, Chesterfield, was in attendance, along with dozens of Catholics from the parish. The Syro-Malabar Church is in full communion with the pope, making it one of 23 Catholic Churches worldwide.
“The [Syro-Malabar] family was there, the Indian Roman Catholic family was there, and some people came from the African and Filipino communities, too,” said Villar. “It helped the communities connect.”
“While it was the Indian community that introduced us to this, the Filipino community – among others – considers it significant, too,” said Father Brady. “Ours is a very multicultural parish, and this reflected that.”
“They were enjoying each other’s company, which is one of the best things about that kind of event,” he added. “That’s what every pastor wants to see happen.”