Mother Mary's birthday celebrations to begin in Bandra

The birth of Mother Mary will be celebrated on Monday, ushering in the 17-day-long festival. With the birth being celebrated with eight hourly masses in the day, a solemn mass will be conducted by Cardinal Oswald Gracias at 8.30am at Mount Mary church, as it is popularly known, in Bandra.

"The theme this year is Eucharist and Mary, with different themes every day in the Octave period, which begins from September 14 and will go on till September 21, where mass will be conducted in Malayalam, Gujarati, Marathi, Tamil and Konkani for each of the days by four bishops from Mumbai," said parish priest Aniceto Pereira, who is trying to arrange for hospitality and security of the huge crowd that will arrive at the church.

Father Pereira believes there will be at least 50,000 people during the Octave period, as opposed to the general 15,000 during the preparatory nine days before September 14. He also said how there is a special day and mass dedicated to the sick and aged on September 15, and that this year the lesson to imbibe is 'listening to God'.

"Mother Mary is the conduit to God, and people come here to ask for healing and protection, among other things. We have kept eight masses, a few in the evening owing to Ganpati visarjan. We have requested devotees living nearby to attend, but wouldn't want to inconvenience anybody as the immersion celebration will be taking place at the nearby beaches," he said.

The legendary Basilica of Our lady of the Mount, or Mount Mary church, which was established in late 1700s, will come alive during the Bandra fair held in the Octave days. "Earlier, the fair was organised by local Christian devotees, but now it is being taken care of by the municipality. The nearest Sunday to September 8, which is September 14, will be celebrated as the feast for public convenience. The fair will begin that day too," said Father Nigel Barrett, spokesperson of Archdiocese of Bombay.