Birth of Virgin. The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Nativity of Mary, or the Birth of the Virgin Mary, refers to a Christian feast day celebrating the birth of Mary, mother of Jesus. The modern canon of scripture does not record Mary's birth. The earliest known account of Mary's birth is found in the Protoevangelium of James, an apocryphal text from the late second century, with her parents known as Saint Anne and Saint Joachim. In the case of saints, the Church commemorates their date of death, with Saint John the Baptist and the Virgin Mary as the few whose birth dates are commemorated. The reason for this is found in the singular mission each had in salvation history, but traditionally also because these alone were holy in their very birth. Devotion to the innocence of Mary under this Marian title is widely celebrated in many cultures across globe.globe. The tradition of 8 days lent is widely seen in kerala which has its root from the Global marian pilgrim centre St Marys Cathedral Manrcad at kottayam. The feast of mother mary called as jananaperunnal is carried out every year upholding regional traditional culutre. The lent also witnesses asia's largest procession.On the seventh day of feast a very unique picture of mother and infant jesus is opened for public worship to thousands of marian devotees who assemble crying and praying inside church. St. Mary's Cathedral Manarcad-the Global Marian Pilgrim Centre-is the only church in Malankara, where the site of the church was given in a divine relevation. The holy shrine-St. Mary's Jacobite Syrian Cathedral, Manarcad-celebrates the feast of the Nativity of Virgin Mary on September 8. September 1 to 8 is the historic Eight Day Lent at Manarcad for which all roads lead to this holy shrine and hundreds of thousands of pilgrims throng here seeking favors and blessing from the Holy mother.The Tradition of the Eight-Day Lent of St.Mary's Church, Manarcad is as old as the church itself, it started when such a practice was not in existence in the other parishes of the Malankara Syrian Christian Church. Even in these early days people come from faraway places to take part in this lent. Rev. Joseph Pit, the Anglican Missionary who visited the church in 1836, to his surprise found a very large crowd of pilgrims in the church of Manarcad and its premises. More than 2000 devotees lived there observing the Eight-Day Lent. The following words of Rev. Pic authenticate this fact: I heard that some Christians observed a special lent for a week in the name of St. Marys in Manarcad. They observed it in the church by avoiding certain items of food, taking daily bath and by attempting to make themselves holy. More than 2000 pilgrims had assembled in the church and its premises. This church with believed to be a holy place. 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. He and his wife Anne were deeply grieved by their childlessness. Pious accounts place the birthplace of the Virgin Mary in Sepphoris, Israel where a 5th-century basilica is excavated at the site. Some accounts speak of Nazareth and others say it was in a house near the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem. It is possible that a wealthy man such as Joachim had a home in both Judea and Galilee. However, Charles Souvay, writing in the Catholic Encyclopedia, says that the idea that Joachim possessed large herds and flocks cannot be asserted with certainty, as the sources for this are .of very doubtful value. Tradition celebrates the event as a liturgical feast in the General Roman Calendar and in most Anglican liturgical calendars on 8 September, nine months after the solemnity of her Immaculate Conception, celebrated on 8 December. The feast is also included in the Tridentine Calendar for 8 September. This date is also used in the Western Rite Orthodox Church. The Byzantine Rite Orthodox likewise celebrate the Nativity of the Theotokos on 8 September. The Syriac Orthodox Church, like its closely related sister church, the Byzantine Rite Antiochian Orthodox Church, also celebrates the feast on 8 September. For churches using the old Julian Calendar for liturgical purposes September 8 falls on September 21 of the Gregorian Calendar. In other words, Old Calendar Churches, such as the Russian Orthodox Church, still celebrate the Nativity of the Theotokos on the 8th, but the day is actually the 21st according to the everyday calendar used by society at large. The Armenian Apostolic Church also uses the traditional date of 8 September. Yet the Coptic Orthodox and Ethiopian Orthodox Christians celebrate it on May 9.
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