The Feast Day of the birth of Jesus’ Mother is celebrated on September 8th. It is a popular feast across the world in celebration of the sinless woman who gave birth to Jesus in Bethlehem. She is admired and emulated for her humble and joyful acceptance of the will of God. Mother Mary (The Blessed Mother) is a special intercessor because of her relationship to Jesus.

The Holy Mother’s intercessory relationship with Jesus was told in the story of the wedding feast at Cana. In this story, Jesus and Mary were attending a wedding reception and the wine for the guests ran out. Mary told the waiters to ask Jesus to help. Even though Jesus was not yet ready for a public display of His Glory, He did what His Mother asked – and much, delicious wine was miraculously transformed from water. See John 2:1-23.

The Mother-Son relationship is so deep, that no request of a Son by a Mother will be refused – just like Mary’s request at Cana, “His mother said to the servers, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’” (John 2:5) As such, pray to the Blessed Mother always and especially during this 9-day Novena.

Many parishes and churches celebrate a Novena for the 9-days leading up to September 8th. The Novenas can take various forms ranging from prayers by individuals over the 9-day period, group prayers and/or Masses on each of the 9 days. The Archdiocese of Bangalore is celebrating special Masses each day until the Feast Day on September 8th. You can see the English Mass for Day 1 of the Novena here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x78b-9Cu0w4