Servants of Charity

My Dear Confreres, 

The Church has celebrated Mary's birth since at least the sixth century. A September birth was chosen because the Eastern Church begins its Church year with September. The September 8th date helped determine the date for the feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8th.
There is no historical record of the birth of Mary. It might come as a surprise to many, however, that during the time of Mary, as in many other Mediterranean societies of ancient times, the birth of a girl was a non-event inasmuch as the birth of a boy was a call for a big feast and celebration. Mary lived in a society where women were regarded as the property of men and second-class citizens. Thus, it would not be farfetched to say that Mary never celebrated her own birthday during her lifetime. Besides, there was no such thing as a yearly celebration of one's birthday during Mary's time. Today, however, birthdays have become a big deal. Could you imagine not celebrating your own birthday?
Scripture does not give an account of Mary's birth. However, the apocryphal “Protoevangelium of James,” which was probably put into its final written form in the early second century, fills in the gap. This work has no historical value, but it does reflect the development of Christian piety. According to this account, Anna and Joachim were infertile but prayed for a child. They received the promise of a child who would advance God's plan of salvation for 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 the story of our salvation goes, however, Mary was chosen by God to be the bearer of God's Son into the world. God chose, of all the people, a poor, unknown and humble handmaid notwithstanding the domination of kings, powerful rulers, mighty warriors, wise judges, rich and influential people during her lifetime. Because of bearing God into the world, she was, indeed, “full of grace” and “blessed among all women/men.” God's election of Mary which brought forth the savior in the world will be a cause of joy for all generations. This is the primary reason why we are celebrating today her birthday. This celebration is not so much about herself but about all the wonders and bountiful graces that God has done to her. Mary herself would proclaim this in her Magnificat, “From this day all generations will call me blessed, the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is His Name”.
St. Augustine described the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary as an event of cosmic and historic significance, and an appropriate prelude to the birth of Jesus Christ.

She is the flower of the field from whom bloomed the precious lily of the valley. Through her birth the nature inherited from our first parents is changed.”

Mary is called the firstborn of the redeemed and her nativity is “the hope of the entire world and the dawn of salvation”(Pope Paul VI, Marialis Cultus).
In the liturgy on this day, the primary theme portrayed on this feast day is that the world had been in darkness, and with the arrival of Mary begins a glimmer of light. That light that appears at Mary's holy birth pre-announces the arrival of Christ, the Light of the World. Her birth is the beginning of a better world. The antiphon for the Canticle of Zechariah at the Morning Prayer of this day expressed these sentiments in the following way: “Your birth, O Virgin Mother of God, proclaims joy to the whole world, for from you arose the glorious Son of Justice, Christ our God; He freed us from the age-old curse and filled us with holiness; He destroyed death and gave us eternal life.”
The Blessed Virgin has a pivotal role in the history of salvation, and she was given the highest mission ever commended to any creature. We rejoice that the Mother of God is our Mother, too. Today and every day, let us often call upon the Blessed Virgin as the “Cause of our joy.”

• Volunteers from ASCI Italy will visit all of our communities/residence from August 30, 2023 to September 18, 2023.The goal of the visit is to monitor the ongoing projects for 2023-24; to monitor the funded projects for the year 2021-22 and 2022-23 and to monitor the requests for the year 2023-24 (Chennai,Warangal, Kolli Hills & Madurai). I request get ready with the annual plan, files and details for the distance adoption program (Boys Homes); to get ready with the Evening School students register and annual plan and hard copy of the proposed projects for the year 2023-24 (DGSS,Warangal, Madurai and Kolli Hills).
• We wish all the best for Fr. Benson, Fr. Praveen Jebakumar and Fr. Shantham who will be partaking in the forthcoming Formators' Meet in Italy at the beginning of September 2023.
• Our heartfelt condolences and prayers to our confrere Bro. Stephen Raj on the demise of his beloved father. Please keep the bereaved family in your prayers.
• The ongoing formation manual Bond of Charity has been printed in English and distributed to the individual confreres and I therefore urge the Superiors and Residence In-charges to make use of it for further study and reflection in your community meetings and recollections.
• I appeal to the Superiors and Residence In-charges to prepare the annual project of the community at the earliest and send it to the provincialate, if you have not done so already.
• My sincere gratitude to all those who collaborated and helped organize the priestly ordination and the first thanksgiving Masses of the confreres.

Fr. Ronald J, SdC

Provincial Superior