The narration by Bar Ebroyo

In the seventh century, there was a town called Heera near Basra, which was predominantly a Christian township. The Caliph of Baghdad captured this town and appointed a fanatic Muslim governor, who implemented the caliph's every dictum with fervor. The caliph was known to be cruel and had a weakness for beautiful women. He was enamored by the beauty and charm of the women of Heera and decided to reach there in three days. The chastity and modesty of the women of Heera were at stake. They sought refuge in the church of St. Mary. The priest declared an uncompromising lent for three days invoking the intercession of mother Mary. On the 3rd day, in the middle of the Holy Qurbana, a golden beam of light flashed down from above, then spread to illuminate the whole church. It is said that the priest had a vision of Mother Mary and also heard her saying, “Do not be afraid; peace be to you – Rejoice. The Caliph is no more. Tribulations are over”. The priest then turned to the people and they could see an aura around the priests face as he relayed the message. The whole congregation praised the Lord and thanked Mary for her intercessory prayers.^[3]

The women then decided to observe a lent for eight days (i.e. from the 1st to the 8th of September in commemoration of this event). They believed that Mother Mary helped safeguard their chastity, modesty and dignity.^[4]

Establishment at Kerala

By the 3rd century St. David (an Episcoppa) came to India from Basra and evangelized people. This was followed by the Knanaya Migration from Şanlıurfa in the 4th century. Iraqi migrants of the 8th century further spread this tradition. As it is not a canonical event of the Church calendar its popularity is somewhat limited. St. Mary's Cathedral, Manarcaud,^[5] under the jurisdiction of the Malankara Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church, is believed to be the first church to have reestablished the lent in a wide manner. It remains the largest church where the 8-Day lent is a popular tradition. The stone inscriptions found at the church reveal that the church was built more than a thousand years ago. Archeologists have found out that these stone inscriptions were memorial stones set up at the tombs in 910 A.D. and 920 A.D. The writing on them are in Malayalam and Tamil scripts prevalent 600 years ago.^[4][6] St. Mary's Church, Meenangadi is the first church to adopt the 8 day lent in the Malabar region. Many churches in the name of St. Mary have subsequently begun recognition of the 8 day lent. The Holy Girdle is taken out for the public at the eighth day.