- Our Lady of Good Health
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Our Lady of Good Health 
Location Velankanni, India Date 16th and 17th century Type Marian apparition Holy See approval 1962 Shrine Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health, Velankanni, India Our lady of Good Health, (ஆரோக்கிய மாதா Arokia Matha in Tamil) popularly called "Our Lady of Vailankanni" is artributed to Mary, mother of Jesus, in the small town of Velankanni, Tamil Nadu, India, located on the shores of the Bay of Bengal.[1] A Basilica artributed to both Portuguese and Indians stands in and around the sites of the three miraculous events. The iconic depiction of Our Lady of Good Health is also unique since it is one of two only icons where Mother Mary is shown wearing a sari (the only other is said to have been buried by Aurangzeb).[2]
The Church is known for thousands of pilgrims from all over India to be assembled for multilingual prayers every Christmas.[3]
Contents
Miraculous Events
Though there is no historical document or record about the apparitions of Mary at Vailankanni, the oral tradition ascertain the two apparitions of the Blessed Mother of Vailankanni in the 16th century and the saving of the Portuguese sailors from a tempest in the Bay of Bengal in the later 17th century.[4]
First Event
The first of the apparitions in Vailankanni is claimed to be to a Hindu boy in mid sixteenth century. It is said that while he rested under a native banyan tree near a pond. A lady appeared to him and requested milk for her son. The boy readily agreed. On reaching the customer's home, the boy apologized for his lateness and the reduced amount of milk and related the incident that occurred on his way. However, upon inspection of his order, the man found the milk pot to be full and was convinced that something miraculous should have happened. Together the man, also a Hindu, and the boy returned to the place where the apparition had occurred. When they reached the pond, the lady appeared once again. On learning that it was Mary, mother of Jesus, who appeared to the boy, the residents of the local Catholic community became ecstatic and promptly renamed the pond Matha Kulam or, Our Lady's Pond.[5]
Second Event
Later towards the end of the 16th century, it is believed, that Mary appeared to a crippled boy (and also a son of a widow) in a place called Nadu Thittu, once again in the same town of Velankanni. The boy is claimed to have offered her buttermilk and then cured of his illness. The boy was commanded by Mary to inform a Catholic gentleman in the nearby town of Nagapattinam. The first thatched shrine was built by this Catholic gentleman.[6]
Third Event
In the 17th century, a Portuguese merchant vessel, sailing from Macau in China to Colombo in Sri Lanka was caught in a tempest in the Bay of Bengal. The sailors at the point of desolation vowed to build a chapel in her name wherever they could reach safe. The legends claim that stormy sea became quiet and their ship reached the shore of Vailankanni on the 8th of September the Birthday of Mary. In fulfillment of their vow, the Portuguese sailors put up a chapel at Vailankanni by transforming the earlier thatched chapel.[4]
Basilica
Main article: Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health
Basilica (Extension) of Our Lady of Good Health
General articles
Overview of Mariology •
Veneration of the Blessed Virgin • History of MariologyExpressions of devotion
Art • Hymns • Music • ArchitectureSpecific articles
Apparitions • Saints • Popes • Societies • Hearts of Jesus & Mary • Consecration to MaryA Gothic-styled basilica stands in Velankanni in memory of the apparitions.
Other Churches and Shrines
- Our Lady of Good Health Church in Mozambique.[7]
- Our Lady of Good Health parish church in Ontario, Canada.[8]
- Velankanni Shrine, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.[9]
- Church of Our Lady of Vailankanni, Farla, India.[10]
- Our Lady of Good Health Church, Colombo, Sri Lanka
- Our Lady of Snow Kallikulam (Our Lady of Snow Church, Kallikulam), Tamil Nadu, India.
- Saude Mai - Old Church, Shirva (Our Lady of Good Health. The old church situated in Shirva, Mangalore, said to be destroyed by Tipu Sultan was restored and inaugurated on 17th May 2007.)
- Graha Maria Annai Velangkanni (Marian Shrine of Annai Velangkanni), Medan, North Sumatera, Indonesia.
- Parish Church of Our Lady of Good Health in Paco, Manila, Philippines
- Parish Church of Our Lady of Good Health in Quezon City, Philippines
- A small chapel inside the Crypt Church at Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington, DC, United States
Feast day
September 8 is commemorated as the feast of Our Lady of Good Health. The celebration starts 29 August and ends on the day of the feast.[11] The feast day prayers are said in Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada, Konkani, Hindi and English.[12]
Prayers and Offerings
Centuries of devotion to Mother Mary both by Hindus and Christians have evolved an amalgamation of practices borrowing elements from both religions.[13] It is said that the portrayal of Virgin Mary as a curer of illness and a victor over all demonic forces is seen by local Hindus as an artribute equivalent of Hindu Goddess Mariamman.[14] The practises include bathing in the sea, shaving heads, walking on knees or rolling in the shrine as a ritual.[15]
It is also common to find traditions of offering a candle in the shape of the respective ailment- a heart in case of cardiac complications, a liver in case of jaundice, lungs in case of tuberculosis and so on. In case of the ailment getting cured, many bring with them small gold and silver replicas of parts of the body that has been cured to donate to the church.[15] Devoties clad in orange (or saffron) robes.[16]
Some times offering are sent in sealed bottles or big hollow bamboos duly closed and thrown in to the sea with the address of the shrine written on them. Such offerings are believed to reach the holy spot.[15]
Movie
A Tamil movie was made in honour of Our Lady of Good Health with the title Annai Velankanni in 1971. The movie was directed by K. Thakapan, starring major stars of Tamil cinema including Gemini Ganesan, Kamal Hassan, K. R. Vijaya, and Padmini.[17]
Other titles
Our Lady of Good Health is also referred to as:
- Velankanni Matha- Mother Velankanni [18]
- Arokia Matha-Mother of Good Health[1]
- Velankanni Amma
- Punitha Arokia Annai- Saint Mother of Good Health</ref>
Parish page of Our lady of Good Health.</ref>
Gallery
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Velankanni Church - Front View
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Velankanni Basilica - Extension - Fron View
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Veilankanni Basilica - A Panoramic Side View - Church and Church Extension seen at a stretch
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Veilankanni Basilica - Left side view
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Veilankanni Basilica - Right side view
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Veilankanni Basilica at Dusk
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Veilankanni Church Pond
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Pilgrims walking on their knees towards the Pond
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Veilankanni - Adoration Center
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Velankanni Basilica
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Chappel in Nadu Thittu where Mother Mary appeared for the first time
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A Chappel for St Sebastin at Velankanni
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Velankanni Church Office housing office, priest residence and a shop
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Velankannii-Boat.jpg
Velankanni Fisher Folk keeping their boat ready
See also
References
- ^ a b Vailankanni Church homepage
- ^ R.V. Smith Mother Mary... in a sari from The Hindu
- ^ Thousands of pilgrims throng Velankanni for Christmas from The Hindu
- ^ a b History of the Basilica on its home page
- ^ Mary Page News
- ^ History of Annai Vailankanni
- ^ Britiannica.com entry
- ^ Tamil Church home page
- ^ History of the Church
- ^ Home page of the Church in Farla
- ^ Velankanni festival ends with feast mass on The Hindu news
- ^ Lakhs throng Velankanni church on Chennaionline.com
- ^ Margaret Meibohm Cultural complexity in South India: Hindu and Catholic in Marian pilgrimage University of Pennsylvania
- ^ Corinne G. Dempsey, Selva J. Raj Popular Christianity in India: Riting Between the Lines State University of New York press.
- ^ a b c Pilgrimages in India on Find-India.com.
- ^ Pilgrimages on IndianChristianity.org website.
- ^ IMDB entry on the movie
- ^ 'Annai Velankanni Matha’ festival begins today from the Hindu.
External links
Categories:- Marian apparitions
- Churches in Tamil Nadu
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