Our Lady of Good Health

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Velankanni Matha leads here. For other uses see Velankanni (disambiguation)
Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health
Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health

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 three apparitions. The iconic depiction of Our Lady of Good Health is also unique since it is only two of 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

[edit] Apparitions

Though there is no historical document or record about the apparitions of Mary at Vailankanni, the oral tradition ascertain the two apparitions of the Blessed Mother of Vailankanni in the 16th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]

[edit] First Apparition

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]

[edit] Second Apparition

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]

[edit] Third Apparition

In the 17th century, a Portuguese merchant vessel, sailing from Macao 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]

[edit] Basilica

Main article: Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health

A Gothic styled Basilica stands in Velankanni in memory of the aparitions.

[edit] Other Churches

  • 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]

[edit] 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]

[edit] 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]

[edit] 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, staring major stars of Tamil cinema including Gemini Ganesan, Kamal Hassan, K. R. Vijaya, and Padmini.[17]

[edit] Other titles

Our Lady of Good Health is also referred to as:

  • Velankanni Matha- Mother Velankanni [18]
  • Arokia Matha-Mother of Good Health[1]
  • Punitha Arokia Annai- Saint Mother of Good Health[19]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Vailankanni Church homepage
  2. ^ R.V. Smith Mother Mary... in a sari from The Hindu
  3. ^ Thousands of pilgrims throng Velankanni for Christmas from The Hindu
  4. ^ a b History of the Basilica on its home page
  5. ^ Mary Page News
  6. ^ History of Annai Vailankanni
  7. ^ Britiannica.com entry
  8. ^ Tamil Church home page
  9. ^ History of the Church
  10. ^ Home page of the Church in Farla
  11. ^ Velankanni festival ends with feast mass on The Hindu news
  12. ^ Lakhs throng Velankanni church on Chennaionline.com
  13. ^ Margaret Meibohm Cultural complexity in South India: Hindu and Catholic in Marian pilgrimage University of Pennsylvania
  14. ^ Corinne G. Dempsey, Selva J. Raj Popular Christianity in India: Riting Between the Lines State University of New York press.
  15. ^ a b c Pilgrimages in India on Find-India.com.
  16. ^ Pilgrimages on IndianChristianity.org website.
  17. ^ IMDB entry on the movie
  18. ^ 'Annai Velankanni Matha’ festival begins today from the Hindu.
  19. ^ Parish page of Our lady of Good Health.