Our Lady of Good Health

Our Lady of Good Health
Our Lady of Vailankanni
Holy Mother of Good Health
புனித ஆரோக்கிய அன்னை
Location Velankanni, India
Date 16th and 17th century
Witness Young boy
Type Marian apparition
Holy See approval Pending approval by the Holy See
Shrine Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health, Velankanni, India
Feast day, 8 September

Our Lady of Good Health (Tamil: ஆரோக்கிய அன்னை Ārōkkiya annai), also known as Our Lady of Vailankanni, is a celebrated Catholic title of the Blessed Virgin Mary believed to have appeared in Velankanni Town, Tamil Nadu, India.[1] According to traditional beliefs, the Marian apparition is said to have occurred to a young boy delivering butter-milk to the neighbourhood when the Virgin Mary, carrying the child Jesus, is said to have appeared. This apparition has not been approved by the Holy See.

The Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health erected by the Portuguese and the Indians stands at this site. The iconic depiction of the Madonna is unique in that it is one of two only icons where Mary is portrayed wearing an Indian Sari, while the other statue is said to have been buried with Aurangzeb, the Mughal Emperor .[2] The basilica is known as a site for pilgrims from all over India and its assembly of multilingual prayers every Christmas.[3]

History

Though there is no historical document or record about the reputed apparitions of Mary at Vailankanni, only oral tradition ascertain the two apparitions in the 16th century and the saving of the Portuguese sailors from a tempest in the Bay of Bengal in the 17th century.[4]

Basilica

Basilica (Extension) of Our Lady of Good Health

A Gothic-styled basilica stands in Velankanni in memory of the apparitions.

Feast day

September 8, the Feast of the Nativity of Mary, is also commemorated as the feast of Our Lady of Good Health. The celebration starts on 29 August and ends on the day of the feast.[5] The feast day prayers are said in Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada, Konkani, Hindi and English.

Other churches and shrines

Movie

A Tamil language movie was made in honor of Our Lady of Good Health with the title Annai Velankanni in 1971. The movie was directed by K. Thankappan, starring major stars of Tamil cinema including Gemini Ganesan, Kamal Haasan, K. R. Vijaya, Jayalalitha and Padmini.[9]

See also

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.