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Our Lady of Good Health
Velankanni, India (16th cent.)
Commemorated on September 8, August 29
There are three major events associated with Our Lady of Good of Health in Vailankanni. The Virgin Mary is said by tradition to have appeared to a shephered boy named Tamil Krishnannesti Sankaranaranayam who offered her child milk. She is subsequently said to have appeared to and healed a crippled boy selling buttermilk. A group of Portuguese sailors attribute being saved from a violent storm to her intercession. They constructed a larger chapel at their landing spot in Vailankanni.Located on the Bay of Bengal in southeastern India, the shrine of Our Lady of Good Health was built near the site of three miracles all said to have occurred on September 8, Feast of Mary's Nativity, beginning in the late 1500s. The feast of the Velankanni shrine begins on August 29, with the hoisting of Our Lady's flag, and continues with daily masses and processions through September 8, when the flag is lowered.
Miracle 1. On his way from Velankanni to deliver milk to a wealthy customer in Nagapattinam five miles north, a Hindu boy stopped to drink at a waterhole and rested there under a banyan tree. A radiant woman appeared, asking for some milk to give the child in her arms. On fulfilling her request, the young milkman was gratified to see the baby smile. When he got to Nagapattinam he told his customer the story by way of apology for his lateness and the reduced amount of milk. But finding the milk pot full, the rich man, also a Hindu, asked the boy to show him the place where the lady appeared. In the shrine's account, the customer prostrated himself at the spot, considering it holy ground (Shrine Basilica of Our Lady of Health Vailankanni, www.vailankannishrine.org). In other devotional accounts, the mother and child reappeared when the boy and his customer got there (Velankanni Church, www.velankannichurch.com). Local Catholics identified the apparition as the Virgin Mary, and the waterhole became known as Matha Kulam, Mother Tank.
Miracle 2. A few years later, a Catholic man in Nagapattinam dreamed that Our Lady asked him to build a chapel in her honor. The next day, another young milk vendor, this time a crippled boy who sold buttermilk on Velankanni's public square, arrived at his house with the same request. The beautiful woman had appeared to him asking for buttermilk for her child. After he gave it, she bid him tell the Catholic of her desire for a chapel. Suddenly healed of his infirmity, the boy hastened to Nagapattinam with the news. The man built a thatched chapel at Velankanni, with a statue of the Madonna and Child. So many pilgrims found healing there that the Virgin of Velankanni became known as Our Lady of Good Health.
"Mother of good health beckons all," The Hindu, www.thehindu.com
Miracle 3. In the 1700s, a Portuguese vessel encountered a storm en route to Malaya. After praying to the Virgin for help, the crew found port at Velankanni. In thanksgiving they improved the shrine, then and on subsequent visits.
History
A shepherd boy named Tamil Krishnannesti Sankaranaranayam was performing his usual duty of carrying milk from Vailankanni to his master at Nagapattinam. Despite the morning freshness, fatigue overcame him as he was passing by a water pond at the Anna pillai street at Vailankanni. Placing the milk-pot near the banyan tree by the water pond, the boy fell into an unusual slumber, only to be startled to his feet by the sweet vision of a beautiful Lady holding in her hand a most charming child of divine appearance. As the boy was still taken by surprise, the Lady asked for some milk for her child which the boy then reverently offered.
The impatient master did not believe the story of the boy. But to the greater astonishment of all present, the milk began to surge over the pot and flow out. On reaching the place of apparition, the gentleman and others began to believe in the her appearance. This place began to be called, "Matha Kulam" (Our Lady's Tank).
Around the end of the 16th century, a poor widow and her lame son lived in Vailankanni. Every day the lame boy used to sit under a banyan tree at a place called 'Nadu Thittu' (central mound) and sell butter-milk to the thirsty wayfarers. One day, a very bright light appeared in front of him and from amidst the light, a Lady of peerless grace with a divine Child in her arms, asked the boy for a cup of butter-milk. Then She directed him to go and inform a catholic gentleman at Nagapattinam to put up a Chapel in her name on the spot of her apparition. The boy realized that his legs had become normal upon the word from the Lady. With great joy, he ran to Nagapattinam to carry out the errand. Having been already directed in a vision by Our Lady, the Catholic gentleman, with the support of the people, built a Chapel at 'Nadu Thittu' where now stands the present Shrine Basilica. The Lady was called, 'Our Lady of Good Health'.
They transformed the thatched Chapel erected by the catholic gentleman of Nagapattinam into a beautiful stone-built Chapel. On their next visit, they decorated the Altar with porcelain plates, illustrating biblical themes. These plates giving testimony to their thanksgiving to Our Lady, are seen even today around the throne of the miraculous statue of Our Lady of Good Health, over the main altar of the Shrine Basilica. From that time the Feast of Our Lady of Good Health is celebrated every year preceded by hoisting of the flag on August 29th.
Around the end of the 16th century, a poor widow and her lame son lived in Vailankanni. Every day the lame boy used to sit under a banyan tree at a place called 'Nadu Thittu' (central mound) and sell butter-milk to the thirsty wayfarers. One day, a very bright light appeared in front of him and from amidst the light, a Lady of peerless grace with a divine Child in her arms, asked the boy for a cup of butter-milk. Then She directed him to go and inform a catholic gentleman at Nagapattinam to put up a Chapel in her name on the spot of her apparition. The boy realized that his legs had become normal upon the word from the Lady. With great joy, he ran to Nagapattinam to carry out the errand. Having been already directed in a vision by Our Lady, the Catholic gentleman, with the support of the people, built a Chapel at 'Nadu Thittu' where now stands the present Shrine Basilica. The Lady was called, 'Our Lady of Good Health'.
In the 17th century, a Portuguese merchant vessel was caught in a giant storm in the Bay of Bengal as it was sailing from Macao in China to Colombo in Ceylon.The helpless sailors prayed fervently for Mary the Star of the Sea to save them.
They vowed to build a Church in her name, wherever they could land on. The stormy sea became calm. Their ship landed near the shore of Vailankanni on the 8th September, the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lady.
Description
The Virgin Mary appears a beautiful lady with a divine Child in her arms. She asked for milk in both of her apparitions at Vailankanni.
Approval
The apparitions of Our Lady of Good Health have not been formally approved but are implicitly approved by the elevation of the church to basilica status.
In 1962, the bishop of the diocese, Dr. R.A. Sundram went to Rome to attend the second session of the Second Vatican Council. At this time he requested that the Holy Father raise the ancient shrine of Our Lady of Vailankanni to the high rank and dignity of a "minor basilica". The request was carefully looked into and magnanimously granted. His holiness Pope John XXIII graciously issued orders raising the sshrine to the exalted state of a minor basilica. Thus the shrine basilica of Vailankanni became linked to the St. Mary Major Basilica in Rome.
On November 3, 1962, Pope John XXIII designated the shrine a Basilica.
On November 3, 1962, Pope John XXIII designated the shrine a Basilica.
Shrines
Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health (Velankanni, India)
The Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health is located at the small town of Velankanni in the state of Tamil Nadu in southern India. The Roman Catholic Latin Rite Basilica is...