This shrine is a popular
pilgrim centre. It is visited by people of all faiths. Anyone visitng the
Velankani church visits 3 churches: Our Lady's Tank, the Church museum and the
Priest?s Residence.
Our lady of Good Health, popularly called
"Our Lady of Vailankanni" is in the small town of Vailankanni (5000 residents) located
on the shores of the Bay of Bengal. The deity is referred to as "our Lady". It
is located 150 miles south of Madras
in Tamil Nadu and 5 miles south of Nagapattinam. Our lady chose this place to
dispense her miracles to mankind. A strong oral tradition attests to Our Lady?s
apparitions at Vailankanni (Velankanni).
There are three stories
associated with this place of worship. Sometime during the sixteenth century, our
Lady with her infant son appeared to a Hindu boy carrying milk to a customer?s
home. While he rested under a Banyan tree near a tank (pond), Our Lady appeared
to him and asked for milk for her Son and the boy gave her some. On reaching
the customer?s home, the boy apologized for his lateness and the reduced amount
of milk by relating the incident that occurred on his way. On inspection, the
man found the milk pot to be full and realized that something miraculous had
happened. That man, also a Hindu, wanting to see the place where the apparition
occurred, accompanied the boy. When they reached the tank, Our Lady appeared
once again. On learning that it was Our Lady who appeared to the boy, the
residents of the local Catholic community became ecstatic. The tank where the
apparition took place is called "Matha Kulam" or Our Lady?s tank.
Some
years later Our Lady appeared again. This time, she appeared to a crippled boy
who was selling buttermilk near a public square on the outskirts of the same village of Vailankanni. She asked him for
buttermilk for her infant Son and the boy compiled. Our Lady asked the boy to
inform a certain wealthy Catholic man in the nearby town of Nagapattinam of her appearance. Not realizing
that his crippled leg was miraculously cured by Our Lady, the boy rose up and
began his journey. The man also had a vision the previous night in which Our
Lady asked him to build a chapel for her. Together, the man and the boy
returned to the site of the miracle.
This
time Our Lady appeared to both. The man erected a thatched chapel for Our Lady
at the site of her second appearance. This chapel became a holy place of
veneration to Our Blesses mother and she was called henceforth, Mother of Good
Health ("Arokia Matha").
A
few years later, Our Merciful Mother rescued a few Portuguese merchant sailors from
a violent storm, which wrecked their ship. When the merchants reached the shore of Vailankanni they were taken by local
fisherman to the thatched chapel. To give thanks and pay tribute to Our Lady,
they built a small permanent chapel on their return trip. On subsequent visits
they improved on it. The merchants dedicated the chapel to Our Lady on
September 8th to celebrate the feast of her nativity and to mark the date of
their safe landing to Vailankanni.
Today,
the celebration of this feast is an annual festival which lasts for 9 days and
draws more than a million and a half pilgrims. Vailankanni attracts more
pilgrims than any other sacred shrine in India. Not only do multitudes of
Catholic travel there throughout the year but many non-Christians visit as
well. Hundreds of miraculous cures are reported every year.
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