Our Lady of Good Health (Tamil: ஆரோக்கிய அன்னைĀrōkkiya annai), also known as Our Lady of Vailankanni, is a title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary by devotees. She is said to have appeared twice in the town of Velankanni, Tamil Nadu, India, in the 16th to 17th centuries.[1]
According to tradition, the first apparition is said to have occurred to a young boy delivering buttermilk to a man, who lived far away. During his travels, the boy stopped to rest beside a lake that was shaded by a Banyan tree. A beautiful woman, carrying a child, is said to have appeared, and asked the boy for some milk to feed her child, which he gave. When he reached the home for his milk delivery, he apologised for the delay and that there would be less milk in his pot. But when they opened the lid of the milk pot, the container was brimming with milk.[2]
The second apparition is alleged to have occurred a few years later. A lame boy would sell buttermilk to passing travellers, who would pause in the shade of a large Banyan tree, to escape the heat of the day. However, he had no customers. According to the account, suddenly, an ethereal woman, holding a child appeared before him, and asked for a cup of buttermilk. He gave her a cup, which she fed to her child. The woman asked the boy to go to Nagapattinam, and find a certain Catholic man in the town, and tell him to build a chapel at Vailankanni in her honour. Apparently cured, the boy ran to Nagapattinam, where he found the man and told him his story. The Catholic men of Nagapattinam subsequently built a thatched chapel at Vailankanni, dedicated to Mary under the title of "Our Lady of Good Health".
In the 17th century, a Portuguese merchant vessel sailing from Macau to Ceylon was caught in a severe storm in the Bay of Bengal. The sailors prayed fervently for Mary, Star of the Sea to save them, and promised to build a church in her honor wherever they could land. The sea became calm, and their ship landed near Vailankanni on 8 September, the Feast of the Nativity of Mary. To honor their promise, the Portuguese rebuilt the thatched chapel into a stone church. The church was later renovated twice in the early 20th century.[3]
Although these alleged apparitions have not been formally approved by the Holy See, they were implicitly approved by Pope John XXIII's 1962 elevation of the Vailankanni church to minor basilica status. The Pope's apostolic brief noted that pilgrims in large numbers had been visiting the shrine for a long period of time, and that it was hailed as the "Lourdes of the East".[3][4][5]
A Gothic-styled basilica stands in Velankanni in memory of the apparitions. The basilica erected by the Portuguese and the Indians stands at the site where the buttermilk seller saw Mary and Jesus.[6] 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.[7] The basilica is known as a site for pilgrims from all over India and its assembly of multilingual prayers every day.[8]
The Tamil language film Annai Velankanni was made in honor of Our Lady of Good Health with the title Annai Velankanni in 1971. It was directed by K. Thankappan, starring Gemini Ganesan, Kamal Haasan, K. R. Vijaya, Jayalalitha and Padmini.[14]
Gallery
Velankanni Main Basilica and Flag during Feast
Velankanni Basilica - Extension - Front View
Veilankanni Basilica - A Panoramic Side View - Church and Church Extension seen at a stretch
Veilankanni Basilica - Left side view
Veilankanni Basilica - Right side view
Veilankanni Basilica at Dusk
Veilankanni Church Pond
Pilgrims walking on their knees towards the Pond
Veilankanni - Adoration Center
Velankanni Basilica
Chapel in Nadu Thittu where Mother Mary appeared for the first time
^ abVarghese, Roy Abraham (2000). God-Sent: A History of the Accredited Apparitions of Mary. New York: The Crossroads Publishing Company. ISBN978-0-8245-2651-1.
