https://ewtn.co.uk/article-lourdes-of-the-east-our-ladys-apparitions-in-india/ Our Lady of Velankanni (photo: Angelo Stagnaro / NCRegister) Miracles, healing and hope: Our Lady of Good Health continues to inspire the faithful in India and around the world. Angelo Stagnaro, October 20, 2024 – National Catholic Register “Never be afraid of loving the Blessed Virgin too much. You can never love her more than Jesus did.” —St. Maximilian Mary Kolbe Our Lady of Velankanni is largely unknown in the West but she is known and loved throughout Asia, especially in the Tamil diaspora in Burma, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. The devotion began in the mid-16th century in the town of Velankanni, Tamil Nadu, India. The Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health, also known as Sanctuary of Our Lady of Velankanni, is the first and largest shrine dedicated to her, but her minor shrines are found throughout the world. Devotion to Our Lady of Velankanni began after two miracles. The first miracle occurred to a shepherd boy named Tamil Krishnannesti Sankaranarayanan, who was feeling weary one hot summer day as he traveled from Velankanni to Nagapattinam to deliver milk to his master. Exhausted, Tamil rested beneath a banyan tree by a pond and fell asleep. A sudden gust of wind awakened him and to his surprise, he saw an apparition of Mary standing before him, holding a child in her arms. Both Mary and the child glowed with a radiant white light. Mary asked Tamil if he would offer her son some milk and Tamil willingly agreed. The child drank all the milk from Tamil’s pot and after thanking him, both Mary and the child vanished. When Tamil arrived late in Nagapattinam, his master was angry, especially after learning that Tamil had given away some of the milk. However, when they checked the pot, they saw it miraculously refilling with milk overflowing until it spilled over the brim. Amazed, Tamil and his master hurried back to the pond, where Mary and the child appeared once more as a reassuring vision before disappearing again. From that day forward, the pond became known as Matha Kulam or “Our Lady’s Pond.” Later, a second miracle occurred to a disabled boy who earned a living by selling buttermilk to travelers. He and his widowed mother were working at a place called Nadu Thittu (Tamil: “central mound”) in the Velankanni area when a bright light suddenly appeared before him. Within the light, he saw two figures: Mary and a child in her arms, both dressed in white garments that radiated an extraordinary brightness. Mary asked the boy for a cup of buttermilk for her son. The boy handed her the cup and he watched as the child drank all of it. Afterward, Mary thanked the boy for his generosity. Mary then asked the boy to go to Nagapattinam and tell a certain Catholic man that she and her son had appeared there and that he should build a church to honor the apparition. The boy explained that he couldn’t walk on his own and needed to wait for his mother to arrive and carry him. But Mary encouraged him to try and when he did, he realized he had been miraculously healed of his disability. The boy ran to Nagapattinam and, upon meeting the man Mary had directed him to, discovered that Mary had appeared to the man in a dream the previous night, telling him to expect the boy’s visit. The man built a chapel at the site of the apparition and placed a statue on the altar depicting Mary holding the child Jesus. The statue became known as Our Lady of Good Health. Subsequently, a ship of Portuguese sailors who were nearly killed in a storm off the Indian shore swore to the Virgin Mary that they would build a chapel in her honor if she brought them to land unscathed. Initially, they built a small chapel and began an annual novena which now draws nearly 5 million pilgrims each year. Pope St. John XXIII made the shrine into a minor basilica with his pontifical decree Salutem Supplicibus Dilargiens issued Nov. 3, 1962. He called the chapel the “Lourdes of the East,” referring to its importance and popularity among the local faithful. The image of Our Lady of Velankanni depicts Mary wearing a luxurious — often gold — Indian-style sari with Jesus in her arms wrapped in the same sari. She is also known as “Our Lady of Good Health.” Her festival is a boisterous and lively celebration that takes place between Aug. 29 to Sept. 8 — the feast celebrating Mary’s nativity — and draws Hindus and Muslims along with Catholics, which is de rigueur for India.
https://www.nationalshrine.org/blog...ce-reflecting-on-the-miracles-of-vailankanni/ Prayer to Our Lady of Good Health O Mary! Our Mother of Health and Our Heavenly Queen, seated on your throne of mercy and compassion in your Holy Shrine at Vailankanni, we praise and honor you to be our refuge and our relief. Numerous are the sick who through you have recovered health. Relying on your power and goodness, we fly to you and implore you to heal our infirmities and to obtain for us perfect health of body and soul, that we may better be able to serve you and your Divine Son. At all times you have been the help and consolation of the sick. You obtain for them health, when it is conducive to their salvation. You assist them at time of their death. Help them O Most amiable Mother and obtain for us cure from all our sufferings, or patience to endure them in the spirit of resignation agreeable to God’s Holy Will, so that all our trials and sufferings may help to purify our souls and help us to detach ourselves from earthly ties. Amen.
Novena Prayer to Our Lady of Velankanni O Most Holy Virgin! You were chosen by the most adorable Trinity from all eternity to be the most pure Mother of Jesus. O Tender Mother of the afflicted, grant me under my present necessities a special protection. Relying upon the infinite mercies of your Divine Son, and penetrated with confidence in your powerful prayers, I humbly entreat you to intercede for me. I beg you to obtain for me the favours which I petition for in this novena, if it be the holy will of God to grant them; and if not, to ask for me whatever graces I most stand in need of. (Specify your requests) Dearest Mother of Good Health, Pray for Us.
Today is the Feast of Our Lady of Vailankanni: The apparition of Mary to the shepherd boy portrayed in relief in the Our Lady of Vailankanni Oratory in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception (Washington DC).
