The Shrine of Our Lady of Madhu is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

Marian shrine A shrine to the Virgin Mary (or Marian shrine) is a shrine marking an apparition or other miracle ascribed to the Blessed Virgin Mary, or a site on which is centered a historically strong Marian devotion. Such locales are often the destinatio ...

Mannar district Mannar District ( ta, மன்னார் மாவட்டம் ''Maṉṉār Māvaṭṭam''; si, මන්නාරම දිස්ත්‍රික්කය) is one of the 25 districts of Sri Lanka, the second level administrative divisi ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. With a history of more than 400 years, the shrine acts as a center of

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...

and

worship Worship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity. It may involve one or more of activities such as veneration, adoration, praise, and praying. For many, worship is not about an emotion, it is more about a recognition ...

for Sri Lankan

Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

.S. J. Anthony Fernand
Madhu Church ready for August festival pilgrims
Daily News, Sri Lanka The site is considered as the holiest Catholic shrine in the island
on British Refugee Council. and is a well known place of devotion for both

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

and

Sinhalese Sinhala may refer to: * Something of or related to the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka * Sinhalese people * Sinhala language, one of the three official languages used in Sri Lanka * Sinhala script, a writing system for the Sinhala language ** Sinha ...

Catholics.Negotiations Resume, Our Lady of Madhu is a Pilgrim of Peace
on SSPX News Archive.< pp.480 The church has been a symbol of unity not just between Tamils and Sinhalese but also between people of different religions, including

Buddhists Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

Hindus Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

and

Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

.Tamil Tigers appeal over shrine
on BBC News.

Pope Benedict XV Pope Benedict XV (Latin: ''Benedictus XV''; it, Benedetto XV), born Giacomo Paolo Giovanni Battista della Chiesa, name=, group= (; 21 November 185422 January 1922), was head of the Catholic Church from 1914 until his death in January 1922. His ...

granted the image a pontifical decree of coronation on 7 April 1921 via the Prefect of the

Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...

, Cardinal

Willem Marinus van Rossum Willem Marinus van Rossum, C.Ss.R. (3 September 1854 – 30 August 1932) was a Dutch prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He was made a cardinal in 1911, led the Apostolic Penitentiary from 1915 to 1918, and served as Prefect of the Congr ...

. The rite of coronation was executed on 2 July 1924. Attendance for the August festival at times almost reached one million people before the outbreak of the Sri Lankan Civil War. Situated in the heart of the conflict zone, pilgrimage to this shrine was dramatically affected by the civil war with the presence of refugee camps around the shrine complex. It was shelled a number of times.

History

Background

Christianity in Sri Lanka Christianity is a minority religion in Sri Lanka. It was introduced to the island in first century. Traditionally, after Thomas the Apostle's visit in Kerala in AD 52, Christianity is said to have been introduced to Sri Lanka because of its clo ...

is not well known before the 16th century although some local traditions claim that Saint Thomas the

Apostle An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary, from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to send off". The purpose of such sending ...

was active on the island.

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

from

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, especially under the authority of

Saint Francis Xavier Francis Xavier (born Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta; Latin: ''Franciscus Xaverius''; Basque: ''Frantzisko Xabierkoa''; French: ''François Xavier''; Spanish: ''Francisco Javier''; Portuguese: ''Francisco Xavier''; 7 April 15063 December 1 ...

, introduced

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

to the

Kingdom of Jaffna The Jaffna Kingdom ( ta, யாழ்ப்பாண அரசு, si, යාපනය රාජධානිය; 1215–1624 CE), also known as Kingdom of Aryachakravarti, was a historical kingdom of what today is northern Sri Lanka. It came i ...

in northern Sri Lanka.A short account of the historical and devotional development of the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Madhu
on the Mannar Diocese webpage The newly converted Christians were persecuted under both the king of

Jaffna Jaffna (, ) is the capital city of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a peninsula of the same name. With a population of 88,138 in 2012, Jaffna is Sri Lanka's 12th most ...

and the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

.Ceylon
on Catholic Encyclopedia. During this time the Catholics regrouped to form a church a few miles north in

Manthai Manthai ( ta, மாந்தை, translit=Māntai) is a coastal town and an ancient harbor situated in the Mannar district, of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. Manthai functioned as the main port of the Anuradhapura Kingdom throughout its hist ...

, installing a statue of

Our Lady of Good Health Our Lady of Good Health ( ta, ஆரோக்கிய அன்னை ''Ārōkkiya 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 Velan ...

in a shrine.

The shrine in Madhu

The Dutch invasion in 1670 and the ensuing persecution of the Catholic Church led to 20 Catholic families fleeing from Manthai, along with the statue of Mary in that church to the safer locale of Madhu.Fr. S.K. Devaraja
Monument of miracles
on Sunday Times, Sri Lanka. About the same time another 700 Catholics migrated from the Jaffna peninsula into Wanni forests. When these two communities met in Madhu, they installed a new shrine with the statue.

Expansions

With the revival of the Catholic faith by missionaries such as

Joseph Vaz Joseph Vaz ( Konkani: ''San Zuze Vaza''; pt, São José Vaz; kn, ಪವಿತ್ರಾ ಯೋಸೆಫ್ ವಾಸ್ ಸಂತರು ''Pavitra Yoseph Vaz Santaru''; ta, புனித யோசேப் வாஸ் முனிவர் ...

, Oratorian priests expanded the small shrine in the late 17th century. With the arrival of the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

to the island, anti-Catholic persecution ceased, but the number of Catholics remained small with just 50,000 members in 1796. In spite of such a small community, the shrine at Madhu began attracting pilgrims from all over the country. The stifling of

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

authority which had been established in South Asia in 1773 eventually led to the suppression of the

Society of Jesus , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

in Madhu by 1834. The building of the new church was initiated by Bishop Bonjean in 1872 and his successors built a facade, a spacious presbytery, a restful

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...

of the Blessed

Sacrament A sacrament is a Christianity, Christian Rite (Christianity), rite that is recognized as being particularly important and significant. There are various views on the existence and meaning of such rites. Many Christians consider the sacraments ...

and a

grotto A grotto is a natural or artificial cave used by humans in both modern times and antiquity, and historically or prehistorically. Naturally occurring grottoes are often small caves near water that are usually flooded or often flooded at high ti ...

Our Lady of Lourdes Our Lady of Lourdes (french: Notre-Dame de Lourdes) is a title of the Virgin Mary. She is venerated under this title by the Roman Catholic church due to her apparitions that occurred in Lourdes, France. The first apparition of 11 February 1858, o ...

Pontifical coronation

In 1920, Bishop of

, André Jules Brault sought

's sanction for the

canonical coronation A canonical coronation ( la, Coronatio Canonica) is a pious institutional act of the pope, duly expressed in a bull, in which the pope bestows the right to impose an ornamental crown, a diadem or an aureole to an image of Christ, Mary or Josep ...

of the venerated image. Bishop Brault as well as the clergy and laity had petitioned the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...

through the

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

, the Prefect of the

Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples A congregation is a large gathering of people, often for the purpose of worship. Congregation may also refer to: * Church (congregation), a Christian organization meeting in a particular place for worship *Congregation (Roman Curia), an administr ...

. Cardinal Van Rossum personally presented the request to the Pope, who granted it in his audience of 7 April 1921. On 2 July 1924, the statue was officially crowned.

Consecration of the church

The church was consecrated in 1944 during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. In preparation for the consecration ceremony, a marble altar replaced the old wooden structure and the whole sanctuary was covered with white and blue marble. In spite of travel restrictions and difficulty finding transportation, more than 30,000 people came to the jungle shrine.

The penitential tour

The statue of Our Lady of Madhu has been taken for procession thrice to the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

es in Sri Lanka, in 1948, 1974 and 2001. The latter was as a spiritual effort to encourage Catholics in Sri Lanka to pray for peace and an end to the civil war.

Feast day at Madhu

In 1870, the new bishop arranged an annual festival to be celebrated on 2 July. However, in recent years the 15 August festival has drawn the biggest crowds as it is one of the most hallowed days for Catholics, the feast of the

Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it in 1950 in his apostolic constitution ''Munificentissimus Deus'' as follows: We proclaim and define it to be a dogma revealed by Go ...

into heaven, and it comes during school holidays when entire families can make the trip.

Church amidst civil war

Background

The

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

on the

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

-nation of

lasted thirty years. Since 1983, there was on-and-off civil war, predominantly between the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

and the

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...

(LTTE, also known as the Tamil Tigers), a

separatist Separatism is the advocacy of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, governmental or gender separation from the larger group. As with secession, separatism conventionally refers to full political separation. Groups simply seeking greate ...

militant organization who fought to establish an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

state named

Tamil Eelam Tamil Eelam ( ta, தமிழீழம், ''tamiḻ īḻam''; generally rendered outside Tamil-speaking areas as தமிழ் ஈழம்) is a proposed independent state that many Tamils in Sri Lanka and the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora as ...

in the

north North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

and

east East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fa ...

of the island. It is estimated that more than 68,000 people were killed since 1983.Sri Lanka says sinks rebel boats on truce anniversary
euters

Refugee camps

The shrine has housed thousands of refugees since 1990. In the autumn of 1999, more than 10,000 refugees took shelter in the Madhu area, which was seen as a demilitarised zone.

Madhu church shelling

On November 20, 1999, the area was shelled, killing 44 people and injuring more than 60; each side blamed the other.Sri Lanka, Rebels Trade Blame in Shrine Attack at Least 35 Refugees Killed in Assault on Catholic Church
on November 22, 1999, Page 5A, San Jose Mercury News.Dozens of Sri Lankan refugees killed in artillery attack on church
on World Socialist Website. Catholic bishops called for the Madhu area to be a demilitarised zone with guaranteed security for pilgrims and the 15,000 refugees taking shelter.
on SSPX News Archive. When the violence escalated, the civilians sheltered in the premises had to flee further north; the statue itself had to be moved because of repeated shelling. In 2009, the civil war ended with the government taking control.

References

{{coord, 8.854948, 80.202880, type:landmark_region:LK, format=dms, display=title Churches in Mannar District Shrines to the Virgin Mary Roman Catholic churches completed in 1944 Roman Catholic churches in the Diocese of Mannar Roman Catholic shrines in Sri Lanka 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings

History

Background

The shrine in Madhu

Expansions

Pontifical coronation

Consecration of the church

The penitential tour

Feast day at Madhu

Church amidst civil war

Background

Refugee camps

Madhu church shelling

See also

References