Our Lady of Good Health ( ta, ஆரோக்கிய அன்னை ''Ārōkkiya annai''), also known as Our Lady of Vailankanni, is a

title A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify either generation, an official position, or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may be inserted between the f ...

given to the

Blessed Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jews, Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Jose ...

by devotees. She is said to have appeared twice in the town of

Velankanni Velankanni (''Vēḷāṅkaṇṇi''), is a Special Grade Panchayat Town in Nagapattinam district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It lies on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal, 350 km south of Chennai (Madras), 12 km south of ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

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 ...

, in the 16th to 17th centuries.

History

Though there is no historical document or record about the apparitions of Mary at Velankanni, passed down through

oral tradition Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication wherein knowledge, art, ideas and cultural material is received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another. Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Tradition as History'' (1985 ...

from the 16th century. Also, the rescue of the

Portuguese in Goa and Bombay-Bassein The State of India ( pt, Estado da Índia), also referred as the Portuguese State of India (''Estado Português da Índia'', EPI) or simply Portuguese India (), was a state of the Portuguese Empire founded six years after the discovery of a se ...

, who were who were sailing through a deadly storm, off the coast of the

Coromandel region The Coromandel Coast is the southeastern coastal region of the Indian subcontinent, bounded by the Utkal Plains to the north, the Bay of Bengal to the east, the Kaveri delta to the south, and the Eastern Ghats to the west, extending over an ...

in the 17th century.History of the Basilica on its home page
According to tradition, the first apparition is said to have occurred to a young boy delivering

buttermilk Buttermilk is a fermented dairy drink. Traditionally, it was the liquid left behind after churning butter out of cultured cream. As most modern butter in western countries is not made with cultured cream but uncultured sweet cream, most mod ...

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 banyan, also spelled "banian", is a fig that develops accessory trunks from adventitious prop roots, allowing the tree to spread outwards indefinitely. This distinguishes banyans from other trees with a strangler habit that begin life as a ...

. 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. 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 Nagapattinam (''nākappaṭṭinam'', previously spelt Nagapatnam or Negapatam) is a town in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Nagapattinam District. The town came to prominence during the period of Medieval ...

, 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 Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

Ceylon 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 ...

was caught in a severe storm in the

Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, bounded on the west and northwest by India, on the north by Bangladesh, and on the east by Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. Its southern limit is a line between ...

. 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 The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Nativity of Mary, the Marymas or the Birth of the Virgin Mary, refers to a Christian feast day celebrating the birth of Mary, mother of Jesus. The modern canon of scripture does not record Mary's bir ...

. 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. Although these alleged apparitions have been formally approved by 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 ...

, they were implicitly approved by

Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII ( la, Ioannes XXIII; it, Giovanni XXIII; born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, ; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death in June 19 ...

's 1962 elevation of the Vailankanni church to

minor basilica In the Catholic Church, a basilica is a designation given by the Pope to a church building. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectural sense (a rectangular ...

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 Lourdes (, also , ; oc, Lorda ) is a market town situated in the Pyrenees. It is part of the Hautes-Pyrénées department in the Occitanie region in southwestern France. Prior to the mid-19th century, the town was best known for the Château ...

of the East".

Basilica

A Gothic-styled basilica stands in Velankanni in memory of the apparitions. The

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its name ...

erected by the

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 ...

and the Indians stands at the site where the buttermilk seller saw Mary and Jesus. 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 A sari (sometimes also saree or shari)The name of the garment in various regional languages include: * as, শাৰী, xārī, translit-std=ISO * bn, শাড়ি, śāṛi, translit-std=ISO * gu, સાડી, sāḍī, translit-std= ...

, while the other statue is said to have been buried with

Aurangzeb Muhi al-Din Muhammad (; – 3 March 1707), commonly known as ( fa, , lit=Ornament of the Throne) and by his regnal title Alamgir ( fa, , translit=ʿĀlamgīr, lit=Conqueror of the World), was the sixth emperor of the Mughal Empire, ruling ...

, the

Mughal Emperor The Mughal emperors ( fa, , Pādishāhān) were the supreme heads of state of the Mughal Empire on the Indian subcontinent, mainly corresponding to the modern countries of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The Mughal rulers styled t ...

. The basilica is known as a site for pilgrims from all over India and its assembly of multilingual prayers every Christmas.

Feast day

8 September, the Feast of the

, is also commemorated as the feast of Our Lady of Good Health. The celebration starts on 29 August and ends on the day of the feast. The feast day prayers are said in Tamil, Marathi, East Indian,

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

, Konkani,

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Churches and shrines

The following churches and shrines in locations around the world are dedicated to Our Lady of Good Health.

Australia

Shrine of Our Mother of Good Health - Velankanni

Bacchus Marsh Bacchus Marsh (Wathawurrung: ''Pullerbopulloke'') is an urban centre and suburban locality in Victoria, Australia located approximately north west of the state capital Melbourne and west of Melton, Victoria, Melton at a near equidistance to th ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

; All Nations Marian Centre, Merrimu, Australia
Shrine to Our Lady of Good Health, Vailankanni
at the Shrine of Our Lady Help of Christians,

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

, Australia
Berrima Candle Chapel
Our Lady of Good Health, Vailankanni, at th
Shrine of Our Lady of Mercy Penrose Park

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia

Canada

Our Lady of Good Health Parish Church

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada

India

Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health The Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health, also known as Sanctuary of Our Lady of Velankanni, is a Marian shrine located at the town of Velankanni in Tamil Nadu, India. The place is also a minor basilica of the Latin Catholic Church dedicated to O ...

-Lourdes of the East * St. Mary's Basilica, Bangalore, Shivajinagar,

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

, Karnataka, India
Annai Vailankanni Shrine
Besant Nagar,

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

, Tamil Nadu, India *

Basilica of Our Lady of Health, Harihar The Basilica of Our Lady of Health located in Harihar in India is a pilgrimage centre dedicated to Our Lady of Health. The Shrine has been frequented by the people irrespective of caste, language and religion. Thousands of pilgrims come to this ...

Church of Our Lady of Vailankanni
Farla,

Bantwal Bantwal () is a taluk in Dakshina Kannada district, Karnataka, India. It is located East of Mangalore city center. BC Road-Kaikamba of Bantwal is one of the fastest developing areas in Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka. Along with BC ...

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

, India * Our Lady of Good Health Church, Pattumala, Kerala, India * Our Lady of Velankanni Matha Shrine, Tuet,

Kollam Kollam (), also known by its former name Quilon , is an ancient seaport and city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is north of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. The city i ...

, Kerala, India *Annai Vailankanni Chapel, Pottery Town,

, Karnataka, India
Annai Velankanni Shrine
Anna Nagar,

Madurai Madurai ( , also , ) is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District. As of the 2011 census, it was the third largest Urban agglomeration in ...

, Tamil Nadu
Our Lady of Vailankanni Church
Yelahanka,

, Karnataka, India *Our Lady of Good Health Church, Kottapattu,

Tiruchirappalli Tiruchirappalli () ( formerly Trichinopoly in English), also called Tiruchi or Trichy, is a major tier II city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Tiruchirappalli district. The city is credited with bein ...

, Tamil Nadu
Our Lady of Good Health Church
Periakulathupatty,

, Tamil Nadu, India
Our Lady of Good Health Church
Cuncolim,

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...

, India * Shrine of Our Lady of Health, Khairatabad,

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

Telangana Telangana (; , ) is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian subcontinent, Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India b ...

, India *Shrine of Our Lady of Vailankanni, Shamshabad,

, India *Arockia Matha Punya Kshethramu, Kadapa, Andhra Pradesh, India
Our Lady of Health Church

Shirva, India Shirva is a village in Udupi district India. Our Lady of Health Church, Shirva Our Lady of Health Church, which recently celebrated its 100th anniversary, is renowned for its Gothic architecture Gothic architecture (or pointed architec ...

Our Lady of Velankanni Shrine
at the Stella Maris Church, Kalmady,

Udupi Udupi (alternate spelling Udipi; also known as Odipu) is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka. Udupi is situated about north of the educational, commercial and industrial hub of Mangalore and about west of state capital Bangalore by road. ...

, India * Church Of Our Lady Of Good Health Velankanni, at

Vile Parle Vile Parle (, also known as Parle, pronounced "Parle" or "Parla"), is a neighbourhood and also the name of the railway station in the Western suburb of Mumbai. Vile Parle has a significantly strong base of Marathi and Gujarati population. It se ...

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

, Maharashtra *Our Lady of Health Church, Mallapur, Karwar,

Indonesia

Graha Maria Annai Velangkanni Our Lady of Good Health Church ( id, Graha Maria Annai Velangkanni), is a Marian shrine built in the Indo- Dravida style that opened in 2005 in Medan, Indonesia. It is devoted to Our Lady of Good Health ( ta, ஆரோக்கிய மாதா ...

Medan Medan (; English: ) is the capital and largest city of the Indonesian province of North Sumatra, as well as a regional hub and financial centre of Sumatra. According to the National Development Planning Agency, Medan is one of the four main ...

North Sumatra North Sumatra ( id, Sumatra Utara) is a province of Indonesia located on the northern part of the island of Sumatra. Its capital and largest city is Medan. North Sumatra is Indonesia's fourth most populous province after West Java, East Java and ...

, Indonesia

Malaysia

Chapel of Our Lady of Good Health

Kampung Pandan Kampung Pandan is a village/settlement located in the Titiwangsa constituency in eastern Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, surrounded by Ampang, Maluri, Pudu and Bukit Bintang. Once a small settlement, Kampung Pandan has now grown and developed tremendousl ...

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...

, Malaysia

Mozambique

Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Saúde
(Church of Our Lady of Good Health),

Nampula Nampula is the capital city of Nampula Province in Northern Mozambique. With a population of 743,125 (2017 census), it is the third-largest city in Mozambique after Maputo and Matola. The city is located in the interior of Nampula Province, approxi ...

, Mozambique

Portugal

Santuário da Senhora da Saúde
(Sanctuary of Our Lady of Good Health),

Póvoa de Varzim Póvoa de Varzim (, ) is a Portuguese city in Northern Portugal and sub-region of Greater Porto, from its city centre. It sits in a sandy coastal plain, a cuspate foreland, halfway between the Minho and Douro rivers. In 2001, there were 63,470 ...

, Portugal

South Africa

Our Lady Of Vailankanni Catholic Church

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

, South Africa*

Sri Lanka

Annai Velankanni Church

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

, Sri Lanka
Our Lady of Good Health Church
Mabola, Sri Lanka
Our Lady of Good Health Church
Sedawatta, Wellampitiya, Sri Lanka

United States

*An oratory inside the Crypt Church at

Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception is a large minor Catholic basilica and national shrine in the United States in Washington, D.C., located at 400 Michigan Avenue Northeast, adjacent to Catholic University. ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, United States.

Movie

The Tamil language film ''

Annai Velankanni ''Annai Velankanni'' () is 1971 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed by K. Thangappan. The film stars Gemini Ganesan, Jayalalithaa, Padmini and K. R. Vijaya. Kamal Haasan briefly appears in an uncredited role as Jesus Christ. It comprises ...

'' 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 Ramasamy Ganesan (17 November 1920 – 22 March 2005), better known by his stage name Gemini Ganesan, was an Indian actor who worked mainly in Tamil cinema. He was referred to as the ''Kaadhal Mannan'' (King of Romance) for his romantic roles ...

Kamal Haasan Kamal Haasan (born 7 November 1954) is an Indian actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, playback singer, television presenter and politician who works mainly in Tamil cinema and has also appeared in some Telugu, Malayalam, Hindi, Kannada and Bengali l ...

, K. R. Vijaya, Jayalalitha and Padmini.

Gallery

File:Velankanni Main Basilica during Feast.jpg, Velankanni Main Basilica and Flag during Feast Image:Vailankanni_Basilica1.jpg, Velankanni Church - Front View Image:VeilankanniChurchExtn.jpg, Velankanni Basilica - Extension - Front View Image:VelankanniPanorama.jpg, Veilankanni Basilica - A Panoramic Side View - Church and Church Extension seen at a stretch Image:Main-Church-Left-Side-View-Veilankanni.JPG, Veilankanni Basilica - Left side view Image:Main-Church-Righjt-Side-View-Veilankanni.JPG, Veilankanni Basilica - Right side view Image:Church of Our Lady of Health at dusk.jpg, Veilankanni Basilica at Dusk Image:VeilankanniPond.JPG, Veilankanni Church Pond Image:Holy path Vailankanni.jpg, Pilgrims walking on their knees towards the Pond Image:VeilankanniAdorationCenter.jpg, Veilankanni - Adoration Center Image:Vailankanni Basilica.JPG, Velankanni Basilica Image:Naduthittu-Church-Veilankanni.JPG, Chapel in Nadu Thittu where Mother Mary appeared for the first time Image:St-Sebastin-Chappel-Veilankanni.JPG, A Chapel for St. Sebastian at Velankanni Image:Velankanni-Office-Priest.jpg, Velankanni Church Office housing office, priests' residence and a shop

References

External links

Sanctuary of Our Lady of Vailankanni
– Official website
Marian Shrine of Vailankanni TV
– Live streaming {{DEFAULTSORT:Our Lady Of Good Health

Good Health ''Good Health'' is the first studio album by Pretty Girls Make Graves. Originally released in 2002 by Lookout Records, it was re-released by Matador Records with an additional 4 songs made up of the band's first self-titled EP. This album is oft ...

Christianity in Tamil Nadu Titles of Mary Catholic Church in India