The church of ‘Our Lady of Good Health’ is situated in the
village Velankanni (Vailankanni) of Nagapattinam district of Tamil Nadu State
in India. Earlier the Church was under the Jurisdiction of the Nagapattinam
Parish of the Roman Catholic Latin Rite. Later on it was raised to the status
of an independent parish in 1771. It is a pilgrim centre visited by many devotees
every day.
Devotion to Our Lady of Good Health of Velankanni was
started from the middle of the 16th century. It is attributed to three miracles
in the area where the Basilica now stands and very close to the newly
constructed Morning Star Church. The vision of Mary and the Infant Jesus to a
local shepherd boy, the curing of a lame buttermilk vendor, and the rescue of
Portuguese sailors from a violent sea storm and the stories behind it are based
on tradition and there are no tangible proof in support of it. There is also no
statement by the church authorities that these miracles are approved by the
Vatican. But pouring crowd with gratitude offerings shows their belief in the
miracles. Three memorial chapels are erected in those places.
The first vision is said to have occurred in 1570 A.D., when
a local shepherd boy was delivering milk to a nearby house. On the way he met a
woman holding an infant. The woman begged for some milk for the little one. Without
any hesitation, the shepherd boy offered her the milk and he continued on his
way to deliver the balance milk. But later he discovered that the jug was completely
full of fresh milk without any decrease when he opened the jug for delivering
the milk.
The second vision is said to have occurred in 1597 in the
same area. A woman with a young boy in her arms appeared to a young crippled
boy selling buttermilk. The little boy with the woman asked for some
buttermilk, and after drinking it, they had left. But the same miraculous
experience was felt by this buttermilk vender too i.e., no decrease of
buttermilk even after selling it to many people. He then started running with
his lame leg with joy, but found that he was no more lame and cured fully.
The third incident occurred when a Portuguese ship sailing through
the sea was caught in a storm in the Bay of Bengal. They invoked the help of
the Blessed Virgin Mary under her title "Morning Star". The storm
subsided and the 150 men on board were landed there safely. In thanksgiving,
the sailors rebuilt the small chapel and dedicated it to Our Lady of Good Health.
Though there is a railway station at Vailankanni, distant
route trains are very rare. Passenger trains are available at intervals. But passenger
link train and frequent bus services are available to Nagapattinam which is the
main rail head to various places. Taxi, Auto-rickshaw etc. are also available. Nearest
Airport to Velankanni is at Tiruchirapalli International Airport at distance of
about 160 km. There are accommodation facilities available under the church administration including
A.C romms for pilgrims. Also all types of hotel accommodation is available here.
