User:Vailankanni.Novena

People who have visited the shrine of Our Lady of Vailankanni will tell you about the humility of the pilgrims who make their way to the seaside basilica in India dedicated to Our Lady of Good Health.

There are memories of pilgrims walking across the sand on their knees; carts where barbers stand ready to shave heads of those for whom a favor has been granted; mementos — photos of a hoped-for child born, the sick now cured, of homes saved — left in thanksgiving at a small museum.

If you are a priest in a cassock at this place, there is much work to do, Father Antony Vazhappilly has found. “Once you start blessing,” the Fremont pastor said, “there’s no end.”

This is a busy time of the year at the shrine in India, where the annual festival is under way. The 12 days of celebration end with the birthday of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Sept. 8.

At Father Vazhappilly’s St. James the Apostle Parish in Fremont, Sept. 8 will be a busy day too; every year, 300 people attended Mass at 7:30 p.m.

This year, the parish will extend the celebration to Saturday, Sept. 10, with the Festival of Mother Vailankanni, which, beginning at 6:30 p.m., will include thanksgiving prayer and testimony, the rosary, a candlelight Mass and procession, followed by an evening of fellowship and a traditional Indian dinner.

Last Oct. 8, the parish blessed a statue of Our Lady of Vailankanni. A group of 20 families arranged to bring a statue from India, and install it in the meditation garden between the rectory and the church.

Encased in a clear box, the life-size statue can be visited day or night. Visitors often leave behind flowers, candles or other tokens.

Father Vazhappilly, pastor of St. James since 2007, has a special devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and said he hopes the festival at the Fremont parish will grow over the years. Beyond the parish itself, he is hoping news of the festival and the Fremont shrine will reach those who have a special devotion to Our Lady of Vailankanni.

A candlelight Mass in St. James the Apostle Church is the center of the festival.

At Vailankanni, which is sometimes called the “Lourdes of the East,” Our Lady appeared three times in the 16th century. The first appearance was to a shepherd boy who was carrying milk to a customer’s home. She appeared to him to ask for milk for her son, which he gave her. When the young boy reached his customer and apologized for the shortage, the milk pot was full.

The second appearance was to a buttermilk vendor; she also sought milk for her son. She told the young vendor to tell a wealthy man in town of her appearance. That man built her a chapel.

The third appearance was to sailors on a Portuguese ship who were rescued from a fierce storm. They, too, built a chapel for her.

The miracles did not stop there. Father Vazhappilly points out that in the tsunami of 2004, the people in the basilica at Vailankanni survived, while people in the surrounding area did not.

As the Fremont parish prepares for the festival on Mother's birthday on September, Father Vazhappilly notes that the statue in Fremont draws visitors from the Hindu community as well.