From the Desk of Father Nathan

A Message from Father Nathan

My dearest people who are all close to my heart

Lots of love, blessings, and prayers to you all.

“Our Lady of Good Health” is Our Lady of Vailanganni

“Our Lady of Good Health” is Our Lady of Vailanganni, popularly known in southern India. Vailanganni is a small fishing village on the coast of India. According to believers, in the 1500s’s there were several miracles that happened during the apparitions of the Virgin Mary in Vailanganni, India. These events are now known as “Our Lady of Vailanganni or “Our Lady of Good Health.”

Miracles

Miraculous Filling of the Milk Jug

A shepherd boy felt tired on a hot summer day as he walked from Vailanganni to Nagapattinam to deliver milk to his master. So Tamil lay down under a banyan tree beside a pond to nap. After a strong gust of wind began to blow, he woke up and was startled to see an apparition of Mary standing before him, holding a child in her arms. Mary and the child had a glow of white light emanating from them. Mary asked Tamil if he would give her son some milk to drink, and Tamil agreed. The child then drank all of the milk that Tamil offered from his pot, and Mary thanked Tamil before they disappeared.

Tamil apologized to his angry master for arriving late in Nagapattinam and explained why he had been delayed. After hearing the story, his master became angry that Tamil had given away some of the milk he was supposed to deliver. But when Tamil and his master looked inside to see how much milk was left over, they saw it miraculously filling up. It kept filling up until the milk spilled out over the top of the brim. Astonished, Tamil and his master ran back to the pond, and Mary and the child appeared to them there as an encouraging vision before disappearing. Thereafter, the pond became known as Matha Kalum (“Our Lady’s Pond”).

Miraculous Healing of a Little Boy

Later, a crippled boy who supported himself and his widowed mother by selling buttermilk to thirsty travelers was at work, when he saw a bright light appear suddenly. Then he saw two figures inside the light; Mary and a child she was holding. Both Mary and the child wore white clothes that emanated a dazzling light. Mary asked the boy for a cup of buttermilk for her son, and he handed her a cup and watched as the child drank it all. Then Mary thanked the boy for being generous.

Afterward, Mary asked the boy to go to Nagapattinam to tell a certain Catholic man living there that she and her son had appeared in the area and that he should build a church there to commemorate the apparition. The boy told May that he’d like to go, but he couldn’t walk on his own, so he had to wait for his mother to arrive at the end of the day and carry him there.

But Mary urged him to try, and when he did, he realized that he had been miraculously healed of his disability. The boy then ran to Nagapattinam and discovered, after talking with the man Mary had told him to visit, that Mary had appeared to him in a dream the night before and told him to expect the boy’s visit.

The man built a chapel where the apparition had appeared and placed a statue on the altar of Mary holding Jesus Christ as a child. The statue became known as Our Lady of Good Health. Our Indian community has a special love for our Blessed Mother.

Even though the feast falls on Friday we’re going to have a special Mass on Saturday, September 9th at 6:30 p.m., starting with the rosary prayed at the parking lot with the decorated chariot of our Blessed Mother and, following Mass. If your schedule permits, do come and be exposed to this new cultural, pious, and popular devotion to our Blessed Mother.

God bless you all.

With lots of love and blessings,

Ever wanting to be faithful to your service,

— Fr. Sahayanathan Nathan