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| Sunday, 22 December 2002 |
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Christmas at the shrine Basilica in Vailankanni : Memories and miracles by Anton Gunasekera Christmas, the coastal village of Vailankanni by the Bay of Bengal is bubbling with the burning hearts of Christian and non-Christian pilgrims who arrive in flocks from the furtherest corners of Asia and Europe to recite a silent prayer, pleading for family peace, where Mary-Mother of Christ Jesus - descended to sinful Earth and invoked God's blessings on a lame South Indian milkboy who was tending his cattle on a mountainous terrain, which is today, the "Homage Home" of the Virgin Mother of Vailankanni".
Memories of our family pilgrimage to the Shrine Basilica last year - the week before Christmas dawn - and reminiscences of our Sojourn from Trichy airport to the Nagapattinam bus station, where we transited to the busy industrial town of Tanjavur, before our arrival in Vailankanni, still haunt us as we vividly recall our mingling with South Asian and a motley crowed of West European pilgrim families who had visited Vailankanni to spend Christ - mastide through accommodation at the twelve spacious lodges, named after the saints - Peter, Luke, Xavier, Don Bosco, Anthony, Thomas, John, Joseph, Francis of Assisi and the Thiyana Ashram. The Shrine Basilica is indeed a fitting replica of the Shrine Basilica of Our Lady of Lourdes and the miraculous Grotto which lies at the foothills of the Pyrenees mountain range in Southern France, hardly two hours away from the Spanish border. Our pilgrimage to the Lourdes Grotto on five occasions since 1967 reminded us of a Marian privilege bestowed on us, since our childhood day - dreaming to some day be physically present as participants of the famed Blessing of the sick and the candlelight procession, and thence to proceed to the nearby Holy Well to cleanse ourselves of sin, our human defects and deficiencies and our wayward ways. We have had our rewards through sincere repentance. Religious But the Shrine Basilica at Vailankanni is a totally different entity in that pilgrims of all religious denominations and philosophies flock to the three-tiered Lourdes - like Basilica from less-affluent Asian families who yearn for, but do not have the financial resources to visit Lourdes or Fatima or Virgin Mother's Shrine at Guadaluppe in South America. Roman Catholic, Hindu and Moslem friends have asked us what makes Vailankanni so exclusive to our Asian region. If one spends some meditative moments inside the Museum of offerings, adjoining Our Lady of Dolor's Chapel, the many testimonials and offerings by the physically and mentally-handicapped who have been miraculously cured, confusing and confounding scientist, physician and surgeon, are ample testimony to the graces that the Virgin Mary has conferred on believers. If a devotee of Virgin Mary closely analyses the four apparitions referred to in this article, he would immediately conclude that She chose children to convey her message of love, peace and harmony: notably Lucy and Jacintha at Fatima, Bernadette at Lourdes and the lame milkboy at Vailankanni - for the edification of elders. In early December, 1997, while my wife and I were holidaying with our eldest daughter, Ayeshas' family in Phoenix, Arizona, we received the distressing news that our second daughter-in-law had been diagnosed as suffering from suspected throat cancer by the best of Sri Lankan medical specialists. She was about to turn 25 years of age. We cancelled our travel plans in the States and boarded the first available flight to Paris, proceeded to Lourdes Grotto and made a vow that we will accompany her to Vailankanni Basilica in fulfilment of our aspirations for a miraculous cure. Throughout 2001, she underwent biweekly therapy, when somewhere in the last week of November, the scans and X-rays revealed to three of the medical specialists that there was now not the slightest trace of suspected cancer. The specialists, one a Tamil Hindu and the other two Sinhala, would not believe their eyes. We booked our flight to Vailankanni through Trichy airport, participated in the midnight Christmas mass, fulfilled our vows, along with her and fervently invoked her miraculous blessings on suffering human beings who sought recourse in her mercy in times of utter despair.
Our personal experience, as related to friends who question us, has convinced the majority of them about Virgin Mary's God-gifted powers of curing those who have been cast into the fold of incurables, provided they pray for God's mercy through her. What was once a desolate village within kissing distance of the Bay of Bengal sealine, is today a bristling, busy township with every conceivable facility and service which Sri Lankan pilgrims envy. Fifty-seven such services and facilities comprise the outlines of Vailankanni's modern township. The Rector and Parish Priest of the Shrine Basilica has given a cautious warning to pilgrims to avoid the approaching touts in the vicinity of the bus station and the precincts of the Basilica with promises of cheap accommodation, cheap quality food and internal transportion, at a nominal cost. Trains operate to Vailankanni from Chennai (Madras), Thanjavur, Quilon, Tiruchy - all departing from Nagapattinam. The pilgrimage to Vailankanni is indeed incomplete without a walk to the seaside commercial belt, where the best of seafood in many and varied dishes, spiced according to the each connoisseurs' tastebuds, adorn the wayside culinary boutiques at very moderate prices. But the Bay of Bengal has a historic "ill" - reputation for bursting into unanticipated storms, cyclones and merciless winds each day of each year. Which is why the Basilica's administrator has advised not to bathe in the sea or the adjacent river which teems with quicksand and muddy potholes. As it was last year, international airlines flying to Tiruchy, Madras and Bombay (Mumbai) are rescheduling their regular flights in a frantic bid to accommodate the many lakhs of pilgrims who have already booked in to celebrate the final Christmas midnight service at the Shrine Basilica of Our Lady of Vailankanni. To this year's Sri Lankan pilgrims to the Shrine Basilica at Vailankanni, we pray for a safe and fruitful two-way journey. |
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