August 29
Our Lady of Good Health, Velankanni, Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu, India
Located on the Bay of Bengal in southeastern India, the shrine of Our
Lady of Good Health was built near the site of three miracles all said to
have occurred on September 8, Feast of Mary's
Nativity, beginning in the
late 1500s. The feast of the Velankanni shrine begins on August 29, with
the hoisting of Our Lady's flag, and continues with daily masses and
processions through September 8, when the flag is lowered. Miracle 1. On his way from Velankanni to deliver milk to a wealthy customer in Nagapattinam five miles north, a Hindu boy stopped to drink at a waterhole and rested there under a banyan tree. A radiant woman appeared, asking for some milk to give the child in her arms. On fulfilling her request, the young milkman was gratified to see the baby smile. When he got to Nagapattinam he told his customer the story by way of apology for his lateness and the reduced amount of milk. But finding the milk pot full, the rich man, also a Hindu, asked the boy to show him the place where the lady appeared. In the shrine's account, the customer prostrated himself at the spot, considering it holy ground (Shrine Basilica of Our Lady of Health Vailankanni, www.vailankannishrine.org). In other devotional accounts, the mother and child reappeared when the boy and his customer got there (Velankanni Church, www.velankannichurch.com). Local Catholics identified the apparition as the Virgin Mary, and the waterhole became known as Matha Kulam, Mother Tank.
Miracle 2. A few years later, a Catholic man in Nagapattinam dreamed that Our Lady asked him to build a chapel in her honor. The next day, another young milk vendor, this time a crippled boy who sold buttermilk on Velankanni's public square, arrived at his house with the same request. The beautiful woman had appeared to him asking for buttermilk for her child. After he gave it, she bid him tell the Catholic of her desire for a chapel. Suddenly healed of his infirmity, the boy hastened to Nagapattinam with the news. The man built a thatched chapel at Velankanni, with a statue of the Madonna and Child. So many pilgrims found healing there that the Virgin of Velankanni became known as Our Lady of Good Health.
Miracle 3. In the 1700s, a Portuguese vessel encountered a storm en route to Malaya. After praying to the Virgin for help, the crew found port at Velankanni. In thanksgiving they improved the shrine, then and on subsequent visits.
On November 3, 1962, Pope John XXIII designated the shrine a Basilica.
Photo source: "Mother of good health beckons all," The Hindu, www.thehindu.com
Also commemorated this date:
 | Notre-Dame de Limon, Brignais, Rhône, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France. Vow made during plague, 1640. Feast now celebrated on the Sunday nearest September 8. |
| Nostra Signora della Guardia, Gavi, Alessandria, Piedmont, Italy |
| Madonna della Guardia, Varazze, Savona, Liguria, Italy |
| Nostra Signora della Guardia sul Monte Figogna, Ceranesi, Genoa, Liguria, Italy |
| Madonna dei Papalini, Prato, Prato, Tuscany, Italy. Spanish invasion stopped, 1512. |
| Santa Maria al Giglio, Montevarchi, Arezzo, Tuscany, Italy (St. Mary with the Lily). Apparition to several people, 1585. |
| Santa Maria di Collemaggio, L'Aquila, Abruzzo, Italy. La Perdonanza: holy door open only evening of August 28 to evening of August 29 |
| Santa Maria di Valleverde, Bovino, Foggia, Puglia, Italy. Town's patronal festa. Historical cavalcade, solemn mass, procession, band concert, fireworks. |
| Madonna delle Lacrime, Syracuse, Sicily, Italy. Image bled, 1953. |
| Port Arthur Mother of God, Vladivostok, Primorsky Krai, Russia (August 16 Julian). |
| Mother of God of the Holy Rosary, Chortkiv, Chortkiv, Ternopil, Ukraine. Icon crowned, 2009. |