International Feast

15
1.2 Billion People 7 th Largest Country in the World Largest Democracy in the World 28 states and 7 union territories. 22 Languages 2000 Dialects&6 Religions

Transcript of International Feast

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1.2 Billion People

7th Largest Country in the World

Largest Democracy in the World

28 states and 7 union territories.

22 Languages

2000 Dialects&6 Religions

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Hinduism: 82% Islam: 12%

Christianity: 2.5% Sikhism: 2%

Buddhism: 0.7% Jainism: 0.5%

Portuguese missionaries reached the Malabar (Western) Coast

in the late 15th century

There are 24 Million Christians in India

out of which 17 Million are Catholic

<-Christian Map of India

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Most Christians in India are Roman

Catholics (Latin rite).

Eastern Churches include

the Syro- Malabar Catholic Church and the Malankara Churches which are

prominent in Kerala.

Major Protestant

denominations include the Church of South

India (CSI)(Anglican)

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According to Indian Christian traditions, the

apostle Thomas arrived in Kerala and evangelized in

present day Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

He is believed to be interred in the San Thome Basilica in Chennai(right)

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Our Lady of Vailankanni

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Our Lady of Vailankanni, India (ca. 1550)Our Lady of Good Health

Summary

Without a shadow of a doubt it is the choice of Our Blessed Mother to make her apparitions in Vailankanni, that has

transformed this place into a MarianShrine of international repute, is popularly known as the

'Lourdes of the East'.

It is an indisputable fact that God has always been eager to intervene in human history, especially during

turbulent times, in a motherly way and so He comes to us through Mary. Mary is not only the Mother of

Jesus, she is the Mother of all us, and it is the distinctive mark of a mother to be solicitous for the wellbeing of her children

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•Approximately 400 years ago in a town in India, a shepherd boy and his mother earned money by delivering milk to other houses. On an unusually hot summer day, he rested for a while in the shade of the banyan tree which stood beside the pond. Suddenly, he was startled by the vision of a Lady of celestial beauty holding a lovely child in her arms. The Lady greeted him with a motherly smile and condescended to ask him for some milk for her child. He joyfully gave her some milk for her child and seeing a bewitching smile spread over the face of the heavenly baby, the boy experienced deep satisfaction.

•But when he reached the home of the rich man he begged to be excused for his unusual delay and for the shortage of milk. But, when the lid of the milk pot was lifted and behold!, the pot was brimming over with milk. The boy narrated to the rich man about the sighting. The master was fascinated by the extraordinary phenomenon witnessed by the boy and he hastened to the spot where the Lady had appeared with her child. With great reverence, the gentleman prostrated himself on the holy ground where the Lady had appeared to the boy.

•The story of the apparition of the Lady and Child and the miraculous brimming over of the milk, spread like wild fire throughout the neighborhood. From that day onwards the tank has come to be known as ‘Matha Kulam’ (Our Lady’s Tank). Innumerable miracles are taking place even today by applying it on diseased persons. A chapel now stands at the place where Mary appeared to the shepherd boy.

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A few years after her apparition to the Shepherd boy, Vailankanni was privileged to be blessed with another apparition of the Blessed Mother, and this time, to a poor lame boy of the village. At the close of

the 16th century, there was a poor widow in the village of Vailankanni with a son who was congenitally lame. In order to eke out their existence the lame boy would sell buttermilk at a place known as ‘Nadu

Thittu’. It was a slightly elevated spot where there was a huge banyan tree with outstretched branches. The widow would carry the lame boy and leave at Nadu Thittu with a pot of buttermilk. The boy sold the

butter milk to weary way-farers who would take shelter from the sweltering heat under the tree. On an extremely hot day the boy was waiting for his customers, but as no one turned up, he was a little

disappointed.

But his disappointment turned into joy when, in the twinkling of an eye, he saw a Lady of stunning beauty standing before him, holding a baby of dazzling beauty in her arms. The Lady looked at the boy with a

charming smile and asked him for a cup of buttermilk for the child. Without a moment’s hesitation the lad gave her a cup of buttermilk as he considered it a great honor and privilege to render a little hospitality to his seemingly ethereal visitors. The Lady then cast a benevolent look at the lame boy and turned towards

her Divine Child in her arms as if entreating him to heal the crippled lad. Without the boy realizing it, a miracle had been wrought on him, but he kept on gazing at his distinguished visitors as though entranced.

The Lady gratefully acknowledged the youth’s generosity and requested another favor of him. The lad was to go to Nagapattinam and apprise a certain rich Catholic gentleman of the Lady’s appearance to him and to inform him of her desire to have a chapel built at Vailankanni in her honor. While he was eager to carry

out the mission entrusted to him, his physical impairment rendered him incapable of carrying out the mission. But the Lady bade him get up and walk as he was no longer a cripple. Immediately, the lad leaped

to his feet. His joy knew no bounds when he realized he could walk. He ran as fast as his leg could carry him, all the way to Nagapattinam. On the way he would pause a while to make sure that the miracle that

had taken place in him was not a figment of his mind but a reality.

On reaching Nagapattinam the boy, narrated to the gentleman of the apparition. He informed the gentleman that she had sent him as her emissary to ask him to build a chapel in her honour in Vailankanni.

The gentleman had little doubt in believing the lad as he himself had a similar vision of Our Lady in his sleep the previous night, bidding him build a chapel in her honour. With the willing cooperation of the people of that locality whose enthusiasm had been kindled by the miraculous healing of the widow’s

crippled son, the Catholic gentleman of Nagapattinam soon put up a small thatched chapel at Vailankanni.That marked the humble beginning of the Shrine of Our Lady of Vailankanni.

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The 16th century in particular was known for the atimagests made by European merchants to establish trading centres in India. The

Portuguese were devout Catholics with a special devotion to Our Blessed Mother Mary, the ‘Star of the Sea’. In the 17th century a

Portuguese merchant vessel was sailing to Colombo. While it was cruising towards the west to reach the Bay of Bengal, it was caught in

a violent storm. The gale grew furious and the waves rose high and lashed violently at the ship and the fate of the vessel, with everyone on board was all but sealed. The helpless sailors instinctively fell on

their knees and with all the fervour, their sinking souls could muster, besought Mary’s help. They vowed to build a church in her honour wherever she helped them land safely. Their earnest petition was

instantly heard, for all on a sudden, there was a miraculous lull in the winds; the waves subsided and the sea became calm. Soon the

battered ship was pushed to safety to the shores of Vailankanni. On landing, the first thing the sailors did was to fall on their knees and thank God and the Blessed Virgin Mary for having saved their lives.

They set about immediately to remodel the thatched chapel.

Remarkably, all these extraordinary events took place on September 8, the feast of the Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

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Sister Alphonsa

(1910 - 1946)

India's first woman saint

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Saint John de Brito (1647 - 1693)

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Saint Gonsalo Garcia (1556 - 1597)

Patron of the city of Bombay, India

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Saint Francis Xavier (1506 - 1552)

Uncorrupted body of St. Francis Xavier

Conversion of Paravas in Goa by Francis Xavier

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Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta

(1910 - 1997)

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