Details about Our Lady of Good Health Church in Vailankanni Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu

This article gives the reader the complete details about Our Lady of Good Health Church which is located in Vailankanni, Tamil Nadu. Here it is well explained in detail about the mass timings and festivals dates along with the institutions maintained by the church. Additional information about the counseling center in Vailankanni is also explained here in this article.

Our Lady of Good Health Church Vailankanni

The place Vailankanni is known for the Christian church which is located there. Our Lady of Good Health Church is located in Vailankanni, Nagapattinam district, Tamil Nadu. Our Lady of Good Health Church is one of the most famous churches in Tamil Nadu. Thousands of people visit this shrine all over the year. Excluding Christian Devotees many other religion people come here and get healed for their sickness. This church of Our Lady of Good Health Church is known for its thousands of miracles. The church heals various sicknesses. The grand annual festival is celebrated in September 08 as it is believed to be the birthday of Our Lady of Good Health. Our Lady of Good Health is said to be the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ. The place is witnessing as the source of faith for the Christian people. Very Rev.Fr.A.Michael who is rector there is the head of all the activities done over there.

History of Our Lady of Good Health Church Vailankanni

The history of Our Lady of Good Health Church starts at sixteenth century. A Hindu boy who carried milk to one rich man's house has got the vision of our lady of good health. While the Hindu boy was going with the milk pot our Lady appeared to him near a pond and asked some milk for her infant baby (Jesus). The boy gave the milk to our Lady to feed the child Jesus. Then the boy took the balance milk and went to the rich man's house. The rich man doubted that the boy has sold some of the milk on the way and scolds him. The boy firmly says that a lady from heave appeared and got the milk for her child. The Rich man refuses to believe the boy's words and beats him. Suddenly the mild pot filled and continues to overflow from the pot and filled the house. The rich man recognized that some miracle has occurred and begs the boy to show the Lady with her child. The boy takes him to near the pond where he saw our lady and shouts towards heaven to come. Our Lady appeared once again and the rich man could not see her because of the magnificent light of our Lady. The villagers came to the miracle and worshipped our lady. The pond is called from then as "Matha Kulam" (Our Lady's Pond).

Once again our Lady gave visit to a physically challenged boy who can't walk. The boy used to sell butter milk on the public square of Vailankanni. One day our lady appeared before him and asked him to give some butter milk for infant Jesus. As the boy could not stand (as he was crippled) begs the lady to come near and get the butter milk. Our lady encourages him to come near to her and give the buttermilk. The boy with confident stands and gives the buttermilk to Our Lady. The boy latter understands that his legs were cured and he could walk. The boy runs to the town (Nagapattinam) and informs about the miracle done to him. The boy was asked to meet a rich man in that town. The rich man also had a vision and got the instruction to build the church for our lady of good health. The next morning the boy visited the rich man and he accompanied the boy to the miracle spot. They both had the second appearance of our lady again. The rich man builds a hut like shrine for our Lady of Good health.

Our lady saves in storm
After some years some Portuguese travelled in sea and was caught in a great storm. The captain begs our lady to save them and all the people in the ship were saved and they reach Vailankanni. On that night the captain gets a vision and instructed to build a church for Our Lady. The Portuguese build a small church and developed the church every time they visited India. The Portuguese fixed the date September 08 as the annual festival day. Day by day the church saw its growth as there occurred countless miracles. In 1985 a chapel was built near the Matha Kulam (pond). The church has met different shapes to reach the present structure.

Mass Timings In Our Lady Of Good Health Vailankanni

week days
5.40 - Morning Prayer
6.00 - Mass in Tamil
7.00 - Mass in Tamil
8.00 - Mass in Telugu
9.00 - Mass in Malayalam
10.00 - Mass in English
11.00 - Mass in Hindi
12.00 - Mass in Tamil
6.00 - Rosary and Tamil Mass.

On Sundays
5.00 : Mass in Tamil
7.30 : Mass in Tamil
6.00 pm : Rosary and Mass in Tamil

On Saturdays
5.45 am : Car procession of Our Lady and Tamil Mass
7.00 AM : Mass in Tamil

On First Fridays of every month
6.00 am : Mass in Tamil
On First Saturdays of every month
5.30 pm : Car procession of our lady and Mass in Tamil
9.00 pm : Special Adoration
On Second Saturdays
9 am to 4 pm : Fasting and Healing prayer

Festivals in Vailankanni Church,Nagapattinam

The annual festival of this shrine is celebrated every September on 08. The celebrations start on August 29 and continue till September 08. The date September 08 is the date on which the Portuguese reached Vailankanni after the heavy storm and built the hut for Our lady. On these days the people from far away comes and worships our lady. The festival is celebrated in a grand manner as the place is filled with a great multitude. The festival starts as the flag is hoisted on 29th of August and ends on September 09th morning. The festival includes Chariot procession every evening.

Other than the chariot processions the holy mass is conducted in different languages in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, English and Hindi. The Vailankanni festivals are one of the famous festivals in south India for which many of the foreigners especially from Portuguese visit the shrine.
Visit of the Fishes On this special occasion of the festival a large number of big fishes will come near the shore to visit our Lady of Good health. This happens every year during the festival days. The fish's tails are visible from the shore.

Paatha yathra towards Vailankanni
The devotees of Our lady come through foot from a long distance on this day to visit our Lady's festival. The Paatha yathra is done two times a year. The fist one is done on the festival occasion i.e. September 8. The second procession is done in the April or may month. This happens during the holy week. As a penance the people go to the shrine by walk. Even the other state devotees come through foot to this shrine....!!!!.

Prayer Request in Vailankanni Church
Through this service one can send the prayer request to the shrine to pray for them. The prayer requests are done through e-mails. The priests who are there along with the devotees will accept our request and pray for us in the shrine. The head of the Prayer request team is Rev. Fr. Joseph Jerald. The group accepts the prayer request and prays to our Lady of health. For the prayer request please visit
www.vailankannishrine.org/prayer.php

Magazines released by the Shrine
Vailankanni Calling (English)
Vailankanni Calling (Tamil)
Vailankanni Calling (Malayalam)

Institutions Under the Shrine

The following are the institutions of the Vailankanni shrine in Vailankanni. The institutions are maintained by the priests and sisters of the diocese.

Counselling in the Vailankanni Shrine

The Vailankanni shrine runs a counselling centre in the week days from 6.00 am to 8.00 pm. The people who need counselling can approach this centre and get the best counselling from the experienced counsellors. Rev. Fr. Joseph Jerald is the head of the counselling department. The counselling team consists of well experienced counsellors from ten languages. (Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Hindi, English, etc) The people who suffer from these under listed problems can visit the counselling for the better results.

Address and Contact details of Vailankanni Shrine
Very Rev.Fr.A.Michael (Rector Of Shrine Basilica),
Vailankanni 611 111,
Nagapattinam (Dt),
Tamil Nadu, India.
Phone - +91-4365-263423
Web - [email protected]