When my cup of faith runs dry, the narrative of the wedding feast at Cana (Jn 2) refills it. I can always count on Mother Mary to strengthen my relationship with her Son.
On a visit to the Holy Land some years ago, I was amazed to see the enormity of the stone jars (surely refurbished), kept on display in Cana. How much more astounding it must have been then to find those huge jars filled not just with water, but with an abundance of “good wine”, the very first miracle of Jesus, brought about through Mary’s intercession.
Mary noticed the need when the wine ran out, an embarrassment for the unnamed bride and groom. Her simple but profound words, “Do whatever He tells you,” urged complete trust in Jesus, who responded with compassion and power.
Such wondrous miracles through Mary’s motherly intervention have continued down the centuries. In the 16th or early 17th century, in Vailankanni, a coastal village in South India, a young shepherd boy, hurrying to deliver milk to a Hindu customer, stopped for a drink of water near a tank. There, a beautiful Lady with a Child appeared to him and asked for milk for her Son. Without hesitation, the boy offered his pot. When the customer scolded him for the shortage of milk, the pot refilled and overflowed, astonishing both. When the boy and the customer returned to the tank, Our Lady appeared again.
In the second apparition, the Lady with the Child appeared to a crippled boy selling buttermilk near a public square. She asked him for buttermilk for her Infant Son, which he gladly gave. She then told him to inform a gentleman in Nagapattinam of her appearance. The boy realized he had been miraculously healed as he ran joyfully to deliver the message. The gentleman, in gratitude, erected a thatched chapel for Our Lady at the site of this apparition. From that moment, devotion to “Our Lady of Good Health” began to spread.
St. Thomas Aquinas writes of two effects of the Word of God in our lives: joy, as at the changing of water into wine, and healing, for Jesus came to take our weakness and restore us. Truly, it is Jesus who restores health. At Vailankanni, the miracles of healing occur through the powerful intercession of Our Lady of Good Health.
The third great miracle at Vailankanni involved Portuguese sailors caught in a violent storm at sea. Imploring Mary’s help, they were saved and landed safely on the shores of Velankanni. In thanksgiving, they built a small chapel there, the foundation of what today is the Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health, an international center of pilgrimage on the Bay of Bengal.
I have visited Velankanni twice and was deeply moved by the faith and devotion of the multitudes who come seeking peace, healing, and thanksgiving. Pope John XXIII elevated the shrine to the dignity of a Minor Basilica on November 3, 1962, describing it as the “Lourdes of the East.” Today, pilgrims of all faiths throng to Velankanni year-round, with the largest crowds gathering during the annual 11-day festival from August 29 to September 8, the birthday of Our Blessed Mother. Countless miracles are documented, while many more remain unrecorded, made visible in the great surge of faith at the daily flag hoisting, the long lines for the Sacrament of Reconciliation, the novenas and Eucharists, the votive offerings, and acts of penance.
Scripture and life intertwine in this story. In John 6, a young lad gave all he had, five loaves and two fish, and Jesus multiplied it to feed thousands. In Vailankanni, a poor boy offered his pot of milk, not realizing that his small gift would spark a devotion touching millions. If one gives everything, however little, God can do unimaginably more. The devotion to Our Lady of Good Health, once confined to Vailankanni, is now flourishing across India.
At the foot of the Cross, Mary became the Mother of all. She hears Jesus’ cry, “I thirst.” At Vailankanni and other shrines, she continues to reveal this thirst of her Son for souls. “Health of the Sick”, Salus infirmorum in the Litany of Loreto, means both salvation and bodily health, a double significance that comforts us.
And so we pray through her intercession for lasting health of mind and body, deliverance from sorrow, and eternal joy in the presence of her Son.
