Our Lady of Health of Chennai

Marian Advocation of Chennai (Tamil Nadu)

Our Lady of Health venerated in the St. Mary’s Co-Cathedral of George Town, in Chennai (Tamil Nadu, India), is in the context of the Portuguese presence on the coast of Coromandel from the 17th century, when chapels and small Marian churches were established in the ports of the Gulf of Bengal, frequented by European and local merchants and sailors. However, most of the data available in accessible sources refer in detail to the nearby and very famous shrine of Velankanni, also under the title of Our Lady of Healthwith which it should not be confused. On the concrete historical development of devotion to Our Lady of Health in the co-cathedral of Chennai the documented information is very little in the online bibliography can be consulted; it is generally known that the church of St. John's. Mary in George Town was born as a temple of Catholic community of Latin tradition in colonial times, linked to maritime trade.

Main data

Origin and history

Our Lady of Health venerated in the St. Mary’s Co-Cathedral of George Town, in Chennai (Tamil Nadu, India), is in the context of the Portuguese presence on the coast of Coromandel from the 17th century, when chapels and small Marian churches were established in the ports of the Gulf of Bengal, frequented by European and local merchants and sailors. However, most of the data available in accessible sources refer in detail to the nearby and very famous shrine of Velankanni, also under the title of Our Lady of Healthwith which it should not be confused. On the concrete historical development of devotion to Our Lady of Health in the co-cathedral of Chennai the documented information is very little in the online bibliography can be consulted; it is generally known that the church of St. John's. Mary in George Town was born as a temple of Catholic community of Latin tradition in colonial times, linked to maritime trade.

La TRANSITION places the roots of the title of the Health between Catholic traders and sailors who, inspired by other Marian port devotions of India (including the Velankanniwhere the protection of the Virgin to some Portuguese sailors in a storm is part of the legendary core of the advocation), they would have extended this way of invoking Mary also in Madras / Chennai. This is a credible devotional parallelism, but there are no precise historical documents that describe the exact moment and circumstances in which the Marian holder of the Co-Cathedral was specifically called Our Lady of Health; therefore, no detailed dates and documents about the origin of this advocation in the co-cathedral of George Town.

As regards HISTORIA DOCUMENTADA, what is firmly attested to for the whole region is that the Nuestra Señora de la Salud (Annai Velankanni / Our Lady of Good Health) is present in Tamil Nadu at least since the XVI-XVII century, associated with maritime trade and Portuguese presence and later with other colonial powers. The great spread of this advocation in southern India, especially since the consolidation of the shrine of Velankanni as a national pilgrimage centre, has favored the title of the Health has become common in various parishes and Marian shrines of the area, including the city of Chennai. However, for the specific co-cathedral of St. John's. Mary's at George Town no specific chronological data or documents on their erection, elevation to co-cathedral or historical development under this Marian advocation have been found in the consulted sources, so those details no constan.

The image and the sanctuary

The sources available online are almost exclusively concentrated on the description of the image of Our Lady of Health of Velankannirepresented with a luxurious Indian style sari, often golden, carrying the child Jesus equally covered with sari, iconography that expresses the inculturation of the Virgin in the sensitivity and clothing of southern India. This widely spread image of Velankanni has influenced the region's Marian iconography; however, no specific and documented description of the concrete image venerated at St. Mary's Co-Cathedral by George Town has been found, so it cannot be said with certainty if you reproduce this model exactly or if you keep your own features. Consequently, with regard to the type of image, material and particular iconography of the advocation in the co-cathedral, no verifiable data.

The temple in which this advocation is venerated is the St. Mary’s Co‑Cathedral (co-cathedral of the archdiocese of Madrás-Mylapore), located in George Town, Chennai. It is a temple of Latin catholic rite, originally erected as a Catholic community church in a port and commercial environment, which over time acquired the rank of co-cathedral within the framework of the diocesan structure of the region. However, the open information accessible about its architecture, dimensions, style and historical reform is very limited, compared with the abundance of data on the Velankanni Basilica. As far as the sources consulted reach, does not know that the St. Mary's Co-Cathedral has been raised to the lower basilica or to the national sanctuary; is known and cited mainly as the co-cathedral of the archdiocese, while the title of the lower basilica is clearly associated, in this region, with the Basilica of Our Lady of Health of Velankanni, raised to such rank by John XXIII in 1962.

Sponsorship and coronation

In the Indian field, the title of Our Lady of Health is strongly linked to the shrine of Velankannito which various sources describe as "Lourdes del Oriente," and where the Virgin is considered patron of many faithful who come from all over India, and even beyond national borders. It is further indicated in some devotional sources that Our Lady of Velankanni is invoked as Patrona de la India, although this statement refers to the whole of the advocation in Velankanni and not to the Chennai co-cathedral. In the specific case of Our Lady of Health venerated at St. Mary's Co-Cathedral in Chennai, no official statements are made available to her as a patron of the city, municipality or archdioceseas regards formal canonical patronage, no documented hay datos.

With regard to a possible canonical coronation of this advocation in the co-cathedral of George Town, the sources consulted (including those that accurately detail the pontifical acts concerning Velankanni and other claims of the Health in India) do not mention any specific canonical coronation for the image of Our Lady of Health of St. Mary's Co-Cathedral. Therefore, by applying the requested criterion: does not contain a documented canonical coronation.

Party and devotion

In the context of the Our Lady of Health in Tamil Nadu, the date of September 8 (Nativity of the Virgin Mary) is firmly established as the main holiday, especially in the Velankanniwhere there is a ninth and a multi-party event that culminates on that date. It is reasonable to think that the Chennai co-cathedral, by sharing Marian title and location in the same state, also celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Health the September 8in harmony with regional tradition; however, the sources consulted do not explicitly reflect the specific calendar of the St. Mary's Co-Cathedral, so any specific details of its liturgical and procedural program in the document.

Data mass influx and pilgrimages which are found in the fountains refer very clearly to the sanctuary of Velankanni: we speak of more than a million pilgrims concentrated around 8 September, many of them non-Christianwho go in search of physical and spiritual health. In addition, processions are described in the streets of Chennai in honor of Annai Velankanni (Our Lady of Health), linked to the sanctuary of this advocation in the city, although the news does not identify that sanctuary with the co-cathedral, but with a temple expressly dedicated to Velankanni in Chennai. It can therefore be said that in the city and state of Tamil Nadu devotion to Our Lady of Health is very alive and expressed with processions, novenas, promises and pilgrimages, but no specific, precise and verifiable data are available.