QUEENS VILLAGE — Every year, Paula Chong celebrates the Feast Day of Our Lady of Good Health, a meaningful day to Indian Catholics that marks the appearance of the Blessed Mother to two peasant boys in Velankanni, India, in the 16th century.
But the feast day took on an added significance this year at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Queens Village on Sunday, Sept. 8.
Indian Catholics have been filled with excitement in the wake of a recent decision by the Vatican to officially approve the faithful taking part in devotions in Velankanni, a town in southern India where the apparitions took place.
“It is the Vatican saying, ‘Yes, it is right and proper to pray in this place.’ We are all excited!” said Chong, an Indian-American and parishioner of Our Lady of Lourdes. “Everyone feels it. It makes this year’s feast very special for us,”
On Aug. 1, Cardinal Victor Fernandez, the prefect for the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, wrote a letter to Indian Bishop Sagayaraj Thamburaj, extending the greetings of Pope Francis to pilgrims who visit the site of the apparition. According to Catholic Shrine Basilica, some 20 million people make a pilgrimage to Velankanni each year.
“Through the centuries, Mary has continued to act in this place,” Cardinal Fernandez wrote. “The millions of pilgrims who travel here out of faith, and the many spiritual fruits that are produced at this shrine, make us recognize the constant action of the Holy Spirit in this place.”
Father Robert Ambalathingal, coordinator for the Indian Latin Rite for the Diocese of Brooklyn, called the Vatican’s approval “a momentous occasion for all who hold Our Lady of Velankanni as our dear mother.”
The dicastery’s letter signifies “the recognition of what so many have believed for centuries — that Our Lady appeared to the people in Velankanni, bringing healing, comfort and guidance,” according to Father Ambalathingal.
Because the Blessed Mother appeared to peasants, Indian Catholics refer to Velankanni as the “Lourdes of the East,” a nod to the 19th-century miracle in Lourdes, France, where the mother of Jesus appeared to a peasant girl named Bernadette Soubirous, who was later canonized as Saint Bernadette.
Our Lady of Good Health appeared to two boys in the 16th century — restoring the ability to walk for one disabled boy. In the 17th century, she saved sailors on a Portuguese merchant ship caught in a violent storm.
Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus Raymond Chappetto celebrated Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes, a church with a large population of Indian-American parishioners. “We are grateful to Our Lady of Good Health for all that she does,” he said.
More than 700 people attended the Mass, which featured many colorful sites and sounds — women dressed in saris, a statue of Our Lady of Good Health in a blue sari signifying the color of the Blessed Mother, and women lined up on either side of the center aisle holding plates of candles and rose petals in tribute to Mary.
The statue, which stood in front of the church next to the altar, drew great attention, with many people stopping by before Mass to pray, lighting candles at the foot of the statue, and posing for pictures.
Smitha Selwyn, dressed in a sari, said the day is meaningful to parishioners because they get to participate in the preparations, including the nine-day novena preceding the feast day.
“The statue of Our Lady is adorned with a different sari each day of the novena. And women make the saris and donate them,” said Selwyn, a parishioner of Our Lady of the Snows Church in Floral Park, a church with a large Indian-American population. “It makes you feel so much closer to our Blessed Mother.”