The First Apparition

The first apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the 16^th century is said to have occurred to a young boy delivering buttermilk to a man who lived far away. During his travels, the boy stopped to rest beside a lake that was shaded by a Banyan tree. A beautiful woman, carrying a child, is said to have appeared and asked the boy for some milk to feed her child, which he gave. When he reached the home for his milk delivery, he apologized for the delay and that there would be less milk in his pot. But when they opened the lid of the milk pot, the container was brimming with milk

The Second Apparition

The second apparition is alleged to have occurred a few years later. A limping boy would sell buttermilk to the passing travelers who would pause in the shade of a large Banyan tree to escape the heat of the day. However, he had no customers. According to the account, suddenly, an ethereal woman holding a child appeared before him and asked for a cup of buttermilk. He gave her a cup which she fed to her child. The woman asked the boy to go to a nearby town and find a certain Catholic man in the town and tell him to build a chapel at Vailankanni in her honor. Apparently cured, the boy ran to town called Nagapattinam where he found the man and told him his story. The Catholic men of Nagapattinam subsequently built a thatched chapel at Vailankanni, dedicated to Mary under the title of “Our Lady of Good Health”.

The Third Apparition: “A Sea Miracle”

In the 17th century, a Portuguese merchant vessel sailing from Macau to Ceylon was caught in a severe storm in the Bay of Bengal. The sailors prayed fervently for Mary, Star of the Sea to save them, and promised to build a church in her honor wherever they could land. The sea became calm, and their ship landed near Vailankanni on September 8, the Feast of the Nativity of Mary. To honor their promise, the Portuguese rebuilt the thatched chapel into a stone church. The church was later renovated twice in the early 20th century.

Today, millions of faithful devotees from all over the world come to Vailankanni, India to ask the Blessed
Virgin Mary and the Infant Jesus for her intercession and miracles are witnessed every day.  

Mary, in the advocacy of Our Lady of Good Health, is also known as Our Lady of Vailankanni
or “The Lourdes of the East”.