“Never be afraid of loving the Blessed Virgin too much. You can never love her more than Jesus did.” —St. Maximilian Mary Kolbe

Our Lady of Velankanni is largely unknown in the West but she is known and loved throughout Asia, especially in the Tamil diaspora in Burma, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.

The devotion began in the mid-16th century in the town of Velankanni, Tamil Nadu, India. The Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health, also known as Sanctuary of Our Lady of Velankanni, is the first and largest shrine dedicated to her, but her minor shrines are found throughout the world.

Devotion to Our Lady of Velankanni began after two miracles.

The first miracle occurred to a shepherd boy named Tamil Krishnannesti Sankaranarayanan, who was feeling weary one hot summer day as he traveled from Velankanni to Nagapattinam to deliver milk to his master. Exhausted, Tamil rested beneath a banyan tree by a pond and fell asleep. A sudden gust of wind awakened him and to his surprise, he saw an apparition of Mary standing before him, holding a child in her arms. Both Mary and the child glowed with a radiant white light.

Mary asked Tamil if he would offer her son some milk and Tamil willingly agreed. The child drank all the milk from Tamil's pot and after thanking him, both Mary and the child vanished. When Tamil arrived late in Nagapattinam, his master was angry, especially after learning that Tamil had given away some of the milk. However, when they checked the pot, they saw it miraculously refilling with milk overflowing until it spilled over the brim.

Amazed, Tamil and his master hurried back to the pond, where Mary and the child appeared once more as a reassuring vision before disappearing again. From that day forward, the pond became known as Matha Kulam or “Our Lady’s Pond.”

Later, a second miracle occurred to a disabled boy who earned a living by selling buttermilk to travelers. He and his widowed mother were working at a place called Nadu Thittu (Tamil: "central mound") in the Velankanni area when a bright light suddenly appeared before him. Within the light, he saw two figures: Mary and a child in her arms, both dressed in white garments that radiated an extraordinary brightness.

Mary asked the boy for a cup of buttermilk for her son. The boy handed her the cup and he watched as the child drank all of it. Afterward, Mary thanked the boy for his generosity.

Mary then asked the boy to go to Nagapattinam and tell a certain Catholic man that she and her son had appeared there and that he should build a church to honor the apparition. The boy explained that he couldn't walk on his own and needed to wait for his mother to arrive and carry him. But Mary encouraged him to try and when he did, he realized he had been miraculously healed of his disability.

The boy ran to Nagapattinam and, upon meeting the man Mary had directed him to, discovered that Mary had appeared to the man in a dream the previous night, telling him to expect the boy’s visit. The man built a chapel at the site of the apparition and placed a statue on the altar depicting Mary holding the child Jesus. The statue became known as Our Lady of Good Health.

Subsequently, a ship of Portuguese sailors who were nearly killed in a storm off the Indian shore swore to the Virgin Mary that they would build a chapel in her honor if she brought them to land unscathed. Initially, they built a small chapel and began an annual novena which now draws nearly 5 million pilgrims each year. Pope St. John XXIII made the shrine into a minor basilica with his pontifical decree Salutem Supplicibus Dilargiens issued Nov. 3, 1962. He called the chapel the “Lourdes of the East," referring to its importance and popularity among the local faithful.

The image of Our Lady of Velankanni depicts Mary wearing a luxurious — often gold — Indian-style sari with Jesus in her arms wrapped in the same sari. She is also known as “Our Lady of Good Health.” Her festival is a boisterous and lively celebration that takes place between Aug. 29 to Sept. 8 — the feast celebrating Mary’s nativity — and draws Hindus and Muslims along with Catholics, which is de rigueur for India.