Our Lady of Snows, Kallikulam
The
Church of Our Lady of Snow is a
Roman Catholic Marian church in
Kallikulam,
Thoothukudi district,
Tamil Nadu,
India. It is one of the Catholic
pilgrimage centers in India dedicated to the
Blessed Virgin Mary. In recent times it became popular because of vision and apparition of
Mother Mary. Locally, Our Lady of Snow, is known as
Panimatha. Panimatha is a
Tamil word. In Tamil 'Pani' means 'Snow' and 'Matha' means 'Mother'.
[1][2][3]
History
People inhabited Kallikulam as early as 1700 AD. In 1770 AD, a
thatched church was built in the name of Holy Mary by village people. In 1884, Kallikulam villagers and
Jesuit Missionaries decided to build a new church at Kallikulam for Mother Mary. They were undecided about the location of the church.
Interior of Our Lady of Snow Kallikulam
According to tradition, the
Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to a few of the
village elders in dream and showed them the location of the proposed church. The next day, in the morning, they assembled the
clergy
and people and went to the indicated place to verify the reality of the
marvel. On that hot summer's day in August, they found a snow patch,
marking the boundary of the church on the place indicated by Mother
Mary. In 1886, a church was constructed in that place and
consecrated to Our Lady of Snow.
Annual feast
Every year, the annual
feast of Our Lady of Snow is celebrated from 27 July to 5 August. The feast starts with a
flag hoisting ceremony on 27 July in the evening. A flag with Our Lady of Snow's image is raised-up onto the flagpole (
Kodi Maram
in Tamil) situated just opposite to the church. On the 7th day of the
feast, in the morning, a special mass is celebrated on the Apparition
Hill. On the 9th day, at night, a car procession is conducted. Three
very large cars traditionally participate in the procession. Our Lady of
Snow's
statue is placed on one Car (
Ther or
Chapparam
in Tamil) and taken through the streets. On the 10th day of the feast,
at 6.00 am, when the car procession comes to an end, all the cars are
finally positioned nearby the church for final prayers and adoration.
Then a celebratory high-mass honoring Our Lady of Snows is organized in a
grand manner. The feast comes to an end with the special
novena to Mother Mary on the 10th day evening.
Apparition
Apparition of Our Lady of Snow Kallikulam
An oral tradition in Tamil Nadu states that on 29 March 1939 around
6.30 pm, six young people claim that they saw the Mother Mary appear on a
hill near to the Church. They informed the parish
priest Rev. Father Marianoos and the village people.
[4]
Marianoos and the people were uncertain about that apparition and
decided to request that Mother Mary confirm the apparition. They prayed
to Mother Mary and requested confirmation through a natural sign on the
following day. The next day, during the hot summer season, the
arid zone Kallikulam had an unusual heavy rainfall.
