The Shrine of Our Lady of Madhu is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Marian shrine A shrine to the Virgin Mary, or Marian shrine, is a shrine marking an Marian apparitions, apparition or other miracle ascribed to the Blessed Virgin Mary, or a site on which is centered a historically strong Blessed Virgin Mary, Marian devotion ...

Mannar district Mannar District ( ''Maṉṉār Māvaṭṭam''; ) is one of the 25 Districts of Sri Lanka, districts of Sri Lanka, the second level administrative division of the country. The district is administered by a District Secretariat headed by a Governm ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

. With a history of more than 400 years, the shrine acts as a center of

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...

and

worship Worship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity or God. For many, worship is not about an emotion, it is more about a recognition of a God. An act of worship may be performed individually, in an informal or formal group, ...

for Sri Lankan

Catholics The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

.S. J. Anthony Fernand
Madhu Church ready for August festival pilgrims
Daily News, Sri Lanka The site is considered as the holiest Catholic shrine in the island
on British Refugee Council. and is a well known place of devotion for both

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

and Sinhalese Catholics.Negotiations Resume, Our Lady of Madhu is a Pilgrim of Peace
on SSPX News Archive.< pp.480 The church has been a symbol of unity not just between Tamils and Sinhalese but also between people of different religions, including

Buddhists Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or 5th century BCE. It is the world's fourth ...

Hindus Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

and

Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

.Tamil Tigers appeal over shrine
on BBC News.

Pope Benedict XV Pope Benedict XV (; ; born Giacomo Paolo Giovanni Battista della Chiesa, ; 21 November 1854 – 22 January 1922) was head of the Catholic Church from 1914 until his death in January 1922. His pontificate was largely overshadowed by World War I a ...

granted the image a pontifical decree of coronation on 7 April 1921 via the Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, Cardinal

Willem Marinus van Rossum Willem Marinus van Rossum, C.Ss.R. (3 September 1854 – 30 August 1932) was a Dutch prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He was made a cardinal in 1911, led the Apostolic Penitentiary from 1915 to 1918, and served as Prefect of the Congr ...

. The rite of coronation was executed on 2 July 1924. Attendance for the August festival at times almost reached one million people before the outbreak of the Sri Lankan Civil War. Situated in the heart of the conflict zone, pilgrimage to this shrine was dramatically affected by the civil war with the presence of refugee camps around the shrine complex. It was shelled a number of times.

History

Background

Christianity in Sri Lanka Christianity is a minority religion in Sri Lanka. It was introduced to the island in first century. Traditionally, after Thomas the Apostle's visit in Kerala in AD 52, Christianity is said to have been introduced to Sri Lanka because of its clo ...

is not well known before the 16th century although some local traditions claim that Saint Thomas the

Apostle An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary. The word is derived from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", itself derived from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to se ...

was active on the island. Portuguese

missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Miss ...

from

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, especially under the authority of

Saint Francis Xavier Francis Xavier, SJ (born Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta; ; ; ; ; ; 7 April 15063 December 1552), venerated as Saint Francis Xavier, was a Navarrese cleric and missionary. He co-founded the Society of Jesus and, as a representative o ...

, introduced

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

to the

Kingdom of Jaffna The Jaffna kingdom (, ; 1215–1619 CE), also known as Kingdom of Aryachakravarti, was a historical kingdom of what today is northern Sri Lanka. It came into existence around the town of Jaffna on the Jaffna peninsula and was traditionally tho ...

in northern Sri Lanka.A short account of the historical and devotional development of the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Madhu
on the Mannar Diocese webpage The newly converted Christians were persecuted under both the king of

Jaffna Jaffna (, ; , ) is the capital city of the Northern Province, Sri Lanka, Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a Jaffna Peninsula, peninsula of the same name. With a population o ...

and the Dutch.Ceylon
on Catholic Encyclopedia. During this time the Catholics regrouped to form a church a few miles north in Manthai, installing a statue of

Our Lady of Good Health Our Lady of Good Health ( ''Ārōkkiya annai''), also known as Our Lady of Vailankanni, is a Titles of Mary, title given to the Veneration of Mary in the Catholic Church, Blessed Virgin Mary by devotees. She is said to have appeared twice in t ...

in a shrine.

The shrine in Madhu

The Dutch invasion in 1670 and the ensuing persecution of the Catholic Church led to 20 Catholic families fleeing from Manthai, along with the statue of Mary in that church to the safer locale of Madhu.Fr. S.K. Devaraja
Monument of miracles
on Sunday Times, Sri Lanka. About the same time another 700 Catholics migrated from the Jaffna peninsula into Wanni forests. When these two communities met in Madhu, they installed a new shrine with the statue.

Expansions

With the revival of the Catholic faith by missionaries such as Joseph Vaz, Oratorian priests expanded the small shrine in the late 17th century. With the arrival of the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

to the island, anti-Catholic persecution ceased, but the number of Catholics remained small with just 50,000 members in 1796. In spite of such a small community, the shrine at Madhu began attracting pilgrims from all over the country. The stifling of

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

authority which had been established in South Asia in 1773 eventually led to the suppression of the

Society of Jesus The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...

in Madhu by 1834. The building of the new church was initiated by Bishop Bonjean in 1872 and his successors built a facade, a spacious presbytery, a restful

chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

of the Blessed

Sacrament A sacrament is a Christian rite which is recognized as being particularly important and significant. There are various views on the existence, number and meaning of such rites. Many Christians consider the sacraments to be a visible symbol ...

and a

grotto A grotto or grot is a natural or artificial cave or covered recess. Naturally occurring grottoes are often small caves near water that are usually flooded or often flooded at high tide. Sometimes, artificial grottoes are used as garden fea ...

Our Lady of Lourdes Our Lady of Lourdes (; ) is one the Marian devotions, devotional names or titles under which the Catholic Church venerates the Mary, mother of Jesus, Virgin Mary. The name commemorates a series of Lourdes apparitions, 18 apparitions reported by ...

Pontifical coronation

In 1920, Bishop of

, André Jules Brault sought

's sanction for the

canonical coronation A canonical coronation () is a pious institutional act of the pope, duly expressed in a formal decree of a papal bull, in which the pope bestows the pontifical right to impose an ornamental crown, a diadem or an aureola, aureole to an image of ...

of the venerated image. Bishop Brault as well as the clergy and laity had petitioned the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

through the

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

, the Prefect of the

Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples The Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples (CEP; ) was a congregation (Roman Curia), congregation of the Roman Curia of the Catholic Church in Rome, responsible for Catholic missions, missionary work and related activities. It is also kn ...

. Cardinal Van Rossum personally presented the request to the Pope, who granted it in his audience of 7 April 1921. On 2 July 1924, the statue was officially crowned.

Consecration of the church

The church was consecrated in 1944 during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. In preparation for the consecration ceremony, a marble altar replaced the old wooden structure and the whole sanctuary was covered with white and blue marble. In spite of travel restrictions and difficulty finding transportation, more than 30,000 people came to the jungle shrine.

The penitential tour

The statue of Our Lady of Madhu has been taken for procession thrice to the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

es in Sri Lanka, in 1948, 1974 and 2001. The latter was as a spiritual effort to encourage Catholics in Sri Lanka to pray for peace and an end to the civil war.

Feast day at Madhu

In 1870, the new bishop arranged an annual festival to be celebrated on 2 July. However, in recent years the 15 August festival has drawn the biggest crowds as it is one of the most hallowed days for Catholics, the feast of the

Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it on 1 November 1950 in his apostolic constitution as follows: It leaves open the question of whether Mary died or whether she was ra ...

into heaven, and it comes during school holidays when entire families can make the trip.

Church amidst civil war

Background

The

civil war A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

on the

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

-nation of

lasted thirty years. Since 1983, there was on-and-off civil war, predominantly between the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

and the

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; , ; also known as the Tamil Tigers) was a Tamil militant organization, that was based in the northern and eastern Sri Lanka. The LTTE fought to create an independent Tamil state called Tamil Eela ...

(LTTE, also known as the Tamil Tigers), a

separatist Separatism is the advocacy of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, regional, governmental, or gender separation from the larger group. As with secession, separatism conventionally refers to full political separation. Groups simply seekin ...

militant organization who fought to establish an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

state named

Tamil Eelam Tamil Eelam (, ''tamiḻ īḻam''; generally rendered outside Tamil-speaking areas as தமிழ் ஈழம்) is a proposed independence, independent sovereign state, state that many Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamils in Sri Lanka and the Sri Lan ...

in the

north North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

and

east East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that ea ...

of the island. It is estimated that more than 68,000 people were killed since 1983.Sri Lanka says sinks rebel boats on truce anniversary
euters

Refugee camps

The shrine has housed thousands of refugees since 1990. In the autumn of 1999, more than 10,000 refugees took shelter in the Madhu area, which was seen as a demilitarised zone.

Madhu church shelling

On November 20, 1999, the area was shelled, killing 44 people and injuring more than 60; each side blamed the other.Sri Lanka, Rebels Trade Blame in Shrine Attack at Least 35 Refugees Killed in Assault on Catholic Church
on November 22, 1999, Page 5A, San Jose Mercury News.Dozens of Sri Lankan refugees killed in artillery attack on church
on World Socialist Website. Catholic bishops called for the Madhu area to be a demilitarised zone with guaranteed security for pilgrims and the 15,000 refugees taking shelter.
on SSPX News Archive. When the violence escalated, the civilians sheltered in the premises had to flee further north; the statue itself had to be moved because of repeated shelling. In 2008, Sri lankan forces shelled on the church during the final war even though the place was a well known refugee cam

In 2009, the civil war ended with the government taking control.

References

{{coord, 8.854948, 80.202880, type:landmark_region:LK, format=dms, display=title Churches in Mannar District Shrines to the Virgin Mary Roman Catholic churches completed in 1944 Roman Catholic churches in the Diocese of Mannar Roman Catholic shrines in Sri Lanka 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings

History

Background

The shrine in Madhu

Expansions

Pontifical coronation

Consecration of the church

The penitential tour

Feast day at Madhu

Church amidst civil war

Background

Refugee camps

Madhu church shelling

See also

References