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Thousands of pilgrims visit the Our Lady of Lanka shrine, including about a thousand sick people. The tradition goes back 68 years, attracting worshippers from around the country, Sinhala and Tamil, as well as some Buddhists.
Tewatta (AsiaNews) – All one thousand chairs set aside for the sick yesterday in the forecourt of our Lady of Lanka in Tewatta had an occupant. They were joined by thousands of pilgrims who came to the shrine for the 68th annual day devoted to the blessing of the sick. Some 200 priests and 150 men and women religious took part in the event, brought together at the national shrine for a solemn ceremony whose theme this year was ‘Reconcile and Heal Us, O Lord’. Celebrations began with the Rosary read in Sinhalese and Tamil, followed by the ‘Prayer for the Country’.
During his homily Mgr Malcolm Ranjith, archbishop of Colombo (pictured), told the pilgrims that “Christians can smile through tears and tribulations”. He also urged the faithful to “live with inner balminess and righteousness” whose absence led to “terror, arms and the blood bath in our country since 1970.” Mgr Joseph Spiteri, nuncio to Sri Lanka, Archbishops Emeritus Nicholas Marcus and Oswald Gomis, Mgr Thomas Savundaranayagam, bishop of Jaffna, and Mgr Marius Peiris, auxiliary bishop of Colombo, also took part in the service.
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Tewatta (AsiaNews) – All one thousand chairs set aside for the sick yesterday in the forecourt of our Lady of Lanka in Tewatta had an occupant. They were joined by thousands of pilgrims who came to the shrine for the 68th annual day devoted to the blessing of the sick. Some 200 priests and 150 men and women religious took part in the event, brought together at the national shrine for a solemn ceremony whose theme this year was ‘Reconcile and Heal Us, O Lord’. Celebrations began with the Rosary read in Sinhalese and Tamil, followed by the ‘Prayer for the Country’.
During his homily Mgr Malcolm Ranjith, archbishop of Colombo (pictured), told the pilgrims that “Christians can smile through tears and tribulations”. He also urged the faithful to “live with inner balminess and righteousness” whose absence led to “terror, arms and the blood bath in our country since 1970.” Mgr Joseph Spiteri, nuncio to Sri Lanka, Archbishops Emeritus Nicholas Marcus and Oswald Gomis, Mgr Thomas Savundaranayagam, bishop of Jaffna, and Mgr Marius Peiris, auxiliary bishop of Colombo, also took part in the service.
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