Madhu is located in Northern Sri Lanka. In 1706 Br Joseph Vaz founded the present Shrine as a place of pilgrimage, prayer and reconciliation between races and religions. It still serves those original purposes. Our new statue has a beautiful smile. I like to think She is smiling at the devotion of her children.
Our Lady of Madhu — Sri Lanka
Madhu in northern Sri Lanka is located 275 kilometres from Colombo. It is a place of Marian Devotion and a pilgrim venue where the feast is held on 2 July and 15 August.
Our Lady of Madhu’s Shrine has been a missionary centre since 1706. It has been a source of strength and spiritual healing, especially during persecution, epidemics and other calamities. Madhu has always been a place of prayer and reconciliation for races and religions. Pilgrims, who tread to Our Lady of Madhu with their children and loved ones, bring their miseries and agonies of their lives with great piety and veneration with high hopes of consolation. In most cases, their prayers and faith have been answered in mitigating their sorrows. Many miracles have been performed through the intercession of Our Lady of Madhu. Pilgrims take away sand from Madhu for healing purposes.
The Portuguese introduced Catholicism to Sir Lanka (then Ceylon) in 1505. The Franciscan Missionaries followed them in 1517. In 1656, the Dutch took over the coastal areas ruled by the Portuguese and started persecuting the Catholics. A group of devout Catholics, with the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary, escaped death and sought refuge in the Vanni forests at a place called Maruthamadhu, under the rule of Sinhalese kings. With the arrival of Blessed Joseph Vas in 1687, Catholicism flourished, and in 1706, he founded the miraculous Shrine, which we know today as “Our Lady of Madhu”.
Our Lady of Madhu brings blessings to all her devotees in Marian Valley!
OUR LADY OF MADHU
PRAY FOR US