OUR LADY OF CRANGANOR

 Day 33: June 12




In the East Indies stands the church and the shrine of Our Lady of Cranganor, which it is asserted, was built by one of the three Kings who visited the Divine Child and His Blessed Mother. India was one of the countries that had the privilege of receiving the light of Faith at the dawn of Christianity.
History relates that Saint Thomas the Apostle came to India at Cranganor in 52 AD. Cranganor was a leading port and commercial center in ancient and medieval India, associated with the ancient port of Miziris, north of Cochin. Medieval travelers (including Benjamin of Tudela) refer to it as Shingli, Shinkali or Ginjalek. The place is now known as Kodungallur. There the Christians are still known as Saint Thomas Faithful. Kerala, as the place is also known, is cut off by the mountain ranges from the rest of India, and has held firmly to the Faith, regardless of the gloom of the rest of the continent. The deep spirituality of the Catholics evidences their great love for the Mother of God, Our Lady of Cranganor. Nala-bat as the country is likewise called, may be translated as Mary’s country, Mary’s namesake. It is believed that when Saint Thomas came to Cranganor, he brought with him a picture of Our Lady, painted by Saint Luke; this was lost after Saint Thomas’ martyrdom, but later discovered in a cave at Chinnamalai (Little Mount), Madras (today's Chennai), near the scene of his death.
In 1498 when the Portuguese arrived in Cranganor, they were surprised to find so many churches dedicated to Mary. Saint Francis Xavier found the people of Cranganor very strong in faith and devoted to Mary, Our Lady of Cranganor; he spared no pains to flame their devotion to the Mother of God.
Saint Ignatius of Loyola always wore the rosary conspicuously over his cassock. To his great satisfaction, Our Lady’s “Madre de Dios” church was assigned to him on his arrival at Cochin, replacing Cranganor as the port of traffic with the western world. When Saint Francis arrived, he found a Confraternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary already established and he fostered this zealously during his lifetime.

St Justin Russolillo Writes...


"For every act of our spiritual life, we have the Virgin with us in a perpetual visitation, carrying out her motherly function."
(Opera Omnia, I, 352, quoted in: Louis Caputo, Justinian Anthology, Vocationist Editions, Palisades Park, 2013, p. 70)


Prayer to Our Lady of Sorrows


O most holy Virgin, Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ,
by the overwhelming grief you experienced
when you witnessed the martyrdom,
the crucifixion, and the death of your divine Son,
look upon me with eyes of compassion,
and awaken in my heart a tender
commiseration for those sufferings,
as well as a sincere detestation
of my sins, in order that,
being disengaged from all undue affection
for the passing joys of this earth,
I may sigh after the eternal Jerusalem,
and that henceforward all my thoughts
and all my actions may be directed
towards this one most desirable object:
Honor, glory, and love to our divine Lord Jesus,
and to the holy and immaculate Mother of God. 
Amen.

(St Bonaventure)

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