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By E. Weerapperuma

On August 15, pilgrims flocked to the Sacred Shrine dedicated to Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of mankind to celebrate the annual feast,the second customary feast of the year.

In preparation for this feast, devotees from around the country went in procession taking the statue of Our Lady blessed by Pope John Paul II, when Minister Jayalath Jayawardene visited Rome last year. The statue of Our Lady was placed at the turning point of the new road leading to Marudha Madhu Shrine.

Pilgrimage to Madhu is an important event in the lives of the Catholics. Whether one is rich or poor, all alike wish to visit the Sacred Shrine dedicated Mary, Mother of Jesus Christ,the Saviour of mankind.

From our young days we have been to this sacred shrine and we used to dream and eagerly await to make the next visit. We were fascinated by the first visit to the shrine `at the age of reason' and we were thrilled at the sound of the vibration of the rotating winds dashing through the thicket.

Once we are in the shrine ground, we put up temporary shelter using sarees or long clothes to cover from the sun and rain. Some used to make their temporary huts using the motor vehicles, they travelled the long distance and all within the shrine live like members of one family forgetting all difference and shunning all social barriers.

The age old practice of going on pilgrimage to Madhu had a sudden stop with the ethnic war, which erupted the country in 1983. Thus the next visit was a dream, an unrealised dream for nearly two decades.

During that impasse, attempts were made by the government of the day to provide the opportunity to the pilgrims to Madhu Shrine, and we remember, the then Minister of Christian Affairs Jeyaraj Fernandopulle led pilgrims towards the latter part of the 20th century and since this government came in Dr. Jayalath Jayawardene has been taking a leading role in organising pilgrims to the Sacred Shrine.

But when the children could not visit their Mother at the Madhu Shrine, the Mother came to see her children in the South. The taking of the 400 year old Statue of Our lady of Marudha Madhu created history as it was the first time, she visited the National Basilica built in her honour. The tour organised by the Catholic Bishops Conference of Sri Lanka covered a very large number of cities, towns and villages in the South.

The Catholics and others came in their hundreds to pay their respects to Our Lady who was passing through their villages, towns and a number of byroads. They also joined in prayers and pleaded Her intercession to bring back peace.

After the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the United National Front Government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam on February 22, 2002, all roads leading to Madhu Shrine were opened gradually. This paved the way for the pilgrims to visit the Madhu Shrine and others to have access to the areas in the North and East.

It is very like human nature to try to do the impossible. When the ethnic war made it impossible to travel to the North and the East, Southerners were eager to travel North and East and the Madhu Shrine. They were looking for an opportunity to attend either the July or the August feast. But visiting Madhu Church remained a distant dream.

The situation turned for the better with the signing of the MoU and I had the privilege of visiting the Madhu Shrine thanks to providence after spell of 40 long years. Although it was not a pilgrimage that I went on technically speaking, for me it was a pilgrimage in every sense of the word, because, as the Shrine was a place of prayer and fasting, a place where one did penance and looked for divine guidance to amend one's life.

I was a member of the group that visited the Madhu Shrine. It was not the Shrine that I used to go to as a child and a youth, it had turned out to be a place where the people who were made homeless found shelter.

My recent visit to the Shrine awakened within me the nostalgic memories of the past. I recall the younger days when we prepared ourselves to make the pilgrimage. Some go begging from house to house in fulfilment of a vow they had made. The vow is that they would come to the Shrine next time with money collected through begging, a way of showing one's humility. Some collect money depositing it in a safe place, which remains in their hands after day-to-day spending.

This year,the church authorities with the help of the State hopes to conduct the feast retaining the religious atmosphere as it was done in the past. The pilgrims will not be allowed to use radio, television or play any musical instrument within the boundaries of the shrine and would strictly prohibit use of liquor as well.

The pilgrims attending the feast will pray that they may have the opportunity of visiting the shrine without fear and without the state putting its hand to promote pilgrims visiting the Shrine, but the devotees to go in pilgrimage in keeping with the age old tradition.

When will it be possible? The pilgrims will pray to Our Lady in a very special manner to strengthen the hands of those working for peace, which is yet to be realised.

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