Christian Perspective

Our Lady of Madhu

Hundreds pay homage to:

Prasad Purnamal JAYAMANNE

Whatever the problems that would crop up we should stick to our faith. We always pray our Holy Mother for peace, said Rev. Sarath Perera, Parish Priest, Medawachchiya at the Holy Mass conducted at Madhu shrine recently.

Nearly 500 devotees from the South and Ministers Milroy Fernando, Sarath Gunaratne and Neomal Perera representing the Government and Opposition MP, Jayalath Jayawardane took part in the Holy Mass.

The Mannar Bishop, Most Rev. Rayappu Joseph blessed the devotees will the historic statue of Our Lady of Madhu at the conclusion of the Mass. Rev. Sarath Perera said, we should not forget the fact we are brothers of one family, wherever we are.

As Sri Lankan Christians today we are passing a critical stage. We all aspire to be members of a single family living hand-in-glove. We should pray Our Holy Mother again and again whenever we feel the peace is beyond us.

Today on August 15, we are celebrating the feast of Ascension of our Holy Mother.

We must understand the feast of Ascension in the true perspective of our Holy Mother’s life.

Merely because she was the Mother of the Universal Deliverer, the Virgin Mary’s life was not a bed of roses. She in fact suffered the worst of trials and tribulations in life which no other woman had ever faced.

“We go on pilgrimages and perform various religious rituals. Do we attempt to cultivate a deep faith within our family,” Rev. Perera posed.

A large number of devotees from Colombo, Negombo, Wennappuwa and Chilaw had converged to the Madhu shrine.

An outstanding feature of the occasion was that the Sri Lanka Army supplied meals to all devotees.

A special security programme was also implemented.

Denipitiya medical mission

This article is written by a member of the board of management, Christie Wanigasooriya on the occasion of the 90th anniversary celebrations, of the Mission in 2008 at the Denipitiya Chapel of St. Colomba.

Denipitiya is a village comprising of hamlets, Bodagala and Welihinda, situated in the deep south - 8 miles from Matara and 4 miles from Weligama town. The Medical Mission is an offshoot of the Anglican Catholic Union of Ceylon and also the brainchild of the Rt. Revd. E. A. Copleston, DD, fifth Bishop of Colombo.

During whose Episcopacy the Anglican Catholic Union and Denipitiya Medical Mission were both founded, just before the Armistice of the 1st World War was signed on 11th November, 1918. Since then this Mission stood the harrowing vicissitudes of time and whatever burden the ravages of war ensued.

The Medical Mission brought much solace to the suffering people. It was the worst of times for the people who were cringing in poverty in this remote southern village. Various incurable diseases such as, malaria, tuberculosis, leprosy and yellow fever were found endemic and spreading fast. Many infested people were dying without any medical attention.

This was the most depressing scenario prevailing there in the aftermath of the war. Born in Weligama, knowing the dire privations of all kinds, suffered by the poverty and disease stricken villagers in Denipitiya and in its adjacent hamlets, the late Revd. Canon Dr. G. B. Ekanayake promptly moved there to alleviate their suffering.

He was Professor and Principal of the Divinity School of the Diocese. He was also acknowledged at that time, as the only theologian, East of Suez. The yeoman service rendered by him in 1918 to the poor and hapless people in Denipitiya ridden with poverty and disease by founding the Medical Mission and spearheading it to further the teachings of the Anglican Church, will be ever remembered.

The Mission laboured, in 1918 in a typical Ceylon village whose people were stricken with incurable diseases. The work commenced with a visit to the village by one of the Rev. Sisters of the Community of St. Margret and a Christian midwife, under the guidance of Rev. Canon Ekanayake. Necessity demanded that they live in there altogether, to attend to the sick. But they had no comfortable accommodation to live in.

Then the Mission Station and the Dispensary were built with the unstinted support of the ‘Friends of the Mission’ dispersed all over Ceylon, from North to South and also abroad. It was blessed and declared open by the late Rt. Revd Mark Carpenter Garnier. The Chapel gifted by MS Charles Peiris was also consecrated and dedicated to St. Colomba by his Lordship.

The late Mrs. Agnes Marshall, Chairperson of the Mission, in memory of her daughter, built a bungalow for the medical staff and named it ‘Marshall Bungalow’. The main mission bungalow was also a gift of the ‘Friends of the Mission’.

The intention had been to install a fully equipped hospital in the premises. It did not become a reality due to, inter-alia, various financial constraints accompanying a project of such magnitude. Despite such myriad difficulties the medical aspect of the Mission had never faltered, but with God’s grace it progressed uninterruptedly to-date.

The mission continues as a beacon light in Denipitiya to this day. As such, it maintains at present an out-door patients dispensary, managed by a qualified doctor, a nurse and a dispenser who are all employees. The payment of their monthly salaries is met by the Medical Mission, which in itself not an easy task.

The Mission’s dream to start a fully equipped dental clinic, for the larger benefit of the children and adults of the village has also been realised now, due to the donation of a valuable dental chair by Dr. Ms Jayanthi Stephen of the Nawajeevana Healthcare Centre, Dehiwela. Our grateful thanks go to her.