Catholic Word of the Day: OUR LADY OF MADHU, 12-30-11

CatholicReference.net ^ | 12-30-11 | Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary

[Salvation]

Featured Term (selected at random):

OUR LADY OF MADHU

Best known shrine of Ceylon (Sri Lanka). When the Dutch conquered Ceylon and began to stamp out Catholicism, a small band of native Catholics converted by the Portuguese took to the jungle, carrying a statue of the Madonna with them. Eventually a church was built to house it. As no one can live in the jungle during the wet season, Mary is alone for months, but when the rains pass, Moslems and Hindus as well as Catholics journey to Madhu. The pilgrimage is planned to take a month. They sing hymns, chant the Rosary as they trudge through the deep tangled growth. The statue is of Our Lady of the Rosary. There is a custom that the sick must remain outside the church and chant their entreaties loud enough for Mary to hear them. The dust outside the little church is a proven cure for poisonous snakebites. During World War II daily prayers were effectively offered at Madhu that Ceylon would be saved from a Japanese invasion.

All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

[Salvation]

Interesting tidbit about Sri Lanka. Anyone heard of this before?

[Salvation]

Catholic Word of the Day – links will be provided later by another FReeper.  (Would anyone like to help with this?)

 

Ishbosheth	All-Powerful	Opus Dei
Authenticity	Incardination	In Synodo Episcopali
Universal Bishop	Presence	Myth
Approbation	Easter	Reason
Salome	Precious Blood	Ampullae
Transitional Diaconate	Transcendence	Winged Lion
Society of Precious Blood	St. Michael Scapular	Restored Nature
Benedictus	Maniple	Messiah
Mass	Physical Miracle	Epistle of James
Retributism	Podium	Knowledge of God
Neo-Scholasticism	Clerical Community	Boaz
Our Lady of Madhu

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[AnneM62]

Learn something new every day.

Thanks for posting!

[Happy Rain]

Sounds close to the Islamic “Mahdi” or the “Expected One.” and to some degree “Messiah” which to the ear sounds like “MAssiah.”

No connections of course but I'm thinking the, since infancy, early human vocalizations and now global variations of “Ma” as in “Mama” “Ma” or “Mom” that the human race as a whole share lends instinctual subliminal mental power to anything that begins with “Ma.”
Even “Imam” has an effect because ‘ma” is bookended by “I (a)M” the first words of God to Moses—a prophet of Islam as well though such blessed beginnings don't excuse the evil and cursed by God faith. "MAry and MAdhu"couldn't be more enticing subconscious labels to the sanguine faithful.

[Steelfish]

http://www.google.com/search?q=Madu+Church+in+Sri+Lanka&hl=en&client=safari&rls=en&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=C_f9Tsn8E8SliQLlgr2ZDQ&ved=0CC4QsAQ&biw=1306&bih=759

[Steelfish]

http://www.rainbowinformation.com/sss_srilanka/MADHU_Pilgrimage/What%20the%20Madhu%20Shrine%20means%20to%20us%20Sri%20Lankan.pdf

[the invisib1e hand]

what’s with the Dutch?