Three Irish Redemptorist pioneers, Fathers Matthew Hickey, Liam O’Halloran, and Jerry Mc Donald of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer arrived in Sri Lanka in 1939 carrying with them the icon of the Mother of Perpetual Help and established on 15 March 1946 the 1st Shrine at Sancta Maria, Kandy which was dedicated to Our Mother of Perpetual Help- (in Latin Sancta Maria de Perpetuo Succurso) from which the shrine derived its name.

The radiant beams of devotion were propagated from this shrine to every nook and corner of Sri Lanka with the preaching of missions and retreats by the Redemptorist fathers. It was Fr. Christie Mc Carthy, CSsR who took the initiative with Fr. John Herath, OMI to start the devotion at All Saints Church, Borella, Colombo in 1951. It is here that we make our troubles and worries known in prayer to God through the intercession of Our Mother of Perpetual Help.

The radiant beams of devotion were propagated from this shrine to every nook and corner of Sri Lanka with the preaching of missions and retreats by the Redemptorist fathers. It was Fr. Christie Mc Carthy, CSsR who took the initiative with Fr. John Herath, OMI to start the devotion at All Saints Church, Borella, Colombo in 1951. It is here that we make our troubles and worries known in prayer to God through the intercession of Our Mother of Perpetual Help.

Introduction

Up on a hill, at the end of winding George E. de Silva Mawatha, away from the hustle and bustle of Kandy town, is a beautiful little shrine, set amidst tranquility, dedicated to her – Sancta Maria or Holy Mary. Tales abound of miracles linked to this first shrine of Our Mother of Perpetual Help in Sri Lanka.

History

It was back in 1939 that three Redemptorist priests came from Ireland to start a branch of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer in then Ceylon and carried with them the picture of Our Mother of Perpetual Help.

The three pioneers, taking after their founder St. Alphonsus Maria Liguori of Italy who had set up a society of missionary priests in 1732, were Fr. Matthew Hickey, Fr. Liam O’Halloran and Fr. Jerry McDonald who strove to “imitate the virtues and examples of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, consecrating themselves, especially to the preaching of the word of God to the poor”.

And the icon they brought with them of the Mother of Perpetual Help, derived from the Latin Sancta Maria de Perpetuo Succurso had a history of its own. Of Oriental origin, the first icon, it is believed, had been stolen by a merchant from Crete around the 16th century and taken to Rome, after being storm-tossed for a while.

With both the merchant and his friend dying before they could return the icon to a church, it had gone to its rightful place only after Mother Mary had appeared to the merchant’s six-year-old daughter requesting her to persuade her mother to give it back.

Finding a home and veneration for 300 years in the Church of St. Matthew, sandwiched between the major basilicas of St. Mary Major and St. John Lateran in Rome, the “extraordinary events” associated with this icon had been many.

In 1798, however, the French Army commanded by Napoleon had destroyed the church, but the Redemptorists had built a new church on the same site, finding among the rubble, the unmarred icon. It had been then that Pope Pius XI put the Redemptorist priests in charge of the image, assigning guardianship with the direction: “Make her known throughout the world.”

When the Redemptorists put down permanent roots in Kandy on March 15, 1946, they dedicated their shrine to ‘Sancta Maria’ while the lovely wooden altar which draws hundreds of devotees even now had been built by Fr. Arthur Maloney with his own hands and looked after down the years by all those who have had the privilege of serving here.

Calling the faithful caretaker Anton Joseph who had come as a lad and remained here for nearly three decades, keeping the shrine spic and span and tending to the finely manicured garden, Fr. Abeyasingha showers praise on him.

With large numbers flocking from all corners of the country to seek her powerful intercession with God through the Novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help begun at Sancta Maria, the first novena outside this shrine had been started in 1951 by Fr. Christie McCarthy at All Saints Church in Borella.

Up at the Sancta Maria shrine, the picture of ‘Our Mother’ had been crowned in 1957.

The Kandurata Calvary

In 1965, a Way of the Cross with marble images was installed in the front garden of Sancta Maria, in memory of Fr. Jerome Gomez, CSsR, and every Friday during Lent, it has been customary to conduct the Way of the Cross at Sancta Maria. The preliminary work for the present Calvary of the Hill Country, Kandurata Kalvariya was begun in 2005, and the 14 stations of the Way of the Cross were done in mural style. A massive crucifix was erected on the very summit of the hillock as the 12th station and a special chapel, which is the 14th station, was built. On 5th March 2006, His Lordship Bishop Vianney Fernando, the Bishop of Kandy, blessed and officially opened it.

Because of the Kandurata Kalvariya, today, Sancta Maria has become a very popular centre of the Way of the Cross during the season of Lent for bus-loads of pilgrims coming from all over the island.

Its popularity is mainly due to its central location in Sri Lanka, and also because of the breathtaking natural scenery all around as one climbs the Sancta Maria hillock reflectively praying the stations. Redemptorist Fathers are available for preaching, hearing confessions, counselling and celebrating the Eucharist. Having fulfilled their religious duties at Sancta Maria, many pilgrims visit the many historic sites in Kandy and the world-famous Peradeniya Botanical Gardens.