Davanagere, Harihar, August 21, 2024: Christianity has a long history in the state of Karnataka. The history of Our Lady of Health Church dates back to the 18th century. A new Church dedicated to Our Lady of Health was built on 31st August 1992. On 27th May 2012, the Shrine was officially declared as a Diocesan Shrine of the Diocese of Shimoga.
The Vatican has raised the Shrine of Our Lady of Health, Harihar to the status of a Minor Basilica on 18th September 2019. This is the third shrine in Karnataka to have received the status of Minor Basilica after St. Mary's Minor Basilica in the Archdiocese of Bangalore and St. Lawrence Minor Basilica, Karkala in the Diocese of Udupi. The official celebration of this milestone was held on 15th January 2020.
Festival of Our Lady of Good Health: The feast of Our Lady of Good Health is celebrated every year on September 8th - on the day of Nativity. There is a chariot procession carrying the statue of Our Lady of Good Health. The Chariot would be decked with (Sevanthige) Chrysanthemum flowers sourced from Arsikere.
This year's festival begins on August 30th Friday. Most Rev. Dr Francis Serrao SJ, Bishop of Diocese of Shimoga will hoist the flag of Blessed Virgin Mary. Shri. K. J. George, Hon'ble Minister of Energy, Government of Karnataka will be the Chief Guest.The theme of the Annual Feast 2024 is "The most pure life of Mother Mary - Our Beacon of Holiness.
From August 30th to September 7th, every day at 5:30pm there will be procession, Novena, Floral Homage, Holy Eucharist, Adoration and healing prayer for the Sick will be led by different priests.
On September 7th evening 5:30pm Mass will be offered by Most Rev. Dr Duming Dias, Bishop of Diocese of Karwar. Then there will be Adoration and healing service led by Fr Franklin D'Souza, Fr Roman Pinto and Bro. T. K. George.
On September 8th festal day there will be Masses in various languages. 5:15am in Kannada, 6:15am in Telugu, 7:15am in Malayalam (Syro Malabar Rite) by Most Rev. Dr Joseph Arumachadath, Bishop of Diocese of Bhadravati, 8:45am in Tamil, 10am in English, by Most Rev. Duming Dias, 11am festal Mass by Most Rev. Dr Francis Serrao SJ, Bishop of Diocese of Shimoga.
At 1:15pm Mass in Konkani, 2:30pm healing adoration by Yesusparsha Team led by FrFranklinD'Souza. At 4pm Mass in Kannada, 5pm Solemn procession, 7pm Mass in Kannada.
Rev. Fr George K A, Rector of Our Lady of Health Basilica had already made all preparations together with the faithful of Harihar.
HISTORY OF HARIHAR BASILICA
In 1954, land for the construction of a new church was purchased on the Pune-Bangalore road. A new church was built in 1963 and was consecrated by Archbishop Thomas Pothakamury, the Archbishop of Bangalore. The miraculous statue from the original shrine was shifted to the new Church. This church was replaced by the present edifice in 1992, which is an example of unique architectural skills.
Harihar church has grown in leaps and bounds and is said to have attracted a crowd of over 200,000 to the Feast of the Nativity in 2018. In view of its considerable importance to the Christian community in Karnataka, the Vatican raised the Shrine of Our Lady of Health at Harihar to the status of a Minor Basilica on 18 September 2019. Many churches and basilicas of note were established in the wake of an extraordinary event that occurred at some point in their history. Harihar church, as the Basilica of Our Lady of Health is more widely known, is no exception to this rule. Its story begins sometime in the early 1800's when a Brahmin who was bathing on its banks, accidentally fell into the swollen River Tungabhadra. According to local tradition, he saw a floating statue of Our Lady of Health and was able to save himself from drowning. He carried the statue back home and his wife and children too were miraculously healed of their ill health.
From that point of time, the Brahmin devoted himself completely to the service of Our Lady, until his death a few years later. He was laid to rest in his residential property, on which after some time a church was built. The shrine is situated quite close to the River Tungabhadra and has grown into a centre of pilgrimage from people of many parts of Karnataka. Harihar church acts like a magnet to people of different faiths who speak varied languages. It is easy to understand exactly why it has earned the sobriquet 'Vailankanni of Karnataka'.
Harihar is a small town in Davangere district which was part of the erstwhile Mysore state. In 1833, the French MEP priest Fr Bigot Beauclair who was ordained in Pondicherry, paid a visit to Harihar. He is said to have witnessed pilgrims flocking to a place where a statue of the Blessed Virgin was venerated with great devotion. He was then informed of the legend behind the statue and what caused people to display such devotion to it. It is recorded that Fr Bigot built the church on the property donated by the Brahmin's family in Harihar.
Although the fame of the Harihar church had spread considerably in the region, the spiritual needs of the Christians in that town were ministered to by priests from the Sacred Heart church at Shimoga. In 1870, the French MEP priest, Fr Kleiner from Shimoga was entrusted with the care of this parish. Many of the French priests were deputed to Shimoga diocese, from the French colony of Pondicherry. In course of time the Feast Day of the shrine was celebrated on September 8th, which is the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
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