By Purushottam Nayak –
Berhampur, Odisha: COVID-19 pandemic notwithstanding, and at the same time following the strict protocol, several thousand faithful came forward to celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes at Dantoling Shrine, Suruda, Ganajam, Berhampur diocese last week.
This year too, the coronavirus pandemic has affected one of the important Christian celebrations in Odisha, the eastern state of India.
The Odisha Church on February 11 celebrated the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes at Dantoling shrine under Berhampur diocese, some 179 km southwest of Bhubaneswar, the state capital. The annual feast usually attracts thousands of people from many states in India.
The official letter circulated by Fr Sanjib Kumar Biro, Parish Priest, Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Dantoling says, “As per the instruction received from the local authority huge gathering of pilgrims will not be allowed to celebrate the feast at Dantoling except the local faithful. So we have decided not to permit any pilgrim to the shrine on 10th and 11th February. Pilgrims may visit the shrine up to 9th February and thereafter from 12th February onwards.”
Fr Sanjeeb Kumar Nayak, Vicar General of Berhampur diocese led the feast day service on February 11 with 12 priests, six nuns, and about 1000 Catholics.
“We are invited to be humble like Mother Mary before the Lord to fulfill the plan of God in our life,” said Father Nayak in his homily.
The Vicar General explained the origins of this festival, and how the apparitions of Our Lady to Bernadette Soubirous in the grotto of Lourdes generated a new worldwide devotion, linked to great healing and anointing of the sick.
He also mentioned another significance of the day February 11 is “The World Day of the Sick” as an awareness day. The Catholic Church intended for “prayer and sharing, of offering one’s suffering for the good of the Church and of reminding everyone to see in his sick brother or sister the face of Christ.”
In 1991, Pope John Paul II was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, a disease that has no cure but can be managed to reduce symptoms and improve quality of life. The disease is thought to have led the Pope to set aside a day to pray for those who are sick.
Thus, he established the day as an opportunity for Christians to pray for those who are sick.
Bitruli Digal (40), a Hindu woman from Karada, Ganjam district, expressed strong faith to be healed by God through the intercession of Mother Mary. She said, “I have great respect, devotion, and trust in Mother Mary. She will intercede with her Son to grant her graces and favor just as she requested her son Jesus to turn water into wine in the marriage feast of Cana.”
“As in previous years, Our Lady of Lourdes, Dantoling, Berhampur brought at her feet thousands of believers to commemorate the popular feast. I am sad that lakhs of pilgrims could not visit Dantoling shrine due to COVID-19 restrictions,” asserted Prabhat Behera, the youth president of Dantoling Parish.
“Though we are away from the shrine, we are close to Mother Mary through Holy Rosary every day having deep respect, reverence, and devotion towards her,” affirmed Behera.
During the 18th, 19th, 20th centuries, Odisha suffered greatly due to drought and famine. In 1886, tens of millions of people in India died due to death over drought and famine. The situation worsened again in 1866 with the outbreak of cholera and smallpox, which claimed a heavy toll on human lives. It was at this time Missionaries of St. Francis de Sales (MSFS) French missionary first responded to the calamity. The missionaries went around gathering abandoned and orphan children and brought them to the orphanage to Suruda, a town in the Ganjam district. Slowly and gradually, they concentrated on the victims of cholera and smallpox of Dantoling, a village under Soroda town.
“There are about 250 Catholic families and growing gradually,” said Fr. Biro, the parish priest.
According to the priest, the shrine was established in 1917 by the French Missionaries, as a sign of gratitude to the Blessed Virgin Mary, after the people of the area, irrespective of their different faiths, believed that they were miraculously protected from the famine and pestilence, through her powerful intercession.
The shrine has improved a lot and become famous all over Odisha and beyond, attracting lakhs of devotees every year, from all over India. Pilgrims now regularly come to the shrine to receive God’s choicest blessings through the intercession of Our Lady of Lourdes.
“It is Our Lady of Lourdes’s feast celebrated at Dantoling Shrine increases the faith of many devotees undoubtedly. I am proud to be born in Dantoling,” said Sukanti Behera, Daughters of Charity nun serving orphans at St. Catherine’s House, Raikia, Kandhamal, Odisha.