By Sr. Robancy A Helen –
Though we the Christians address our Heavenly Father as God the Father, in the Bible, He always portrays himself as the mother who cares, loves and protects her children.
“Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I (God) will not forget you!” (Isaiah 49:15.)” This verse reminds us God loves us more than a mother does.
Though the Jews worship God as Father, the biblical texts of the Old Testament show that He is more of a mother.
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!” (Lk 13: 34)
Jesus too, compares himself as a mother who laments about the condition of Jerusalem and identifies himself as a caring mother.
In February 2023, it is the first time in Tamil Nadu that a Shrine opens a nursing rooms or mother’s rooms or lactation rooms where breastfeeding mothers can comfortably, conveniently, and privately nurse their babies without missing out on prayers. It is touching to see that a Church set up a room for babies.
Our Lady of Periyanayagi Shrine is a 300-old famous shrine situated in a small hamlet called Konankuppam in the Archdiocese of Pondicherry – Cuddalore near Ulundurpettai in Cuddalore district in Tamil Nadu. The Church was built by the Italian Jesuit missionary Fr. Joseph Constantine Beschi. He wrote the well- known Tamil epic Thembavani in Konankuppam.
The Church invites millions of pilgrims every year and the annual feast is celebrated from 14th January to 23rd January every year.
The 8.30 Sunday Mass is celebrated in sign language for the hearing–impaired children as they have a higher secondary school for these special children.
The special room was inaugurated by Elizabeth, mother of nine children, Chinnamma, mother of eight children and Fr. Jayaseelan SJ who does his ministry at the parish. “We need to make our Churches not only a place of worship but also a place to find ease and happiness. I have seen the mothers come with their babies to Church and most of the times finding it difficult to nurse their babies as they do not have privacy.”
On his evening walk, he was inspired with this idea as Our Lady of Periyanayagi is invoked for child birth. “We will decorate the room attractive to the babies as they can be happy,” says Father Devasagayaraj Zackarias, Rector and the Parish Priest of the Shrine.
“The Church should be inclusive. It does not only journey together as the people of God. We have to also fulfil the unspoken needs of the people,” adds Father Zackarias.
Synodality is to reach out to the needs of the poor and the needy as Mother Mary reached out to her cousin Elizabeth.
“Even today there are churches with no toilet facilities, there is no railing for the elderly and the differently abled people. I have seen people who cannot go to receive communion because of the crowd in the Church. We need to be available to all at any time,” he adds