Blessing for thousands of physical and mental ly disabled at Our Lady of Lanka

(Aug.31, 2011) In Sri Lanka, Catholics and non-Catholics came together from different dioceses across the country for the Feast of Our Lady of Lanka at Tewatta’s National Basilica. Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith,archbishop of Colombo con-celebrated the Mass together with Cardinal Bernard Francis Law, archpriest of Rome’s Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica.
In giving the blessing of the sick to the thousands of disabled people, both Catholic and non-Catholic, Cardinal Ranjith said “Only Jesus is our answer. Only Jesus can heal our mental and physical ailments. As Catholics, we must always seek the sacraments of confession and communion. They are the privileges, God gave us.” Archbishop Joseph Spiteri, papal nuncio to Sri Lanka also took part on Sunday in the Eucharist at Our Lady of Lanka shrine. In a solemn procession, participants carried lamps, candles and coloured banners with quotes from the Bible in Sinhalese, Tamil and English. “I am happy to see such a large crowd,” said Fr Priya Jayamanne, who is in charge of the Tewatta National Basilica. People are “coming to pray so that Jesus can intercede on their behalf and heal their problems and illnesses. We prepared 600 chairs for special cases, but we had more than 600 patients,” he said.
The priest also expressed his gratitude to the government for providing water, electricity and health facilities needed for so many people.