Votive Shrine

On the 8th December 1942, the Japanese entered the Second World War. In no time they occupied Burma and even penetrated into the province of Assam. In 1943 the Japanese Fleet sailed not far from Madras on its way to Trincomalee where it inflicted heavy damage on the British Navy. That was how the idea of a vow, and a Shrine in fulfillment of it, came to be conceived. We shall relate the story briefly in the Archbishop’s own words. “Madras was in the grip of a scare. Schools with their boarders were evacuated into the interior. The exodus of people was such that Madras looked for a while like a depopulated city.”

“It was during a special service held in St.Mary’s Cathedral on Sunday 5th September 1942, after consecrating the whole Archdiocese to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, that I made, before the Faithful who filled the Cathedral to capacity, the Solemn promise to erect, soon after the war, in the city of Madras, preferably in that locality of Kilpauk or Chetpet, – read more...