To see a vision

By Kumudini Hettiarachchi and Tharuka Dissanaike

Mothers carrying babies, children in school uniform, a woman heavy with child, older women with walking sticks, men in sarongs, youth with crew cuts and girls in mini skirts, people from all walks of life, they flocked to that unpretentious church in Rawatawatte.

Circled above: a vision of what people believe is an image of a rosary circling Sri Lanka.

It was Friday and that was a special day at the Queen of Angels Church, because it has always been on Fridays that something happens. The hopes and expectations of the hundreds of people who knelt at those simple wooden pews, sat on the bare floor of the church aisle or wherever there was room and the others who overflowed into the muddy churchyard, were tangible. The chant of "Deva maniyani, apita yaakngakranna" (Holy Mother pray for us), the veneration and the odour of burning candles heightened the feeling of spirituality. "Did you see the vision on the wall?" they asked us anxiously, seeking to share the "miracle". We had seen it — it was lighter than the white wall and looked like the image of a cross, but the person on the cross appeared to be Mary, the mother of Christ with her bent head covered by a veil, as seen in most statues. There were streaks of pink to the right of the "image" and the devout had kept a bouquet of fresh white flowers at its foot.

That image had appeared, in a flash of light, on August 16, the day of the feast of the Body of Christ (Corpus Christi) while mass was being said. From that day, as news spread of this strange inexplicable phenomenon, this humble church has been flooded by worshippers, the mentally and physically ill seeking miraculous cures, others praying for a solution to personal problems, those asking for special favours, some as simple as a little boy requesting Jesus to persuade his mother to bring him a bicycle, sceptics and also the curious. A large exercise book on the church verandah records reactions of the multitude who visit the church and is filled with pleading prayers for delivery from problems and ill health.

At 3 p.m. every Friday, thousands gather at the church. As Parish Priest Father Edward Ravel, holds the Blessed Sacrament (monstrance with the host which Catholics believe has been turned into the body of Christ) for adoration, a hush descends on the church and the air of expectation reaches a climax, with the devout fixing their eyes on the "image" on the wall.

Because that is where on many a Friday, since October more "visions" have appeared in the form of moving lights. Now every Friday there is a three-hour "adoration" of the Blessed Sacrament, followed by benediction and mass.

"This was a lonely church and though we are parishioners here, we used to go to another church. But after we heard about the vision on August 16, and actually saw it later, we worship here regularly. On Friday, October 16, exactly two months after the first vision, we saw a little 'spotlight' above it on the wall. Later it became an oval-shaped halo around the head of the vision. It lasted about three minutes," said D.W. Pereira (61).

He saw more on October 23, another Friday. When the Blessed Sacrament was exposed for adoration he was praying with about 200 others. It was 3.30 p.m. A light appeared in the form of a bird (according to him it is the Holy Spirit) above the vision. The bird hovered there till 3.40 p.m. Then it moved to the right of the vision and a rosary started forming. He ran out to call those who were in the churchyard. "When I came back it was fading, but there is still a reddish blotch near the vision," Mr. Pereira says

Once again on the first Friday of November, which was the sixth, he saw near the vision, the shape of Sri Lanka forming, breaking up and coming together again.

On October 23, Rexy Fernando (50) who keeps the church books saw near the "image" on the wall a rosary in the shape of Sri Lanka. After some time a bright light in the shape of a lamp appeared inside the rosary. Then the top part of the country, he presumes it's the north and east, separated. After a few seconds it rejoined the main part of "Sri Lanka" after which the light gradually faded.

According to Mr. Fernando the whole vision lasted about four minutes.

Nineteen-year-old Delanne de Zilwa had accompanied her mother to the church after hearing "by word of mouth" about the "happenings" at Rawatawatte. They were Sri Lankans living in Australia and one of the "must" stops while on holiday here had been listed as this.

She was moved by the spirituality pervading the area, but acknowledged that it "was hard to say" what it was all about.

Helen Kumari (20) with a child in her arms had come for succour. Her father, Emil Anthony, is suffering from many a malady. They had a lot of faith in the Virgin Mary. So the whole family was here to light a few candles and pray for their father's recovery, they said, as they helped their father to a statue.

Basil and Anula Fernando who came with their son to church insisted that we show our press accreditation before they came out with their "experience".

"Alokayak awa," (There was a bright light), Anula, a mother of three, said demurely. Later they saw a rosary in the shape of Sri Lanka.

The more talkative Basil, a trishaw driver from Lunawa, said: "Once we had an all-night service for 'aluth alokaya'. The church was in total darkness. Only 15 candles were lit. Then, suddenly, a light appeared near the Blessed Sacrament."

For him there could be no argument, debate or controversy over these visions. Even small children see them. Both he and his seven-year-old son had seen Mary's face in the now permanent vision on the wall, turning this way and that, casting her kind eyes at the devout.

"You don't need evidence, it is there. Just look at the vision on the wall and you will see it," Basil, a staunch Catholic said.

A close relative had told Ranjith Boniface, a 54-year-old company director who lives far away, about the happenings at this church. Declining to be photographed he said, "Yes, I see the faint impression of a cross on the wall. I can't make out what it is, but it seems like a divine message."

A message for people to change their ways and also a message of peace, he said.

Sandhya Pieris (41) from Ragama, seated in the compound, said she came quite often to the church. She had seen the subsequent visions — a cross emerging through Mary's figure on the wall.

The vision of the cross couldn't have been drawn. There was nothing there earlier, asserts Lance Corporal Neil Priyankara (29), a Buddhist. He has come to the church many times with an army officer's son. He has seen a bright light appearing at the bottom of the vision, moving to the right and then disappearing.

"I will be bringing my mother here to see this wonderful thing," he adds.

Pamela Fernando of Kandana, had a pain in the stomach which was diagnosed as kidney stones. She heard of the church and came with much faith. "I was really impressed by the expression on our Lady's face. Now I have no more pain. I believe I've been cured."

This was her first visit to the church, an elegant middle-aged Tamil lady who requested anonymity said. She was from Colombo. She and both her helpers saw the vision on the wall clearly. "It's inexplicable and very touching," she said.

Feeble Cham Wijeratne (76), seated at the rear of the church, had come with hopes of a cure. "Even from here, right at the back, I can see the vision on the wall clearly. I am after a severe attack of typhoid. I have lots of small ailments. I hope I'll be okay after this visit," he says.

As we drove away, leaving about a 1,000 people in prayer inside the church, a small "shop" selling candles and other religious things was having brisk business.

Is it a message of peace?

What Parish Priest Fr. Edward Ravel had to say:

These could be "divine messages". It was on August 16, when the Blessed Sacrament was exposed that a mysterious reflection appeared on the wall. After that on some Fridays there have been visions of a rosary in the shape of Sri Lanka, which shattered and later came together. Once a light appeared on the face of the Blessed Mother in the vision, with stars sparkling around her head.

"I think it could be a message of peace for Sri Lanka. The stars around Our Lady's head could mean that she is queen and is looking after us," he says.

The priest said there have been instances of miraculous curing in the church. He spoke of an especially touching case where an eight-year-old Buddhist child , unable to walk, was carried in by his mother. He can now walk, a little gingerly perhaps. Then there was also the Air Force officer who ran away from the Maharagama Cancer Hospital to look at the apparition and was cured.

Why this church? Fr. Ravel has an interesting theory. He points to a cross, hung to the left of the vision and says it is from Vasavilan, in the north. The church in Vasavilan was bombed in 1993 and the only thing left was the cross. A Buddhist soldier had brought it to Colombo and handed it to a Catholic friend in Lunawa.

"That person was not even one of our parishioners, but he brought it here," Fr. Ravel says.

Fr. Ravel says the lower part of the 'apparition' on the wall resembles the figure of the crucified Christ on the cross from Vasavilan. He is hesitant to concede it, but after much thought says, "Maybe there is a link. I don't know."

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