Source: Daily Mirror (16th August, 2006); By: S. B. David

The Church of Our Lady of Remedies situated in the village called Sillalai in the Jaffna district is one of the oldest churches in the North and is over 400 years old, The village itself is blessed with good soil and plenty of water which is to irrigate paddy and vegetable cultivations as their main livelihood is farming The majority of the inhabitants are predominantly Catholics and they give priority to Christian values, This village is more popularly known as “Little Rome” among the religious faithful, a tribute given to this village for harbouring the Blessed Joseph Vaz, for three long years and also for having brought forth Bishops, Priests, Nuns and Eucharistic Ministers who serve and praise the Lord in his vineyard here and abroad.

Portuguese missionaries came to Jaffna in the year 1544 to propagate Christianity and built a few churches in the peninsula and in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary a church was built at Pandateruppu and a miraculous statue brought from Portugal was placed inside the church and venerated with much piety Blessed Virgin Mary through her intercession showered her blessings to all those who seek her grace and many were attracted from the neighbouring villages and the shrine became famous for devotions and miracles.

During the Dutch persecutions the Catholics from Sillalai removed this miraculous statue of our Blessed Mother Mary and hid it inside wells and hide outs and protected and preserved it without being detected by the Dutch Long after that they erected a shelter for worship in Sillalai and placed the miraculous statue of our Lady of Good Remedies in it and venerated her with reverence. [Full story]

Profile of His Lordship Antony Selvanayagam, Bishop of Penang:
Bishop Antony Selvanayagam, popularly known as Bishop Selva, was born in Bentong, Pahang, Malaysia on 24^th October 1935. His late parents were from Sri Lanka – his father worked as a clerk at the Forestry Department in Bentong. Bishop Selva received his early education in St. Anthony’s School, Teluk Anson (now Teluk Intan), Perak.

The war interrupted his education and he resumed his studies in 1947 at the government-run English School in Batu Gajah. In 1948 he followed his parents to Sri Lanka and studied first in St. Patrick’s College, Jaffna and then in St. Henry’s College in Ilavalai. He returned to Malaya after completing his secondary education, just a few days before the country received its independence in August 1957.

He registered himself with the Labour Exchange and got a job as clerk at the Audit Department, first at Johore Baru and then at Kuala Lumpur.

Bishop Selva was accepted into St. Francis Xavier’s Minor Seminary in Singapore in December 1960, and three years later, entered the Regional Major Seminary, College General in Penang. He completed Philosophy and Theology in 1969 and was ordained a priest on 20^th December 1969 and served as assistant parish priest at St. Thomas Church, Kuantan. From 1974 until he was made Bishop of Penang, he served as parish priest at St. Paul the Hermit’s Church at Batang Berjuntai, Selangor, Malaysia.

Bishop Selva was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur on 6^th March 1980 and ordained as Bishop on 1^st September 1980. After serving for three years as Auxiliary Bishop in the Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur, Bishop Selva was appointed Bishop of the Diocese of Penang on 30^th July 1983 and installed as Bishop of the Diocese on 8^th November 1983.

Bishop Selva is the President of the Episcopal Commission for Ecumenism and Interreligious Affairs of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Malaysia-Singapore-Brunei. In his work as President he represents this region at the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue in Rome since 1995.

Bishop Selva, who has been actively involved in the promotion of Interreligious Harmony since his ordination as Bishop, was the first Chairman of the Penang Branch of the Malaysian Consultative Council for Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism and Sikhism (MCCBCHS) from 1993-1994. Bishop Selva served in the MCCBCHS as a committee member for 1999/2000.

Bishop Selva who was also the first Chairman of the Christian Federation of Malaysia is still actively involved as a Committee Member.

Bishop Selva celebrated the Silver Jubilee of his Episcopal ordination on the 1^st of September 2005 at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, Penang. [Full story]

Source: The Island (24th September, 2002); By: S. B. David

The church of our Lady of Remedies is situated in Sillalai, Jaffna. This church is considered to be one of the oldest churches in the north. The history of its origin goes back to Portuguese regime in Ceylon. The Portuguese missionaries came to Jaffna in 1544 to propagate Christianity and built few churches in the peninsula. The church built at Pandeteruppu was dedicated to Our Blessed Virgin Mary and a statue of Blessed Mary brought with them was placed on the altar of this church and was venerated with much devotion and piety. When the Dutch overpowered the Portuguese and ruled Ceylon they destroyed all the churches built by the Portuguese and persecuted the Catholics.

It is said during this time the Catholics from Sillalai removed this miraculous statue of our Blessed Virgin Mary from Pandeteruppu church by dark hours of night and kept it in hiding and protected and preserved it without being detected by Dutch rulers. As days passed by, the devotees in Sillalai built a cad Jan shelter for worship and placed this statue on the altar and named her as Our Lady of Remedies and venerated with much piety. [Full story]

Source: Daily News (10, August 2001); By: S. B. David

This historic shrine of Our Lady of Remedies situated in the village called Sillalai in the Jaffna diocese, is considered to be the oldest church in the North and is over 400 years old.

History records that in the year 1544 the Portuguese missionaries came to Jaffna to propagate Christianity and built few churches in the peninsula. One of the churches built by the missionaries was at Pandateruppu. They dedicated this church to our Blessed Virgin Mary and presented a miraculous and beautiful statue of Our Blessed Virgin Mary brought from Portugal and venerated her with much piety and devotion.

It is believed that during the Dutch persecution of the Catholics, this miraculous statue was removed from the shrine fearing it could be destroyed. During the dark hours of the night the Sillalai Catholics took this statue from the Shrine and kept it in wells and protected it. In due course the devotees increased in numbers and erected cadjan shelter at Sillalai. They placed the statue of Our Blessed Lady of Remedies in it and venerated her. [Full story]