200th anniversary of Lady of Snows Basilica
Tuticorn:Devotees pulling the golden car of Our Lady of Snows Basilica in Tuticorin on Sunday.The 200th anniversary of the Golden Car at the Our Lady of Snows Basilica here was celebrated with pomp and gaiety on Sunday.This year, the ‘Golden Car feast day’ was organised simultaneously with the silver jubilee of the church becoming a Basilica and the 425 anniversary of Our Lady of Snow shrine.The Car was pulled by devotees from the Basilica premises through Mathakoil Street, St. Peter Koil Street, Periyakadai Street, Great Cotton Road and South Beach Road to culminate at the starting point, after a four-hour journey. A few lakh of devotees from across the country witnessed the procession.Church sources said the star at the top of the Car, resting on a golden crown, signified the name of Our Lady as the Star of the Sea (Stella Maris). “The star illuminates the world, warms the minds, increases virtues and destroy wickedness.”The star symbolised five prerogatives of ‘Our Divine Mother:’ her divine motherhood, her immaculate conception, her perpetual virginity, as a channel of divine grace and as the gate of heaven.The golden crown on which the star was fixed highlighted the fact that the ‘blessed virgin’ was crowned as the queen of heaven and earth.The police provided tight security around the Basilica and all along the procession.About 700 police personnel from Tuticorin and neighbouring districts were deployed.A 15-member swift action force team, under the direct supervision of Superintendent of Police Deepak Motibhai Damor, patrolled the area in motorcycles.
