The golden jubilee of the Shrine Velankanni Church’s car festival will be held from 5.45 p.m. on August 29 at Besant Nagar in the city. The festival will commence with the flag hoisting by the Archbishop of Madras Mylapore George Antonysamy.
According to Rector and Parish Priest Vincent Chinnadurai, around 3 lakh devotees are expected to participate on that day. This year, the festival for Arogyamatha will have prayers for world peace and communal harmony since people of all faiths and communities visit the church. On September 7, the church car will be taken out and lakhs of devotees are expected on this day too.
On the September 8, which happens to be the birthday of Mother Mary, services would be held from 2 a.m. in Tamil, English, Malayalam and Hindi. At 6 p.m., a new gold-plated crown would be offered to the idol of Mother Mary and the flag would be brought down. “The crown has been presented by a devotee,” he added.
