Mary’s stops a tsunami in Sri Lanka

A good Franciscan had just arrived in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, to take charge of the mission. Wishing to place his flock under the protection of the great Saint Anthony, he had brought with him a magnificent piece of wood which he intended to have carved in Ceylon by some local artist in the effigy of the holy thaumaturgist. But he changed his mind, and eventually had a pagan by the name of Anacoti make him a statue of Our Lady of Victories. 

One fine day, on May 25, 1614, Anacoti's neighbor Engabao came to see his work. While talking, Anacoti inadvertently sat down on the unfinished statue. Instantly, he was mysteriously pushed off. Angered and humiliated by this occurrence, Anacoti tried to sit down again in the same place, but this time he was violently pushed away. A few days later, his daughter experienced something similar. Like all villagers, she chewed betel leaves (1) and spat everywhere. When she accidently splashed the statue of the Virgin, her father sharply reprimanded her and asked her to clean the statue. 

But she, too, was repelled by an invisible force, so strong that she fell over unconscious. 

Naturally, these strange occurrences drew crowds to Anacoti's house. When healings began to take place, people went wild. Then a huge procession was organized to bring the holy statue of Mary to the church. 

But nothing compares to the miracle of February 20, 1627, the day of the tidal wave. 

On that day, the waves broke over the last refuge of the population of Jaffan, which was the Shrine of Our Lady of Miracles. The Portuguese captain handed over his command to his Queen, planting his personal pennant in front of the statue... What could he do against the raging elements? In a spirit of repentance, he pleaded with Mary for the safety of the people... and something extraordinary happened, which everyone witnessed: the Virgin Mary, in her statue, brought the Child Jesus closer to her, holding him in her arms, as if to make him aware of the beating of her anguished heart... Instantly, the storm subsided, and Jaffna was saved.

G. Fortin, Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) - “From the star of the Magi to Mary Queen of Lanka” in Maria – études sur la Vierge Marie – edited by Hubert du Manoir, s. j. - Tome IV, 1956, p. 939-940