Church of Our Lady of Light (Luz Church), Mylapore –
History
The
historical background of this church is intertwined with the traditional
history of Christianity in India. Arrival of Christianity to India is of two phases, where by traditional
accounts, St. Thomas brought the religion in the first century and
attained martyrdom in Chennai in 53 AD. The second phase is after the arrival of
Portuguese in the 15th century. The legends of the Church of Our Lady of Light
connects both. All through the 15th century the Portuguese kings and
maritime captains had been inspired by two motives in their voyages of
discovery to find allies – the “Moors” of North Africa, – and to find an ocean
route to the rich spice land of the East.
King
John II of Portugal devoted himself much to the problems of the new
discoveries. In 1482, king ‘Diogo Cao’ sailed as far down as 22 degrees south
to “Cape Cross”. But the Portuguese still did not know whether it was possible
to sail round Africa and reach east. In 1486 King John II gave Bartholomew Diaz
the money to build three ships and soon afterwards he set sail on his famous
voyage southwards. In 1487 at “Cape Cross” Diaz erected a pillar on Christmas
day and rested his ship and men. They were in completely unknown seas, which
were shown on old maps as being with monsters, larger than ships with boiling
waters, and terrible storms.
At the
end of the sea was the end the world, so many sailors thought. Indeed, as soon
as they put out to sea again, a huge storm arose. For thirteen days, it blew
them steadily southwards. They had been driven far, further south out of sight
of land. So, after the storm had died down Diaz gave order to turn east to try
and find the coast again. On 3rd February 1488, he sighted a land.
Diaz named it “Cape of Good Hope”. Diaz again set sail his voyage towards India
and lost at sea off the Cape that he himself had called the “Cape of Storm”. It
was he who first proved the possibility of finding a sea route to the
east.
22nd
November 1497 was the day that four small Portuguese ships led by
Vasco-da-Gama in St. Gabriel, crossed a place said to be the Cape of Good Hope
and came close to discovering something European sailors had sought
in vain for many years, a sea route to the richest India, Cathey (China),
Cipangu (Japan). After rounding the Cape, Vasco-da –Gama, the Portuguese
navigator sailed up to the east African coast, and then across the Indian Ocean
to India. On 20thMay, 1498 Vasco-da-Gama the Portuguese
navigator anchored near Calicut. Thus, was established for the first time
in history a direct connection between India and modern Europe over the sea.
King
Emmanuel I of Portugal was so pleased with Vasco-da-Gama’s exploit that he granted
him the title of “Dom” and gave him an annual pension of 1000 Crusades. Soon
after Vasco-da-Gama’s discovery, the Portuguese Franciscan monks, who were the
original followers of St. Francis of Assisi set to bring the Gospel to India,
with eight Franciscan Missionaries, started from Lisbon on 9th March
1500 and landed in Calicut. In the first years, most of the chaplains and
missionaries were Franciscans.
Among
eight Franciscan missionaries, three of them were slain in Calicut on 16th
November 1500. Rest of them arrived at Cochin on the 26th of the
same month. Franciscan missionaries further launched in to the sea to bring
Good news to the south. One day, sea-farers were perplexed and alarmed as they
could not find the sea coast. The Franciscan missionaries appealed to Mother
Mary devoutly. On the same night, they were attracted by a light and decided to
follow the light and land there. After landing, they approached the light. It
preceded them inland to an empty stretch of ground, a forest where the light
vanished.
On this
spot, they built a church in honor of “Nossa Senhora De Luz” which means “Our
Lady of Light”. The church was damaged by the Golconda forces from 1662 to
1673. Further it suffered damages when Hyder Ali forces attacked it from 1780 to
1782. This is the history of the Luz church. Later, the East India Company too
occupied the Luz Parish Residence for a few years. Currently this church also
governs the Stella Maris College, Chennai. Although now a bustling locale, it is believed that
this area could have been covered with mangroves in the early days. The road leading to the church
is now named as Luz Church road after the church itself.