International Chapels at the Shrine of Our Lady of Mercy of Jasna Gora

The Shrine of Our Lady of Mercy, Penrose Park, was purchased in 1984 by the first of the Pauline Fathers to come to Australia, with the support and financial assistance of a small but dedicated group of pilgrims. Back in those early days, the dreams were many and varied, but as the number of pilgrims grew, both in number and the variety of cultures and ethnicities they represented, there was a common desire to bring to this place of pilgrimage a little of their particular devotion. This gave rise to what has since become the International Chapels built here at the Shrine.

These chapels, which are almost as many and varied in what saints they are dedicated to as the nationalities of the thousands of pilgrims who come to the Shrine of Our Lady of Mercy, have become such a feature of the property that they are, in themselves, also destinations of pilgrimage. Having been built by ethnic or cultural groups, often at very substantial cost, the chapels are maintained by all those who built them. These groups have typically built their chapels in honour of a national saint or to remember a place of pilgrimage in their own countries.

The land on which they are constructed is still owned by the Pauline Fathers, to whom the chapels will revert, should any group or individual fail to keep them in good order.

1. Our Lady of Vailankanni, Candle Chapel
Pakistani Community

Vailankanni is a village seven miles from Nagapattinam in South India. That place has been chosen by our Lady as a place of predilection for granting innumerable favours to the poor, solace to the sick and offspring to the barren. Today Vailankanni has become the Lourdes of the orient.

5. St Joseph Chapel
Polish Community

A prayer to Saint Joseph: Saint Joseph, patron of the Universal Church, watch over the Church as carefully as you watched over Jesus; help protect It and guide It. Obtain for us a pure, humble, charitable mind, and perfect resignation to the Divine Will. Be our guide, father, and model through life, so that we may merit to die as you did in the arms of Jesus and Mary.

6. St Mary of the Cross (MacKillop) Chapel

St Mary of the Cross (MacKillop) was canonised on 17 October 2010 thus becoming Australia’s first Saint. She reminds us that God gives us opportunities of suffering for Him and that we are just ‘travellers’ in this life because our true home is in heaven. Her example of heroic love inspires us to “never see a need without doing something about it” and to look beyond the capriciousness of artificial boundaries.

7. Our Lady of Happy Voyage Chapel
Anglo-Indian Community

This chapel reminds us to turn to Mary for assistance and care prior to venturing out on a significant journey. Every day, we ask Mary for her maternal help on our earthly pilgrimage towards our heavenly home. A statue of Our Lady of Happy Voyage is in Bandel Church. Bandel Church is one of the oldest Christian churches in West Bengal, India. It stands as a memorial of the Portuguese settlement in Bengal.

20. St. Lorenzo Ruiz Chapel
Filipino Community

Saint Lorenzo Ruiz is the first Filipino saint. He was a layman, married and had two sons and a daughter. He was martyred by ‘reverse hanging’ in Japan in the 17th century. He suffered immensely in his tortures but refused to renounce his faith. He told his executioners that he was ready to die for God and even if he had a thousand lives, he would give them all to Jesus.

21. Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Chapel
Indonesian Community

From Our Lady of the Sacred Heart we learn to live in union with Her Son Jesus. From Her we learn to accept our calling and mission generously, and to remain faithful when the cross appears.

22. Our Lady of Le Vang and the Martyrs of Vietnam Chapel
Vietnamese Community

The first apparition of Our Lady of Le Vang was noted in 1798 during the great persecution of Vietnamese Catholics. Our Lady of Le Vang continues to be an inspiration to those who suffer for their faith. This chapel also honours 117 Vietnamese martyrs.

23. Sts Sarkis & Bakhos Chapel
Lebanese Community

Sts Sarkis and Bakhos were third century high-ranking officers in Caesar Galerius Maximianus’s army. They were held high in his favor until they were exposed as secret Christians. They were then severely punished, with Bacchus dying during torture, and Sergius eventually beheaded.

24. Our Lady Queen of Peace Chapel
Croatian Community

The Blessed Virgin has often been implored for peace and reconciliation among people and with God. Recently, the Blessed Virgin Mary has been declared ‘Queen of Peace’ in the Marian apparitions in Medjugorje since 1981.

25. Bl Jacques Désiré Laval Chapel
Mauritius Community

Jacques Désiré Laval was a doctor who later became a priest. “Once I am a priest, I will be able to do more good,” he explained to his brother. He was also an extraordinary missionary in Mauritius. What was the secret of his missionary zeal? We find it in his holiness: in the gift of his whole person to Jesus Christ.

26. Sts Teresa de Los Andes & Padre Alberto Hurtado Chapel
Chilean Community

Dying at the age of nineteen, St Teresa de Los Andes is a particularly attractive model of holiness for young people. Padre Alberto Hurtudo’s apostolate was the expression of a personal love for Christ the Lord. He spent his life manifesting Christ’s love for the poor.

27. Marija (Marwa) Pomagaj Chapel
Slovenian Community

A merciful image of the Mother of God hangs in the Basilica of Saint Vida, Brezje. It was was painted by Leopold Layer in the year 1814 and people call it ‘Marija Pomagaj’. In the year 1907, it was crowned by Ljubljana’s bishop, Anton Bonaventura Jeglič, with the permission of Pope Pius X.

28. San Gabriele Chapel
Abruzzesi Community

29. Maria Vergine Annunziata Chapel
Associazione Maria Vergine Aimunziata

30. St. Paul Chapel
Maltese Community

Prior to his conversion, St Paul had violently persecuted Christians. However, after he encountered the Risen Christ on the road to Damascus, he became the ‘Apostle to the Gentiles’. The Acts of the Apostles recounts that on his way to Rome, St Paul was shipwrecked on Malta where he was met by Publius and the islanders who showed him unusual kindness [Acts 28:16]

32. Our Lady of Hungary Chapel
Hungarian Community from Sydney

Also known as the ‘Great Lady of Hungary’, Mary is invoked under this title in remembrance of King Stephen (d. 1038), who once built a church at Szekesfehervar in honor of the Mother of God.

34. Our Lady of Fatima Chapel
Portuguese Community

In 1917, Our Lady of Fatima, also known as Our Lady of the Rosary, appeared to three young shepherd children. She warned that the world needs more prayers, penance, fasting, conversion and reconciliation. She requested that the world be consecrated to Her Immaculate Heart.

35. Ave Maria Chapel
Spanish Community

This Chapel is dedicated to Our Lady of Pillar and St. James the Greater Apostle. James the Greater was one of Jesus’ closest friends as were Peter and John. These three apostles were present at the Transfiguration. Our Lady appeared to St. James atop a pillar while he was spreading the gospel in Spain.

42. 120 Chinese Martyrs Chapel
Western Sydney Chinese Community

Pope John Paul II presided over the canonisation of 120 Chinese martyrs on October 1, 2000. The Pope said that “the Church simply wants to recognise these martyrs as examples of courage… The martyrs are honoured for their fidelity to the Catholic faith not their role in political affairs”

43. Nossa Senhora Aparecida Chapel
Brazilian Catholic Community

On October 12, 1717, three fishermen were fishing in the Paraiba river with no success. They prayed to Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception for God’s help. Finally, one of the fishermen threw out his net and drew in a small dark-skinned statue of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception. It became known as Our Lady Aparecida [who appeared].