On the narrow tongue of land, known as the Kalpitiya peninsula, lying between the Puttlam Lake and the mighty Indian Ocean, nestles the cosy little Talawila, where the famous sanctuary of St. Anne stands. The country around the shrine is a waste of bleak sand, dotted over with copses of low growth and tall palmyrahs, which with their erect, sturdy trunks terminating in a tuft of broad fan shaped leaves, stand challenging the drought and the monsoon blasts. Around the church, however, there is a fair acreage of full-grown coconut palms, like an oasis in a desert, to gladden the pilgrim. Nature has no charms to offer here in spite of the deep blue sea, which is hardly one hundred meters from the church; the climate is hot and enervating. But, year after year, for the last fifteen decades and more, vast crowds of devout pilgrims, drawn from every strata of life and from every corner of the island, have flocked hither. No human power drew them there; neither worldly gain nor love of pleasure or profit or fame brought them there. An old fashioned church and in it a rough image of a Saint, who had loved and died even before the birth of Christianity, these have been the attractions. They have come animated by a sense of an unseen, yet real, power; they have come to worship good and honour His saint, to invoke Divine assistance and offer thanks for favours received. Like all divine works, the shrine of Talawila began in a small way; it developed in spite of difficulties and in hostile surroundings. Then in God's good time and against all human calculations, it sprang to fame as a rallying point of Catholic piety and a great national sanctuary. But, how did it all happen? Trials It is against a background of small beginnings, rapid progress, severe trials and joyous triumphs, that the history of the shrine of St. Anne at Talawila has been silhouetted by written records and authentic traditions. History reveals that Kalpitiya and the district around it nurtured the earliest contacts between Sri Lanka and India. The landing place of Prince Vijaya is just across the lake, a few miles to the north of Puttlam and further north is Kudrimalai, Pliny's Hippuros, once a busy trade centre. Kalpitiya itself was an important port for the trade between Sri Lanka and India and at times, the waters around Kalpitiya ran blood when contending nations fought for the control of sea routes. Background Christian missionary work began in the peninsula around 1606 and the Fathers of the Society of Jesus from South India were the first to preach the gospel in these parts. However, with the recapture of Negombo by the Dutch shortly after 1944 the Jesuit Fathers had to quit the peninsula and the Catholics of the peninsula were without mass or sacraments or adequate religious instructions for nearly half a century but they remained steadfast in the faith. In 1687, Venerable Father Joseph Vaz, an Indian Oratorian, taking pity on the deserted flock of C