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Shrines play an unusually big role in Catholic life in southern India. Worshippers stop by them steadily throughout the day, offering brief prayers, and signaling that these are active places of religious power, not simply relics from the past.

Migration plays a significant role in the lives of Syro-Malabar Catholics. Families commonly have at least one family member living abroad for employment purposes.

Many Syro-Malabar Catholics set up shrines in their homes, in a central hallway, dining room or sitting room. Families gather to pray there in the evening, often with a scripture reading, before or after dinner. In parts of central Kerala, it is also common to see images of the Sacred Heart over the doorway to Syro-Malabar Catholic homes.

A funeral procession to St. Alphonsa Shrine & Church, Bharananganam, Kerala, India. Mass on the Day of the Commemoration of the Dead at St. Mary's Forane Church in Kuravilangad, India, 2013.

Mobility within India, and migration out of India, is having some effect on Catholicism in many parts of the country, mostly among the upper and middle classes, who are most connected into the world abroad.

Our Lady of Velankanni, an enormous basilica shrine referred to by many Indians as the "Lourdes of the East," is said to draw millions of visitors a year, especially at Christmas and during the shrine's feast in the nine days leading up to September 8.

Visitors to Our Lady of Good Health in Bengaluru said that they came for peace, and to pray for prosperity for themselves and for all.

Mother Mary, St. Alphonsa, and St. George all represent ideal models of Christian behaviors for women and men, but many more of the stories around them seem to center on miracles, cures and protection.

Unofficial shrines in unexpected places are reminders that the divine can be manifest anywhere and everywhere in Indian society.

The Miraculous Infant Jesus Church is a popular shrine celebrating the image of the Infant Jesus of Prague, a devotion imported from the Czech Republic. The parish and shrine are relatively new, having been established in the late 1960s, but the site draws large crowds for its nine Thursday novena Masses to the Infant Jesus, and the seven Sunday Masses. The church serves a primarily Tamil speaking community, but also has Masses in five other languages. The shrine’s motto, “The more you honour me, the more I will bless you,” is a surprisingly mechanistic perspective on prayer, is but one that