A Glorified Journey of Our Parish
The first ever holy mass of our community who were craving for a church to offer holy mass in Syro Malabar Rite and in our mother tongue, Malayalam language was fulfilled at Sri Aiyappa School premise, Muni Reddy Palaya during the year 1990. To be precise, it was on Christmas day of the same year and the mass was celebrated by Late Rev. Fr. George Nedumpalakunnel. From thereon, it has been a history of co-operation coupled with prayers and hard work of our parishioners and all our previous and present parish priests that took us to this enviable level of growth which is visible for everyone today.
Our story
During the year 1991 the land was purchased in co-operation with and under the supervision of Claritian Congregation priests for construction of a church building. On 15 August 1992, Rev. Fr. Kuriakose Thekilakkattil laid the foundation stone of the church building which was completed under the able leadership of Rev. Fr. George Kollamparmapil. The church was blessed on 4th April 1993 by Mar Jacob Thoomkuzhy who was Bishop of Thamarassery at that time.
The church was raised as a Parish on 2nd June 2000 by His Grace Ignatius Pinto, the then Archbishop of Bangalore. Since then, the following priests led us:
1) Rev Fr. Mathew Keechira (1990-1991)
2) Rev. Fr. Thomas Peringilakattu (1991-1992)
3) Rev. Fr. George Kollamparampil (1992-1994)
4) Rev. Fr. Stanley Mangattu (1994-1995)
5) Rev. Fr. Jose Anjupankil (1996-1997)
6) Rev. Fr. Jose Valliyamthadam (1997-1998)
7 ) Rev. Fr. George Kannamthanam (1998-2001)
8) Rev. Fr. Thomas Vattukulam (2001-2002)
9) Rev. Fr. Santosh Elavumkal (2002-2007)
10) Rev. Fr. Thomas Painghottu (2007-2011)
11) Rev.Fr.George Chirackalpurayidam (2011-2014).
12) Rev. Fr. Roy Vattakunnel (2014-2021)
Under the guidance and hard work of Rev. Fr. Roy Vattakunnel who took charge on 8 June 2014, our spiritual as well as other developmental growth has been phenomenal. The next five year period has to be written in golden letters in the history of St. Alphonsa Forane Church. On 25 November 2015, our parish was raised as Forane church within the Mandya Diocese and Rev. Fr. Roy Vattakunnel became the first Forane parish priest.
The dream of our parishioners took a turn when the excavation work started on 01 June 2015. The foundation stone of the new church building was blessed by Mar George Njaralakatt, the Archbishop of Thalassery diocese on 19 May 2015 and the foundation stone was laid by our Vicar Rev. Fr. Roy Vattakunnel on 5 July 2015.
On 24 July 2016, a year after the construction work began, the multi-purpose hall was ready and it was blessed by Bishop of Mandya diocese Mar Antony Kariyil. The Kalkurish located in front of the church was also blessed on the same day. It remains as a land mark now.
It is praiseworthy that the sum required for the construction of the new church was raised mostly from within the parishioners and the work was completed without any debt.
The co-operation and support received from each and every parishioner towards this cause is commendable. The voluntary work of the parishioners has been an important factor in church construction work. Thus, the new church building was consecrated on 15 July 2018 by Mar Antony Kariyil, Bishop of Mandya Diocese in the presence of a lot of devotees with pomp and piety. Nowadays, our church is known as “Bangalore’s Bharananganam” which is well deserved.
Although the design and planning of work for construction of a new church building has been going on for 7 long years before Rev. Fr. Roy Vattakunnel took over, his initiative, leadership qualities and his will to work hard has been tremendous. He succeeded in keeping the flock under one umbrella for years altogether during the tenure of the church construction is worth mentioning. The relentless effort, technical support and supervision of the Core Committee members in bringing the church to this shape and form cannot be forgotten at this juncture.
Catechism classes have been an integral part of our parish since the beginning of the parish. We have around 230 students studying catechism on every Sunday and they are guided and headed by a group of dedicated teachers and staff. Teacher’s Day is commemorated every year and the teachers are honoured in a special way. A ward level Carol competition is also conducted annually to imbibe the spirit of Christmas among the parishioners. Marananandara Sahaya Nidhi is a scheme which is in progress started about a year ago. The scheme aims to help the families in case of death to avail an amount of Rs. 25,000/- on a small annual contribution.
PIOUS ASSOCIATIONS
Feasts and Parish Day
- We celebrate St. Sebastian’s feast every year during the month of January.
- An integral part of the Parish Day celebration has been children’s cultural programme.
- Our Patroness St. Alphonsa’s feast is celebrated over a period of 10 days with pomp and piety every year during the month of July which is concluded along with procession and Sneha Virunnu.
Other Activiities
We are proud to state about our parishes Chenda Melam Troupe who are consistently preparing and performing at various occasions on an “invite” basis. We also have a Nurses Ministry Group consisting of working and non working nurses in our parish. The main aim of the Nurses Ministry is to evangelize the nursing professionals and thereby bring within them fear of God and spiritual growth. We are also imparting dance classes for those who are interested in learning dancing and be involved in our cultural activities. We do have a Malayalam Mission Wing who teaches Malayalam to those who are interested in learning our mother tongue.
It is to be noted that miracles are happening in our church especially on Fridays during St. Alphonsa’s Novena and Adoration time. During the 10 days of Novena and Feast too blessings are reported to be happening.
We thank almighty for keeping our flock together for years altogether continuously. The solidarity, cooperation and the humility of our parishioners to rise up to the occasion is of great significance. Let us keep praying for our community and seek more blessings from God Almighty. Let us hope and pray that whoever visits and prays in our church be blessed and their prayers are heard by God through the intercession of the Patroness of our church, Saint Alphonsa.