Mother of God Church, Vettukad
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Vettukad Church is also known as the Madre De Deus Church meaning ''Mother of God'' and is especially renowned among the pilgrims and tourists for the
Feast of Christ the King The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, commonly referred to as the Feast of Christ the King, Christ the King Sunday or Reign of Christ Sunday, is a feast in the liturgical year which emphasises the true kingship of Christ ...
celebration. Madre de Deus Church bears the tradition of more than 500 years. It is traditionally believed that the famous missionary,
St. Francis Xavier Francis Xavier (born Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta; Latin: ''Franciscus Xaverius''; Basque: ''Frantzisko Xabierkoa''; French: ''François Xavier''; Spanish: ''Francisco Javier''; Portuguese: ''Francisco Xavier''; 7 April 15063 December 15 ...
, visited Vettukad somewhere between 1543 and 1547 to evangelize the faithful of the region. The letters written by Fr. Francis Peres S. J. addressed to the superior general of the
society of Jesus , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...
in Rome in the year 1568 reveal that Madre De Deus Vettukad parish had a Christian population of 175. It is reported in the letter that when St. Francis Xavier reached Vettukad, he was amused to see a small chapel (japalayam) and a granite cross there. This is a clear evidence of the fact that there existed a good number of faithful Christians in Vettukad long back from 15th century onwards. At present, Vettukad has grown into a small township with a Christian population of 6770. In 1934, during the period of Rev. Fr. Godwin A. Gudinho, started the construction of the present church and finished in 1937 during the period of Rev. Fr. Michael John. Then, the Vicar General of Kochi Diocese, Monsinjor Leon De Souza blessed the church and grew into a parish under
Valiyathura ''Valiathura was a major port of Thiruvananthapuram city the capital of Kerala, India. It is one of the oldest port in India. This was once the only port along the South Kerala coast. When Kochi, India, Kochi became the prominent port in Keral ...
forane and
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Trivandrum The Archdiocese of Trivandrum ( la, Trivandren(sis) Latinorum) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church. Its episcopal see is Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, India. It shares its see with the major ar ...
. Here Christ the King blesses with all His love and compassion and believed to have miraculous power over his devotees. The Feast of Christ the King celebration lasts for 10 days, on the final day of which the grand feast takes place. It is celebrated on the last Sunday of the liturgical year corresponding to the third Sunday of November every year. During these ten days, a plethora of religious rites are performed all throughout the day. The second last day (Saturday) sees a grand procession with the image of Christ the King that goes round the entire parish. A high mass led by the Archbishop of Trivandrum Archdiocese, sermons, and the benediction marks the final day (Sunday) that experiences a spill of around 50,000 devotees. Vettukad parishioners residing in the UAE has been celebrating Feast of Christ the King at St. Michael's Church, Sharjah, UAE since 1978. In the United Kingdom, parishioners from Vettukad Church began to celebrate the Feast of Christ the King from November 2009.


Organizations

The following charitable organizations actively work in Vettukad parish: * KCYM (Kerala Catholic Youth Movement) *
Legion of Mary The Legion of Mary ( la, Legio Mariae, postnominal abbreviation L.O.M.) is an international association of members of the Catholic Church who serve it on a voluntary basis. It was founded in Dublin, as a Marian movement by the layman and civi ...
* Sodality *
Vincent De Paul Vincent de Paul, CM (24 April 1581 – 27 September 1660), commonly known as Saint Vincent de Paul, was a Occitan French Catholic priest who dedicated himself to serving the poor. In 1622 Vincent was appointed a chaplain to the galleys. Afte ...
* TSSS


Parish priest

Rev. Dr. George Gomez


Former parish priests


Native priests

# C. M. Hillary # Rocky Fernandez # Lazar Benedict # Christil Rozario # Edison Y.M. # Rodrigus Kutty # Binoy Leen. OFM Cap # Joy .OFM Cap # Aneesh Fernandez # Binu Palakkapalli .IC # ----- # Sajith Solaman # Arun .OFM Cap seminariance # Br. Vijin Vincent # Br. Deepu Christepher # Br. Pradeep Simon # Br. Jibin James # Br. Federick # Br. Bijoy Judith # Br. Alwin # .


Parish council

The parish council is the governing body of the Madre De Deus Church. The parish council is elected every two years and functioning based on the bylaw approved by the Trivandrum Archdiocese. The parish council is chaired by the parish priest and it contains the vice president, secretary, treasurer, pastoral ministry convener, education ministry convener, social action ministry convener, youth ministry convener, B.C.C. coordinator and other council members elected from the wards.


Cemetery vault

Madre De Deus parish has built a new cemetery vault, which has a capacity of over one hundred coffins, during the period of Very. Rev. Fr. Johnson Alexander as parish priest. The foundation stone for the cemetery vault was laid on 19 March 2008 by Msgr. Eugine H Pereira and blessed on 1 November 2008 by Msgr. Rev. Dr. Nicholas T.


See also

* * —Jacob Nelson - http://jnelson.in 05:22, 19 July 2013 (UTC) {{coord missing, Kerala Roman Catholic churches in Thiruvananthapuram