Our Lady of Immaculate Conception Church, Manjummel

Our Lady of Immaculate Conception Church

Our Lady of Immaculate Conception Church
10°03′35″N 76°18′17″E / 10.05972°N 76.30472°E / 10.05972; 76.30472Coordinates: 10°03′35″N 76°18′17″E / 10.05972°N 76.30472°E / 10.05972; 76.30472
Location Manjummel, Ernakulam district, Kerala
Country India
Denomination Latin Catholic Church
Churchmanship High church
Membership 1095 families
History
Founder(s) Leonardo Mellano
Dedication Mother Mary
Dedicated 4 December 1892
Consecrated 18 April 1893
Architecture
Status Church
Functional status Active
Architectural type Portuguese
Groundbreaking 29 September 1876
Completed 4 December 1892
Administration
Parish Our Lady of Immaculate Conception Church
Diocese Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Verapoly
Province St. Pius X Manjummel Province of Discalced Carmelites
Circuit Order of Discalced Carmelites (OCD)
District Ernakulam
Clergy
Archbishop Francis Kallarakal

Our Lady of Immaculate Conception Church, popularly known as Manjummel Palli, is a parish church coming under the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Verapoly.[1][2] It is situated along the Eloor - Muttar Road, about 8 km from Kalamassery at Manjummel, in Ernakulam district of the south Indian state of Kerala. It was blessed on 4 December 1892 and is one of the century-old churches in Kerala.[3]

Overview

Church Altar

St. Pius X Manjummel Province of Discalced Carmelites, though started in 1857 in the coastal village of Koonammavu, had a short life.[4] After the province became extinct, an offshoot was formed at Manjummel after 17 years in the form of a monastery dedicated to Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception which was inaugurated on 16 April 1874 by Leonardo Mellano, the then Archbishop of Verapoly. This was the first indigenous religious congregation in the state.[4] Two years later, the foundation stone for a new church dedicated to Mother Mary was laid and the construction of the church was completed in over a decade with the blessing ceremony taking place on 4 December 1892. A few months later, the church was consecrated on 18 April 1893 and the church became a parish in 1911.[4] It is the parent parish of three other smaller nearby parishes such as Fathima Matha Church, Muttar, St. Joseph's Church, Eloor and St. Sebastian's Shrine, Eloor.[5] The annual festival of Virgin Mary is celebrated on 8 December.[6]There are daily morning Mass at 6:00 AM and evening mass on Tuesdays and Fridays.[7]


The church is associated with a number of catholic missionaries such as Pedro Landetta Azcueta (Aurelian), Eliswa and Zacharias Salterain Viscarra, whose names are in different stages of canonization by the Roman Catholic Church.[8][9] The Church has declared Eliswa as a Servant of God, Aurelian as Blessed and Zacharias as Venerable.[10][11] Though originally buried at St. Joseph Pontifical Seminary, Mangalapuzha, the mortal remains of Aurelian and Zacharias were later transferred to this church and the church hall houses their tombs.

The church has an additional chapel, Karunya Koodaram, built in December 2015 which is a modern building of smaller dimensions. Adjoining the chapel is the Grotto of Mother Mary, originally built and blessed on 11 February 1959 by Valerian Gracias, the first Indian to become a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church.[12] It was subsequently renovated in 2016. The church also operates a printing press, Little Flower Press, established in 1927,[13] which publishes Cherupushpam, a cultural magazine, among other publications.[14]

Carmelite Educational Trust

Carmelite Educational Trust is the division which manages the educational activities of the church. The trust manages three institutions, Lisieux Elementary School, Guardian Angels Upper Primary School and Guardian Angels Higher Secondary Public School.[15] The educational activities started as a primary school but grew to become a higher secondary school in 2002 and is a CBSE accredited instituion since 2012.[16] The elementary school has a theme park named Lisieux Wonderla, attached to it.

Monastery of the Immaculate Conception

Carmelite Monastery
Carmel Retreat Centre

The Carmelite Monastery was founded by the Order of Discalced Carmelites in 1874, aligned to the congregation of Carmelites.[17] It is situated in the church premises, adjoining the parish house. The monastery is home to 9 tertiary Carmelite priests, 9 lay brothers and several novices[18] while the province has a strength of 214 priests and 109 Seminarians.[19] It also manages a retreat centre, Carmel Retreat Centre, which is a residential apostolate in nature.[20]

St. Joseph's Hospital

The hospital was started in 1887 as a small dispensary by Nicholas Verhoven, a brother at the Carmelite Monastery in Koonammavu.[21][22] The institution, over the years, grew to become the present-day St. Joseph’s Hospital, with inpatient service having 128 beds,[18] critical care units[23] and other modern facilities, including alternative medicine therapies.[24]

Location

The location of the church is in Manjummel, a satellite town of the industrial area of Eloor.[25] The town sits on the banks of River Periyar, and the distance from the town of Kalamassery is around 8 km. Two National Highways pass near the town; National Highway 47 through Kalamassery and National Highway 17 towards west near Muttar. The church is situated along the Eloor-Muttar Road and is accessible through rail via Edappally railway station which is around 2 km away. The nearest airport is Kochi International Airport, approximately 22 km from the church.[5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Catholic Churches". Catholic Churches. 2015. Retrieved August 10, 2015.
  2. ↑ "Church details". Churches in India. 2016. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
  3. ↑ "Our Lady of Immaculate Conception Church, Manjummel Parish (Latin)". Indian Catholic Online. 2016. Retrieved July 11, 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 "THE BEGINNINGS (1857 – 1910)". Manjummel Province. 2016. Retrieved July 11, 2016.
  5. 1 2 "Manjummel Matha Church in Ernakulam, Kerala". Indiavideo.org. 2016. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
  6. ↑ "History". Eloor Municipality. 2016. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
  7. ↑ "Manjummel church Mass timings". Manjummel church. 2016. Retrieved August 27, 2016.
  8. ↑ "Servant Of God". Mangalapuzha Seminary. 2016. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
  9. ↑ "Servant of God Mother Eliswa". Academia. 2016. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
  10. ↑ "Venerable Aurelian of the Blessed Sacrament". Mangalapuzha Seminary. 2016. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
  11. ↑ "Venerable Zacharias OCD". Mangalapuzha Seminary. 2016. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
  12. ↑ "A Cardinal for India". Time Magazine. 5 January 1953. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
  13. ↑ "Little Flower Press (Archdiocese of Verapoly)". Catholic Directory of India. 2016. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
  14. ↑ "Cherupushpam". Churches in India. 2016. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
  15. ↑ "About Us". Guardian Angels Higher Secondary Public School. 2016. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
  16. ↑ "School history". Guardian Angels Higher Secondary Public School. 2016. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
  17. ↑ "Immaculate Conception Monastery (Archdiocese of Verapoly)". Catholic Online. 2016. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
  18. 1 2 "Religious institutions". Catholic Encyclopedia. 2016. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
  19. ↑ "Over 150 years of Mission with a Vision". Manjummel ProvicnProvince. 2016. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
  20. ↑ "Monasteries". Manjummel Province. 2016. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
  21. ↑ "The Catholic Churches and Luso-Indians" (PDF). Shodhganga. 2016. Retrieved July 11, 2016.
  22. ↑ "St.Josephs Hospital". AskB4u. 2016. Retrieved July 11, 2016.
  23. ↑ "Facilities and Services". St. Joseph’s Hospital. 2016. Retrieved July 11, 2016.
  24. ↑ "Alternative healing". Indian Express. 28 October 2009. Retrieved July 11, 2016.
  25. ↑ "Eloor Municipality". Eloor Municipality. 2016. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
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