202.83.32.203: /* Parish Priest */

2021-07-02T13:14:57Z

Parish Priest

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{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=February 2019}}
{{Multiple issues|{{More citations needed|date=August 2013}}{{cleanup|date=August 2013|reason=Long unnecessary tables and dates.}}}}

[[File:Vettucaud_church_new.jpg|thumb|Madre de Deus new church, Vettukad]]
[[File:Holy-mass-at-madre-de-deus-church.jpg|thumb|An evening holy mass at the old madre de deus church, vettukad]]
[[File:CHRIST-THE-KING.jpg|thumb|CHRIST THE KING]]
[[File:Interior-of-temporary-church.jpg|thumb|Interior of the temporarily built church.]]
[[File:Altar-of-temporary-church.jpg|thumb|Altar of the temporarily built church. This is the exact replica of the Altar of old Madre De Deus church.]]
[[File:Cemetery Vault at Vettukad Madre De Deus Church Vettukad.jpg|thumb|Cemetery Vault at Madre De Deus Church Vettukad]][[File:Christ The King Community Hall Vettukad.jpg|thumb|Christ The King Community Hall Vettukad]]

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]] celebration. Madre de Deus Church, bears tradition of more than 500 years. It is traditionally believed that the famous missionary, [[St. Francis Xavier]], visited Vettukad somewhere in between 1543 and 1547 to evangelize the faithful of this region. The letters written by Fr. Francis Peres S. J. addressed to the superior general of the [[society of Jesus]] in Rome in the year 1568 reveals 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]] forane and [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Trivandrum]]. 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 3rd Sunday of November every year. During these ten days, a plethora of religious rites are performed all through 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 Arch Bishop of Trivandrum Arch Diocese, 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 [http://www.stmichaelssharjah.org/ 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 working in vettukad parish

* [[Kerala Catholic Youth Movement|KCYM (Kerala Catholic Youth Movement)]]
* [[Legion of Mary]]
* Sodality
* [[Vincent de Paul, Society of Saint|Vincent De Paul]]
* TSSS

== Liturgical Services ==

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| colspan="2" | '''Sunday'''
|-
|06:00 AM || Holy Mass
|-
|08:00 AM || Holy Mass for Catechism Students
|-
|10:30 AM || Holy Mass (Baptism - First and Third Sundays) (First Holy Communion - Second and Last Sundays)
|-
|05:00 PM || Holy Mass
|-
|06:45 PM || Holy Mass - English
|-
|07:30 PM || Novena to Christ the King in English
|-
| colspan="2" | '''Monday to Thursday'''
|-
|06:15 AM || Holy Mass
|-
|05:30 PM || Holy Mass
|-
| colspan="2" | '''Friday'''
|-
|06:15 AM || Holy Mass
|-
|11:00 AM || Holy Mass
|-
|05:30 PM || Holy Mass
|-
|07:00 PM || Christuraja Pada Pooja - Novena
|-
| colspan="2" | '''Saturday'''
|-
|06:15 AM || Holy Mass
|-
|05:30 PM || Holy Mass
|-
| colspan="2" | '''First Friday'''
|-
|06:15 AM || Holy Mass
|-
|07:00 AM || Christuraja Pada Pooja - Novena
|-
|09:00 AM || Holy Mass (Tamil)
|-
|11:00 AM || Holy Mass
|-
|02:30 PM || Holy Mass
|-
|04:00 PM || Holy Mass
|-
|05:30 PM || Holy Mass
|-
|07:00 PM || Christuraja Pada Pooja - Novena
|-
|08:00 PM || Eucharistic Adoration
|-
| colspan="2" |
* Last Friday 3:00 PM healing service
* Monday to Saturday 05:45 AM Eucharistic Adoration
* Second and Fourth Saturdays 07:00 PM Song Rosary

|}

== Parish Priest ==

Rev. Dr. George Gomez

== The former Parish Priests who served this Parish ==

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Sl.No !! Name !! Period
|-
| 1 || Rev. Fr.Monteiro || 1890–1890
|-
| 2 || Rev. Fr.Marcus Aloysius || 1896–1899
|-
| 3 || Rev. Fr.Francis Xavier Lopez || 1899–1901
|-
| 4 || Rev. Fr.P.A.Menezes || 1901–1903
|-
| 5 || Rev. Fr.Presentation || 1903–1904
|-
| 6 || Rev. Fr.Joseseph Suares || 1904–1905
|-
| 7 || Rev. Fr.Jacob Rozario || 1905–1906
|-
| 8 || Rev. Fr.Everette || 1906–1907
|-
| 9 || Rev. Fr.Francis Xavier Lopez || 1907–1911
|-
| 10 || Rev. Fr.G.Dores || 1911
|-
| 11 || A.J.Heredia || 1911–1912
|-
| 12 || Rev. Fr.G.Dores || 1912–1913
|-
| 13 || Rev. Fr.A.V.Perira || 1913–1915
|-
| 14 || Rev. Fr.Monteiro || 1915–1919
|-
| 15 || Rev. Fr.Godwin A. Gudinho || 1919–1936
|-
| 16 || Rev. Fr.Michael John || 1936–1943
|-
| 17 || Rev. Fr.Peter Puthenpurackal || 1943–1952
|-
| 18 || Rev. Fr.Cyril D'costa || 1952–1954
|-
| 19 || Rev. Fr.Silvester Fernandez || 1954–1957
|-
| 20 || Rev. Fr.M.Joseph || 1957
|-
| 21 || Rev. Fr.Silvester Fernandez || 1957–1958
|-
| 22 || Rev. Fr.Joseph Pereira || 1958–1959
|-
| 23 || Rev. Fr.Antony Pereira || 1959–1968
|-
| 24 || Rev. Fr.Xavier Lean || 1968
|-
| 25 || Rev. Fr.Nicholas D'costa || 1968–1970
|-
| 26 || Rev. Fr.John Panackal || 1970–1972
|-
| 27 || Rev. Fr.Paul Kurisinkal || 1972–1978
|-
| 28 || Rev. Fr.James Amado || 1978–1980
|-
| 29 || Rev. Fr.Joseph Xavier (Asst.) ||
|-
| 30 || Rev. Fr.G.Stephen || 1980–1988
|-
| 31 || Rev.Dr.C.Joseph] || 1988–1989
|-
| 32 || Rev.Fr.Cleetus Gomez] || 1989–1991
|-
| 33 || Rev.Fr.L.Romanse] || 1991–1997
|-
| 34 || Rev.Dr.Hyacinth M. Nayakam DCL] || 1997–1999
|-
| 35 || Rev. Fr.Ignatius Francis Louis || 1999–2004
|-
| 36 || Rev.Fr.Johnson Alexander] || 2004–2009
|-
| 37 || Rev.Dr.Gladin Alex DCL] || 2009–2012
|-
| 38 || Rev. Fr.Nicholas T || 2012 -2018
|-
| 39 || Rev. Fr. Joseph Bastin || 2018-2020

|}

== Native Priests ==

# Fr.C.M.Hillary
# [http://www.latinarchdiocesetrivandrum.org/priest_details.php?prid=34 Edison Y. M.]
# [http://www.latinarchdiocesetrivandrum.org/priest_details.php?prid=13 Aneesh Fernandez]
# [http://www.latinarchdiocesetrivandrum.org/priest_details.php?prid=25 Christil Rozario]
# [http://www.latinarchdiocesetrivandrum.org/priest_details.php?prid=74 Lazar Benedict]
# [http://www.latinarchdiocesetrivandrum.org/priest_details.php?prid=95 Rodrigus Kutty]
Rev.Fr.Rocky Fernandez

== Parish Council ==

The parish council is the governing body of the Madre De Deus Church. Parish Council is elected every 2 years and functioning based on the by byelaw approved by Trivandrum Archdiocese. Parish Council is chaired by the parish priest and it contains 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 100 plus coffeines during the period of Very. Rev. Fr. Johnson Alexander as parish priest. The foundation stone for 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==
*{{cite web|url=http://www.vettucaudchurch.org/|title=Madre De Deus Church - Vettucaud, Vettukad, Vettukadu, Christujaraja|publisher=vettucaudchurch.org|accessdate=2014-06-06}}
*{{cite web|url=http://www.latinarchdiocesetrivandrum.org/|title= Latin Archdiocese of Trivandrum |publisher=latinarchdiocesetrivandrum.org |accessdate=2014-06-06}}

—Jacob Nelson - http://jnelson.in 05:22, 19 July 2013 (UTC)

{{commons category|Mother of God Church, Vettukad}}

{{coord missing|Kerala}}

[[Category:Roman Catholic churches in Thiruvananthapuram]]

Mother of God Church, Vettukad - Revision history

202.83.32.203: /* Parish Priest */