St. Antony's Church, Nedumbassery, Athani

The Beginning

The Latin Catholics who had come to Athani from various districts of Kerala, especially from Ernakulam, Alapuzha and Kollam, and settled here owing to their job did not have their own church nearby. During this period they attended the liturgical services in St. Anne’s Church, Thottakkattukara. This difficulty was presented to the then parish priest Rev. Fr. Kurian Maraparambil and subsequently a family unit was formed including elderly members of the community. As per the directions of Rev. Fr. Kurian the details of 65 families were collected and presented that day in the family unit.

Shri. K. J. Francis assumed responsibility as the President, Shri. Mohan Paul took over as Secretary and Shri.Baby Xavier as Treasurer of the Family Unit. Elderly people were included as members of the Committee.

Ever since the family unit started functioning in 1989, the ‘Way of the Cross’ was conducted on foot from Athani to Thottakkattukkara church on Good Friday every year. Now the ‘Way of the Cross’ on Good Friday starts from Our Lady’s Shrine, Nedumbassery and after encircling Athani town reaches the parish church.

Construction of the Church

The family unit leaders met Archbishop Cornelius at his residence and frequently raised the necessity of a new church at Athani and finally the Archbishop gave the permission to construct the church. But only after a lot of effort, a suitable land could be found. 63 cents of land was purchased near Government L. P. School, Thuruthussery from Shri. Varkey George Kurianchery and wife Baby as per survey no.656/1, 656/4, 656/5C and 656/5D by Rev. Fr. Mark Pallan and registered it in the name of Rev. Fr. Kurian Maraparambil on 11.02.1992. It was a Tuesday. The same day a shed was constructed and holy mass was conducted.

A. Completion of the Construction of the Church and the first Holy Mass

On February 16, 1992 Msgr. Emmanuel Lopez laid the foundation stone for the church. On January 16, 1994 God helped realize the long-cherished dream of the Latin community at Athani. The Archbishop of Varapuzha, Rt. Rev. Dr. Cornelius blessed the church in the name of St. Antony and offered the first Holy Mass.

B. The first Parish Feast Celebration

Rev. Fr. Felix Chakkalakkal, who came as the parish priest in Thottakkakara Church after Rev. Fr. Kurian gave leadership to the first Parish Feast Celebrations on June 16, 17 and 18, 1995, and celebrated it with great devotion.

C. The first Christmas Celebration

On 24th December, 1996 Rev. Fr. Francis Thannikkaparambil celebrated the first midnight Christmas Mass. From 2001 Christmas onwards Christmas star competition, crib competition and Christmas carols are being conducted.

Parochial House

On 13th June 1997, Rt. Rev. Dr. Daniel Acharuparambil, Archbishop of Verapoly made the Flag hoisting to mark the beginning of the Parish feast celebrations and laid the foundation stone for the parochial house. Accompanied by the Confraternity members the first parish feast procession moved to the Our Lady’s Shrine. It was followed by cultural programmes under the auspices of the family unit. The parochial house was blessed on 10th February, 1998 by Archbishop Daniel Acharuparambil.

Our Lady’s Shrine

Near Athani Mar Athanasius High School by the side of the National Highway, on the land donated by Shri. Anthikat Xavier, an Our Lady’s Shrine was built and it was blessed by Rev. Fr. Joseph Etturuthil on 15th August 1996. There was a solemn Mass afterwards. On Christmas Night of 2004, St. Antony’s statue was blessed and placed on the top of the shrine.

The Church Cemetery

The role of the then parish priest Rev. Fr. Xavier Aravindassery in holding discussions for building the cemetery and getting sanction from the collectorate after removing legal obstacles and also in getting financial assistance from the Archbishop’s House deserves special mention. Rev. Fr. Michael Thalakketty also worked hard in completing the construction of the cemetery using funds gathered from the parish members. On November 1st, 2003 the blessing ceremony of the cemetery was held.

Family Unit Anniversary

On February 22nd, 1998 the first anniversary of the family unit was celebrated. A warm farewell was also given to Rev. Fr. Yesudas Pazhampilly who had offered services in the parish till that day.

The family units which were geographically demarcated as A,B,C,D and E started functioning as St. Anne’s, St. Joseph, Infant Jesus, St. Xavier’s and St. Mary’s respectively from 2002 onwards.

Daughters of Nazareth Convent

On 17th June 1996, Daughters of Nazareth Convent started functioning in the parish. The Superior Rev. Sr. Mary Judit, Sr. Jancy, seven novices and four postulants joined as members of the convent. The parish receives the services of the reverent sisters of this convent even today.

Parish Hall

For the construction of the Parish Hall coupons were distributed with the help of PTA of the Catechism unit in September 2001 and subsequently in January 2002 lucky draw was held.

Rosary Month

The concluding ceremony of the first Rosary month of the parish was celebrated in October 2002 starting from the Our Lady’s Shrine and accompanied by lighted lamps reached the church and ended with the Holy Mass.

Sunday Evening Mass

With respect to the Year of the Eucharist in 2006, evening mass on Sundays commenced.

Pious Organizations

As a result of the efforts of priests and members of the parish, organizations like KLCA, KCYM, St. Vincent De Paul Society, Mother’s Forum, St. Antony’s Death Relief Fund are actively functioning.

Roads to the Church

Now there are convenient roads to Mekkad and towards the Highway in the East.

Sacred Heart Shrine and St. Joseph’s Shrine are also part of the church.

Priests who served the Parish