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 amuses 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 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.
Video Mother of God Church, Vettukad
Organizations
The following charitable organizations actively working in vettukad parish
- KCYM (Kerala Catholic Youth Movement)
- Legion of Mary
- Sodality
- Vincent De Paul
- TSSS
Maps Mother of God Church, Vettukad
Feast of Christ the King
Liturgical Services
Parish Priest
Syrus B. Kalathil
The former Parish Priests who served this Parish
Native Priests
- Fr.C.M.Hillary
- Edison Y. M.
- Aneesh Fernandez
- Christil Rozario
- Lazar Benedict
- 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 law approved by Trivandrum Arch Diocese. Parish Council is headed by the parish priest and contains a Vice President, Secretary, Finance Convener, Spiritual Convener, Education Convener, T.S.S.S Convener, Joint Secretary, B.C.C Co-ordinator and Council Members.
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
- "Madre De Deus Church - Vettucaud, Vettukad, Vettukadu, Christujaraja". vettucaudchurch.org. Retrieved 2014-06-06.
- "+ Trivandrum Catholic Archdiocese, Latin, Kerala & India, a vibrant Catholic Community, Archbishop His Grace Most Rev.Dr.Soosa Pakiam M". latinarchdiocesetrivandrum.org. Retrieved 2014-06-06.
--Jacob Nelson - http://jnelson.in 05:22, 19 July 2013 (UTC)
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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