History of our Parish
The parish of the Church of St. Antony was established as a parish on the 19th of November, 1993.
On the 23rd of October, 2006, it was suppressed and made a sub-station to Manavilai.
It was re-established as a parish on the 12th of July, 2011.
Parish Priests
till date
Fr. Maria Soosai P (Parochial Administrator): 1993 - 1996
Fr. A. Alphonse (Parish Priest): 29 JAN 1996 - 04 MAY 1999
Fr. Eugene Kulandai (Parish Priest): 04 MAY 1999 - 14 SEP 2000
Fr. A. Selvaraj (Parish Priest): 20 SEP 2000 - 13 MAY 2001
Fr. Norbert Alexander (Parish Priest): 13 MAY 2001 - 11 JUN 2004
Fr. Pushparaj, L (Priest-in-Charge): 11 JUN 2004 - 23 OCT 2006
Fr. Rayappan Lourdu (Parish Priest): 12 JUL 2021 - 18 MAY 2015
Fr. Kumar Moses (Parish Priest): 18 MAY 2015 - 25 MAY 2017
Fr. John Augustine (Parish Priest): 25 MAY 2017 - 22 MAY 2019
Fr. Leon S. Henson (Parish Priest): 22 MAY 2019 - Present
OUR STORY
About our parish
"According to local oral traditions, Christians have been living here since the 18th century AD."
It has to be admitted that there are no St. Thomas Christians or St. Xavier Christians living in Thirunainar Kurichi. However, there exists oral tradition indicating that there have been Christians living here since the 1700s. It can be said that their faith was the seedbed of the faith of the martyr St. Devasahayam. In 1750, some Christians set up a stone cross in this area and held regular prayers. In 1810, a church with a thatched roof was setup, in which mass was celebrated. The construction work for the Church of St. Antony began in 1927 and by 1932, a tile-roofed building was completed.
When this region was under the jurisdiction of the diocese of Quilon, this parish functioned as the sub-station of the parish of Karangadu. Subsequently, it became the sub-station of the parish of Mankuzhi in 1947, and finally in 1960, the sub-station of the parish of Saral.
The facade of the church was built at around this time and was renovated in 1987. At first, mass was held only once a week. This was expanded to mass twice a week. Since this church is dedicated to St. Antony, large numbers of people from neighbouring villages would typically flock to this church on Tuesdays. By their accounts, several miracles have occurred here.
In 1940, a small shrine was built at the Thirunainarkurichi Junction and Rosaries were conducted here every evening. This started functioning as an independent parish since 1992. Owing to some difficulties, it was once again made a sub-station for a while and then was finally re-established as an independent parish in 2011. The shrine at the Thirunainarkurichi junction was renovated in 2014.
The construction of the new church building began on the 26th of January 2019. The consecration of the new building is set for the 13th of April, 2024.
[History compiled by the Organising Committee of the 2024 Consecration]