St. Mary’s Forane Church, Chalakudy, Kerala is a very nice place to visit if you ever come to this Gods Own Country, Kerala in India.

St. Mary’s Forane Church, Chalakudy

St. Mary’s Forane Church, Chalakudy, is one of the 10 Foranes or deaneries under the diocese of Irinjalakuda, which was established in 1978 by the bifurcation of Thrissur Diocese. Prior to that, Chalakudy was part of Thrissur diocese, the most ancient diocese of the Syro-Malabar Church. Thrissur diocese has since been elevated to an archdiocese within which comes the Irinjalakuda diocese. There are 15 parishes under the Chalakudy forane. The people of Chalakudy, mainly in business or service sectors, belong to middle or upper-middle class families. They maintain strong family ties and hold spiritual and traditional values in high esteem. Chalakudy is one of those areas in Kerala with high concentration of Christian population majority being Syro-Malabar Catholics.

Associations & Activities

The main pious associations of the parish are Darshana Sabha, Vincent de Paul Society, SFO – Franciscan Third Order, Mothers’ Association, Christian Life Community, Catholic Youth Movement, Altar Boys Association and the Choir Group. Important activities include Family Apostolate, Catechism, Parish Bulletin, Social Action Forum, Bible Study Group and Prayer Group. The church runs a Lower Primary School that was established more than a century ago. By God’s grace and with the intersession of Blessed Virgin Mary, the church has been able to meet all the spiritual needs of the faithful and lead them in the light of faith upholding the gospel values. Besides, the church remains committed to the general causes of the community as a whole, rendering all possible assistance to the needy in areas such as housing, education, health care, social welfare, etc. with the support and cooperation of parish associations and generous individuals.

Holy Land

A beautifully made park like structure which depicts all the scenes from Jesus’s life. 16 pictures taken from the Holy Land are given above. It is a nice walk through seeing all the important events in our Lords life depicted with statues along with an on going commentary describing the scene beside each station.

How to Reach

Chalakudy is conveniently connected by air, rail and road. Located very close to the National Highway 47, it is 30 Kms south of Thrissur, 45 Kms north of Ernakulam, and 22 Kms from Kochi international airport (Nedumbassery). Chalakudy railway station is just two kilometers away.

Bernadette’s Body after a long 122 years…

This is amazing! The thing to remember is that the poor sisters of those days were buried in a pine box and in no way embalmed like today.

St. Bernadette’s Body after 122 years is one of the 200+ miracle facts of incorruptible bodies that can only be traced  to most of the declared saints of the Roman Catholic  Church.

St. Bernadette Soubirous

Bernadette Soubirous is the saint of Lourdes, France. Visionary and messenger of the Immaculate Conception, she told us the very words of the Virgin Mary, spoken in the native Basque tongue of Southern France and Northern Spain. She spoke words teaching of the merits of prayer, penance, poverty and church. In the first and most widely recognized Marian apparition of modern times, a personal message was delivered also to Bernadette—She would not find happiness in this world, but only in the next.

She was to die twenty–one years later in 1879 after a prolonged and painful illness. She remained hidden in a convent about 300 miles from home, a refuge from the interrogations and the pilgrims that never ceased seeking her. At thirty–five, her strong–willed manner gave way to her frail body, and she finally entered into her eternal happiness.

While she took with her the knowledge of certain secrets the Virgin gave her, one secret remained hidden in our presence. The most spectacular of all the incorruptibles, Bernadette’s miraculously preserved body remained buried in a damp grave for thirty years until the cause for beatification was taken up. To this day, the body of Bernadette is a profound source of inspiration and of mystery surrounding the ways of the Lord. The face of Bernadette is one of surreal beauty, and will remain for us always the face that gazed into the eyes of the Mother of God.

Scientists have wondered about this because it defies the laws  of nature and instead of expecting a foul smell of a dead body, a fragrance of flowers can be experienced when the glass of coffin is opened.  Some say  they experience the fragrance by just going near the coffin. You can visit the Church of Lourdes , France to verify yourself the authenticity of this truly  wonderful experience and see for yourself a living miracle of our times.

And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. - (Acts 6:5)

At this crucial moment in the life of the early church, the people joined together to look for leaders to help take care of the needy widows among them. While the task appears to be a “physical” task — taking care of hungry widows — the men chose to take care of this task had to be spiritual men. Spiritual in this context means men of faith and men full of Holy Spirit.

Let’s see this as a reminder that all of God’s work is spiritual and all who serve need to be spiritual as well!

Prayer : O Father, forgive us for segmenting our lives into spiritual and secular categories. Deep in our hearts, we know that all of our lives are to be lived under the influence and guidance of your Holy Spirit. Help us be discerning as we try to find those to lead and serve in every area of our lives as your people so that what we do and how we do it will reflect your holy character and your gracious compassion. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.