The Little Flower Congregation
The Little Flower Congregation was established on 19th March 1931 by Rev. Fr. Thomas Panat later known as Fr. Basilius CST at Mookannoor, a village 7 Kms north of Angamali in Ernakulam District. Now it has its headquarters in Cochin. The Congregation has about 500 priests working in various parts of the world. The congregation takes care of orphan children and commits itself for the downtrodden and the marginalized in the society. The charism is actualized by promoting the values such as truth, justice, equity, love, freedom and peace through the empowerment of the marginalized in the society especially of children, youth and women by pastoral, educational and rural development activities. For administrative purpose, the congregation is divided in to four provinces. St. Thomas Province was established on 10th June 1994 at Chelavoor, Kozhikode, to promote these values in north Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. St. Little Flower (St. Therese of Child Jesus) is the Patroness of the Congregation. LISSAH is managed by St. Thomas Province of the Little Flower Congregation.
Address:
Provincial Superior
St. Thomas Bhavan
Chelavoor, Kozhikode
Kerala, India-673 571
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Father Thomas Panat (1891-1976) known in religion as Fr. Basilius is the Founder of our Congregation. He started the Congregation out of his God-experience in Christ enhanced by his very personal devotion to St.Therese of Child Jesus. Simplicity and childlike surrender of the Little Flower to the will of God the Father had struck deep roots in his heart when he translated the four chapters of her autobiography entitled "Navamalika". In his memoirs Fr. Basilius says "With that (translation) I became enamoured of the life and the spirit of the Little Flower that erupted within me and overflowed from the interior of my heart". He intensely desired to share this experience with a few dedicated young men whom he eventually formed as the Little Flower Brotherhood (Cherupushpa Sahodara Sangham). Fr. Thomas Panat (Fr. Basilius) started this 'Cherupushpa Sahodara Sangham' at Mookkannur on March 19, 1931, with the oral permission of Mar Augustine Kandathil, the then Archbishop of Ernakulam. On 27th December 1945 Archbishop Mar Augustine Kandathil accepted the formal petition of Fr. Thomas Panat seeking permission to admit candidates for priesthood into the 'Cherupushpa Sahodara Sangham' which then became a clerical religious institute known as Little Flower Congregation. The presence of the destitute and the orphan boys in the Sacred Heart Orphanage, Mookkannur, of which he was the manager, the backwardness as well as the underdevelopment of the village of Mookkannur, his closeness to the poor villagers and the contact he had with Mahatma Gandhi who dominated the national scene at that time were the other factors which shaped the vision and charism of our Father Founder. |
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Very Rev. Fr Basilius Panat CST
Founder: Little Flower Congregation
Our model & inspirer |
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His response to these varied experiences had further been inspired by the words of our Lord "go and do likewise" (Lk.10:37). The first Constitution of our Congregation was approved by the Archbishop Mar Augustine Kandathil on 8th October 1947.
As a charismatic community of priests, we are called to be the bearers of a sacred trust and heritage, of a life of prayer and action in a community of love bequeathed to us by our founder. The opportunities for evangelisation present to us new challenges to offer the rich spiritual resources of the Syro-Malabar Church and its noble traditions for the spread and development of the Kingdom to the farthest boundaries . |
