St. Joseph's Monastery Shrine, Mannanam

St. Joseph's Church, Mannanam is a Syro-Malabar Catholic Church located in Mannanam, Kerala. The church was built by St. Kuriakose Elias Chavara on top of a hill and his mortal remains are interred in the church.[1]

St. Joseph's Monastery Shrine
Map
9°38′49.6″N 76°31′10.2″E / 9.647111°N 76.519500°E / 9.647111; 76.519500
LocationMannanam
CountryIndia
DenominationSyro-Malabar Catholic Church
Administration
DistrictKottayam
The plaque describing the history of the church

Pilgrimage center

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The church is an important pilgrimage center for followers of Saint Kuriakose Elias Chavara. The church was commissioned by him on 11 May 1831 and completed in 1837. It was subsequently renovated in 1955 and 1996. The church compound also houses the residential unit used by the saint. In 2014, when Fr. Kuriakose Elias Chavara was canonized as a saint, 60,000 people attended the thanksgiving mass at the church complex which was celebrated by 100 priests.[2]

 
Framed accounts provided by faithful attributing deeds to the intercession by St Kuriakose Chavara outside his room

St. Kuriakose also started the first printing press in Kottayam in the church complex in 1846. The printing press was used to bring out the first Malayalam daily Nasrani Deepika. When St. Kuriakose died in 1871, he was buried at St. Philomina's Church, Koonammavu. His mortal remains were later transferred to the St. Joseph Church in 1889.[3][4][5]

References

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  1. ^ "St. Joseph's Monastery, Mannanam". Kerala Tourism. Archived from the original on 9 January 2017. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  2. ^ "Believers throng Mannanam hill". Deccan Chronicle. Archived from the original on 9 January 2017. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  3. ^ "Two Kerala-born Indian Catholics to be declared as saints in Vatican". Indian Express. Archived from the original on 7 November 2016. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  4. ^ "Two more Indian native Saints to invigorate Faith of the local Catholic Church". Vatican Radio. Archived from the original on 9 January 2017. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  5. ^ "KLCA protests against neglect of Koonammavu". The Hindu. 11 August 2014. Retrieved 6 September 2019.