A BRIEF HISTORY & ACTIVITIES OF THE CONGREGATION OF ST. THERESE OF LISIEUX (CST BROTHERS)

Our Congregation was founded exclusively for Religious Brothers by His Grace Mar Augustine Kandathil, the late Archbishop of Ernakulam Kerala India in March 1931. The Mother house is situated at Mookkannur, in the Archdiocese of Ernakulam.

The charism of the congregation is to share the merciful live of Christ among the poor and destitute children especially with the boys and the youth.

The major activities of the Congregation are conducting Orphanages, Schools, Technical Schools, Non formal training Centers, Hospital, Agricultural Centers and providing educational and job opportunities to youths and the school drop-out children irrespective of Caste, Creed and Religion.

Seed is Sown

Mr. Gervasis Kulangara, a native of Mookkannur village, donated about 54 acres of land to Mar Louis Pazheparambil, the then Vicar Apostolic of Ernakulam, in 1910. The donor of this land was persuaded to make this great sacrifice in view of the poor orphans of the place. He had envisaged a Congregation of Religious Brothers to meet the needs of these orphans. The land was donated with the clear intention of starting Educational and technical institutions to provide educational and job facilities to the Orphans irrespective of Caste, Creed and Religion. Mar Louis Pazheparambil passed away in 1919 and was succeeded by Mar Augustine Kandathil.

Original Source

In accordance with the generous desire of Mr. Gervasis Kulangara an orphanage was already started at Ernakulam in 1913. When Mar Augustine Kandathil went to Rome to thank the Holy Father, he also visited European Countries including Ireland where he could personally see the experience of Christian Brothers. In Rome he had also taken part in the Canonization ceremony of Saint Therese of Lisieux. He stayed as a guest of the Irish President, Mr. Cosgrave. All these events inspired him to start a Religious Congregation for Religious Brothers in his Archdiocese. So he chose the land donated by Mr. Gervasis for this purpose which also would fulfill donor’s intention. Thus on 19th March 1931, on the feast of Saint Joseph, the Congregation of Saint Therese (CST Brothers) was founded.

Congregation Flourishes

The Orphanage which was at Ernakulam was shifted to Mookkannur and the brothers were entrusted to look-after it. In the beginning there were only four candidates for Brotherhood. Rev. Fr. Thomas Panatt, who was the manager of the orphanage had been asked to recruit boys for the New Congregation. The first members received their Religious habit on 23rd June 1932 and took their vows in 1938. From there the Congregation began its initial growth. By 1945 the Congregation had 13 professed Brothers.

As the need of Priests was keenly felt to cater to the spiritual needs of the brothers, His Grace Mar Augustine Kandathil permitted to admit the candidates in the Congregation for Priesthood. But gradually the priests outnumbered the Brothers. It was against the intention of the founder and the donor of the properties to the Congregation. So the Brothers submitted a petition to the then Archbishop of Ernakulam Mar Joseph Cardinal Parecattil, in 1975 to keep the Congregation in its original spirit. The Brothers also approached the Sacred Congregation for the Oriental Churches to do needful in this regard. Congregation at Present.

It is joyfully and gratefully recollected that after the bifurcation, our Congregation has acieved considerable progress in manifold ways. At present we have 73 Professed Brothers, 20 Novices, 15 Postulants and 21 Aspirants in the Congregation. We have 13 Ashrams in different dioceses in Kerala as well as 10 Ashrams in the North and North-East Mission Dioceses in India and one Ashram in Rome. We conduct 3 Orphanages, 14 Technical Institutes (formal and Non-formal), 8 Schools, Hospital, Printing press, Library, 2 Agricultural Training Centers and other job providing institutes.

For the better growth and administration the Congregation was divided into two Provinces. 1) Sacred Heart Province having its headquarters (Provincial House) at Thrikkakara and 2) St. Joseph’s Province having its headquarters (Provincial House) at Guwahati.

MISSION CENTRES