Miraculous Infant Jesus Shrine
This is the First Church built for the Miraculous Infant Jesus in Tamilnadu. This Church was established by Msgr. John Kottaram on 25th December 1980. Innumerable miracles are said to have taken place in the past 33 years.
The motto of the Shrine is ‘Love and Be Blessed’. In the year 2005, this Shrine celebrated its Silver Jubilee. In commemoration of the Jubilee, the new Church which is under construction will be blessed in December 2005.
On 8th September 2005 the present Archbishop His Grace, Most Rev Dr. A M Chinnappa SDB DD Ph.D. issued a decree elevating this Parish as the Shrine of the Archdiocese.
The functioning of the church activities for the past years is praiseworthy, (thus bringing it immeasurable fame). Today, thousands of devotees are seen flocking to this Shrine. Various Miracles and wonders are said to occur here, in particular, the gift of the child is said to have been bosomed on many childless couples. Moreover, devotees who pray fervently for various intentions such as Employment, Marriage, Jobs Abroad, Success in Exams, Good Health and so on have experienced the miraculous powers of Infant Jesus. The first Thursday of every month is celebrated in a very special way. People throng the church from dawn to disk to participate in the special prayers and the procession and thus return peaceful and content.
Rev. Msgr. John Kottaram
MSGR. John Kottaram, with a zeal to become a priest and to serve the people as a missionary, prompted him to join the Sacred Heart Seminary at Poonamallee in 1937. With his cherished life motto: “Go and teach all nations “Msgr. Kottaram was really saddened by the lack of Christian presence in north Chennai.
This shocking realization powered to be the compelling force to venture out into the remotest villages of North Madras to win them over to Christ. He took a group of legionaries and a doctor and visited the people in villages like Kattoor and Minjur, rendering spiritual, social, educational and medical services. Conversions were encouraging especially in Kattoor where a shrine to St. Jude was constructed, and the Minjur mission was created in 1970 and enhanced his mission in Manali New Town, with the blessings of Infant Jesus he build house of worship for Infant Jesus on 25th December 1980 and soon after the church was decreed as INFANT JESUS SHRINE on 8th September, 2005 by the arch-bishop of Madras- Mylapore during the phase of Rev. Fr. Y. F. BOSCO.
In addition to his missions, he built a church for St.Antony in Manali New Town which is now a sub-station of Infant Jesus Shrine, Manali New Town.
Rev.Fr.Y.F.Bosco
In the year 1997 he was appointed as the First Parish Priest of this magnificent Infant Jesus Shrine. He has done many wonderful works to develop the shrine in all aspects. He is a happy and cheerful priest and the people are well pleased with him for his ministry in the Parish. He is very generous and kind towards the people, in particular to the poor.
All through the period of FR. Y. F. Bosco devotees are attracted by the prayerful atmosphere and by the meaningful services. He renovated the Infant Jesus shrine in the early 2006, which now has a seating capacity of over 300 devotees. His service takes account of building new parish house, bible tower (flattened) and way of the cross. In extending the glory of Infant Jesus he offered lands for 25 poor families to build their house.
Rev.Fr.Ignatius Thomas
Fr. S. Ignatius Thomas is the second Parish Priest of Infant Jesus Shrine. Rev. Fr. S. Ignatius Thomas has taken in-charge on May 2006. During his period till today he had done wonderful jobs in the growth of Infant Jesus Shrine. He is a kind hearted person and is generous to the poor.
He is a good problem solver. He has a special quality of managing the Parish Council and the Parish Members effectively. In addition to his services, he has erected a new Eucharistic Chapel for the followers of Lord Jesus Christ, modernized the Infant Jesus chapel, and constructed a bell tower. Further enhancing the glory of Infant Jesus he started Kuzlandhai Olli -Monthly Magazine that reaches in and around the globe, Thedi Vandhen -Audio C.D and Marriage Bureau Center.
Rev.Fr.Belevendiram
The third parish priest of Infant Jesus Shrine and present Vicar forane of Manali New Town vicariot. In the year 2011, he completed 25 years of silver jubilee in his spiritual life. He had taken charge in June 2012 as parish priest of Infant Jesus Shrine. He constructed a small chapel for Infant Jesus.
He is very humble and simple. He constructed an entrance arch for Infant Jesus Shrine. He successfully completed the entire shrine campus painting works. With the support from Madras Mylapore Archdiocese, he solved a long-pending issue of registering our substation st. Antony’s church land area and converted it to diocese property.
Rev. Fr. H. Thangakumar
