Sahaya Annai Church
Indira Nagar, Bibikulam, Madurai-625 002.
The parish of Bibikulam is a small but dynamic. It was bifurcated from K. Pudur the Salesian parish. There was no chapel in this area till 1987. The faithful used to attend Sunday masses provided by the parish priests at Narimedu Nehru Vidhya School. The new church, named after Mary Help of Christians, was built and blessed by Archbishop Casimir Gnanadikam on 26 April 1987. The liturgical activities are conducted very often in this chapel and still it remained a substation to K. Pudur parish.
Perceiving the spiritual needs and eagerness of the people of Bibikulam, Goripalayam, Chokkikulam, Sellur, Narimedu, Alangulam, Mahatma Gandhi nagar and Thabal thanthi nagar, Archbishop Arokiasamy elevated this small substation into a parish in the year 1997. On that day it had around 200 families. Fr. P.V. Susai was appointed the first parish priest. The presbytery was constructed and opened in19.07.1997.
Elumbur, a little village, which is 8 kms away from the parish, is its substation. The chapel in Elumbur was constructed in1947, when it was with Samayanallur parish. It was attached to Bibikulam only in 2003. The parish bulletin Sahaya Malar was started in 2003.In the year 2005 under the guidance of Fr. Angel, anbiams were started. The parish council is functioning from 2007. At Elumbur the land encroachment around the church was cleared by Fr. Paul Britto in 2011 and the church was renovated by him and was blessed on 13th may 2012. He built two grottos for Our Lady of Lourdes and Annai Veilankanni in parish church campus.
The population of the parish today is 300 Catholic families. Most of the people are daily labourers and few are government employees. As per the observation of the present parish priest Rev. Fr. Benedict Ambrose raj the parishners are caste mixed but all are living together and support the church activities as one family. The people as Anbiams and parish council are much cooperative with the parish priests. They plan together for parochial feast, Mission Sunday, Bible Sunday, Lenten and holy week liturgical programmes, Christmas Carols and so on and implant them successfully. There is migration of families from and to other parish due to job mobility in this parish just like in other city parishes. The inclination among the faithful to go other denominations like Pentecost is reduced considerably but rarely one or two go away. The parish priest feels that the road accessing to the church is too narrow for the people to reach and there is no cemetery for the parish.
This parish is also being nourished by the activities of the Legion of Mary, Vincent de Paul Society, Catholic Youth Movement, Youth Christian Student (YCS) Movement, Dominic Savio Altar Servers’ Association, St. Paul Evangelical group, and Christhavar Vazhvurimai Iyyakkam.
Succession of Parish Priests
1. Fr. P.V. Susai 1997-2004
2. Fr. S. Angel raj 2004-2007
3. Fr. S. Paul Britto 2007-2012
4. Fr. A. Benedict Ambrose Raj 2012-onwards
Indira Nagar, Bibikulam, Madurai-625 002.
The parish of Bibikulam is a small but dynamic. It was bifurcated from K. Pudur the Salesian parish. There was no chapel in this area till 1987. The faithful used to attend Sunday masses provided by the parish priests at Narimedu Nehru Vidhya School. The new church, named after Mary Help of Christians, was built and blessed by Archbishop Casimir Gnanadikam on 26 April 1987. The liturgical activities are conducted very often in this chapel and still it remained a substation to K. Pudur parish.
Perceiving the spiritual needs and eagerness of the people of Bibikulam, Goripalayam, Chokkikulam, Sellur, Narimedu, Alangulam, Mahatma Gandhi nagar and Thabal thanthi nagar, Archbishop Arokiasamy elevated this small substation into a parish in the year 1997. On that day it had around 200 families. Fr. P.V. Susai was appointed the first parish priest. The presbytery was constructed and opened in19.07.1997.
Elumbur, a little village, which is 8 kms away from the parish, is its substation. The chapel in Elumbur was constructed in1947, when it was with Samayanallur parish. It was attached to Bibikulam only in 2003. The parish bulletin Sahaya Malar was started in 2003.In the year 2005 under the guidance of Fr. Angel, anbiams were started. The parish council is functioning from 2007. At Elumbur the land encroachment around the church was cleared by Fr. Paul Britto in 2011 and the church was renovated by him and was blessed on 13th may 2012. He built two grottos for Our Lady of Lourdes and Annai Veilankanni in parish church campus.
The population of the parish today is 300 Catholic families. Most of the people are daily labourers and few are government employees. As per the observation of the present parish priest Rev. Fr. Benedict Ambrose raj the parishners are caste mixed but all are living together and support the church activities as one family. The people as Anbiams and parish council are much cooperative with the parish priests. They plan together for parochial feast, Mission Sunday, Bible Sunday, Lenten and holy week liturgical programmes, Christmas Carols and so on and implant them successfully. There is migration of families from and to other parish due to job mobility in this parish just like in other city parishes. The inclination among the faithful to go other denominations like Pentecost is reduced considerably but rarely one or two go away. The parish priest feels that the road accessing to the church is too narrow for the people to reach and there is no cemetery for the parish.
This parish is also being nourished by the activities of the Legion of Mary, Vincent de Paul Society, Catholic Youth Movement, Youth Christian Student (YCS) Movement, Dominic Savio Altar Servers’ Association, St. Paul Evangelical group, and Christhavar Vazhvurimai Iyyakkam.
Succession of Parish Priests
1. Fr. P.V. Susai 1997-2004
2. Fr. S. Angel raj 2004-2007
3. Fr. S. Paul Britto 2007-2012
4. Fr. A. Benedict Ambrose Raj 2012-onwards