Mother of God Church, Vettukad

The Vettukad Church is also known as the Madre De Deus Church meaning Mother of God and is especially renowned among the pilgrims and tourists for the Feast of Christ the King celebration. Madre de Deus Church, bears tradition of more than 500 years. It is traditionally believed that the famous missionary, St. Francis Xavier, visited Vettukad somewhere in between 1543 and 1547 to evangelize the faithful of this region. The letters written by Fr. Francis Peres S. J. addressed to the superior general of the society of Jesus in Rome in the year 1568 reveals that Madre De Deus Vettukad Parish had a Christian population of 175. It is reported in the letter that when St. Francis Xavier reached Vettukad, he was amused to see a small chapel (japalayam) and a granite cross there. This is a clear evidence of the fact that there existed a good number of faithful Christians in Vettukad long back from 15th century onwards.

Madre de Deus new church, Vettukad

An evening holy mass at the old madre de deus church, vettukad

CHRIST THE KING

Interior of the temporarily built church.

Altar of the temporarily built church. This is the exact replica of the Altar of old Madre De Deus church.

Cemetery Vault at Madre De Deus Church Vettukad

Christ The King Community Hall Vettukad

At present, Vettukad has grown into a small township with a Christian population of 6770.

In 1934, during the period of Rev. Fr. Godwin A. Gudinho, started the construction of the present church and finished in 1937 during the period of Rev. Fr.Michael John. Then The Vicar General of Kochi Diocese, Monsinjor Leon De Souza blessed the church and grew into a parish under Valiyathura forane and Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Trivandrum. Here Christ the King blesses with all His love and compassion and believed to have miraculous power over his devotees.

The 'Feast of Christ the King ' celebration lasts for 10 days, on the final day of which the grand feast takes place. It is celebrated on the last Sunday of the liturgical year corresponding to the 3rd Sunday of November every year. During these ten days, a plethora of religious rites are performed all through day. The second last day (Saturday) sees a grand procession with the image of Christ the King that goes round the entire parish. A high mass led by the Arch Bishop of Trivandrum Arch Diocese, sermons, and the benediction marks the final day (Sunday) that experiences a spill of around 50,000 devotees.

Vettukad parishioners residing in the UAE has been celebrating Feast of Christ the King at St. Michael's Church, Sharjah, UAE since 1978.

In the United Kingdom, parishioners from Vettukad Church began to celebrate the Feast of Christ the King from November 2009.

Organizations

The following charitable organizations actively working in vettukad parish

KCYM (Kerala Catholic Youth Movement)
Legion of Mary
Sodality
Vincent De Paul
TSSS

Liturgical Services

Sunday
06:00 AM	Holy Mass
08:00 AM	Holy Mass for Catechism Students
10:30 AM	Holy Mass (Baptism - First and Third Sundays) (First Holy Communion - Second and Last Sundays)
05:00 PM	Holy Mass
06:45 PM	Holy Mass - English
07:30 PM	Novena to Christ the King in English
Monday to Thursday
06:15 AM	Holy Mass
05:30 PM	Holy Mass
Friday
06:15 AM	Holy Mass
11:00 AM	Holy Mass
05:30 PM	Holy Mass
07:00 PM	Christuraja Pada Pooja - Novena
Saturday
06:15 AM	Holy Mass
05:30 PM	Holy Mass
First Friday
06:15 AM	Holy Mass
07:00 AM	Christuraja Pada Pooja - Novena
09:00 AM	Holy Mass (Tamil)
11:00 AM	Holy Mass
02:30 PM	Holy Mass
04:00 PM	Holy Mass
05:30 PM	Holy Mass
07:00 PM	Christuraja Pada Pooja - Novena
08:00 PM	Eucharistic Adoration
Last Friday 3:00 PM healing service Monday to Saturday 05:45 AM Eucharistic Adoration Second and Fourth Saturdays 07:00 PM Song Rosary

Parish Priest

Rev. Fr. Joseph Bastian

The former Parish Priests who served this Parish

Sl.No	Name	Period
1	Rev. Fr.Monteiro	1890–1890
2	Rev. Fr.Marcus Aloysius	1896–1899
3	Rev. Fr.Francis Xavier Lopez	1899–1901
4	Rev. Fr.P.A.Menezes	1901–1903
5	Rev. Fr.Presentation	1903–1904
6	Rev. Fr.Joseseph Suares	1904–1905
7	Rev. Fr.Jacob Rozario	1905–1906
8	Rev. Fr.Everette	1906–1907
9	Rev. Fr.Francis Xavier Lopez	1907–1911
10	Rev. Fr.G.Dores	1911
11	A.J.Heredia	1911–1912
12	Rev. Fr.G.Dores	1912–1913
13	Rev. Fr.A.V.Perira	1913–1915
14	Rev. Fr.Monteiro	1915–1919
15	Rev. Fr.Godwin A. Gudinho	1919–1936
16	Rev. Fr.Michael John	1936–1943
17	Rev. Fr.Peter Puthenpurackal	1943–1952
18	Rev. Fr.Cyril D'costa	1952–1954
19	Rev. Fr.Silvester Fernandez	1954–1957
20	Rev. Fr.M.Joseph	1957
21	Rev. Fr.Silvester Fernandez	1957–1958
22	Rev. Fr.Joseph Pereira	1958–1959
23	Rev. Fr.Antony Pereira	1959–1968
24	Rev. Fr.Xavier Lean	1968
25	Rev. Fr.Nicholas D'costa	1968–1970
26	Rev. Fr.John Panackal	1970–1972
27	Rev. Fr.Paul Kurisinkal	1972–1978
28	Rev. Fr.James Amado	1978–1980
29	Rev. Fr.Joseph Xavier (Asst.)
30	Rev. Fr.G.Stephen	1980–1988
31	Rev.Dr.C.Joseph	1988–1989
32	Rev.Fr.Cleetus Gomez	1989–1991
33	Rev.Fr.L.Romanse	1991–1997
34	Rev.Fr.A.Sujan (Asst.)
35	Rev.Dr.Hyacinth M. Nayakam DCL	1997–1999
36	Rev. Fr.Ignatius Francis Louis	1999–2004
37	Rev.Fr.Anto Dickson (Asst)	2001
38	Rev.Fr.Johnson Alexander	2004–2009
39	Rev. Fr.Joseph Pratheeb (Asst.)	2005–2007
40	Rev.Fr.Binu Joseph (Asst)	2007–2009
41	Rev.Dr.Gladin Alex DCL	2009–2012
42	Rev. Fr.Michael Albino (Asst)	2009–2010
43	Rev. Fr.Rex Morais SM (Asst)	2010–2011
44	Rev. Fr. Ashlin Jose (Asst)	2011–2012

Native Priests

Rev.Fr.Rocky Fernandez

Parish Council

The parish council is the governing body of the Madre De Deus Church. Parish Council is elected every 2 years and functioning based on the by byelaw approved by Trivandrum Archdiocese. Parish Council is chaired by the parish priest and it contains Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Pastoral Ministry Convener, Education Ministry Convener, Social Action Ministry Convener, Youth Ministry Convener, B.C.C coordinator and other Council Members elected from the wards.

Cemetery Vault

Madre De Deus parish has built a new Cemetery Vault, which has a capacity of 100 plus coffeines during the period of Very. Rev. Fr. Johnson Alexander as parish priest. The foundation stone for Cemetery Vault was laid on 19 March 2008 by Msgr. Eugine H Pereira and blessed on 1 November 2008 by Msgr. Rev. Dr. Nicholas T.