Vellore Diocese

Chetpet Parish

The Mission of Chethupattu, under the zealous missionary Priest, Fr. Darras rightly called the Apostle of North Arcot, dates back to 1876. When he was preaching the Gospel round about Chethupattu, 12 non Christians from this place approached him with an earnest desire to enter the True Fold. He went to Chethupattu and had the great happiness of baptizing not less than 1,000 people. Within five years, he converted 17.000 people. Chettupattu was made a separate Parish on 11-3-1878. Fired as he was with missionary zeal, Fr. Darras had taken a vow to build a Shrine in honour of Our Lady of Lourdes and built it on hill top about 2 miles away from Chethupattu. Since this Church was too small to contain the vast number of pilgrims Ft Dareas built grand Church and dedicated it to Our Lady of Lourdes. It was blessed on 1st May 1896, by His Lordship, the Rt. Rev. Gandi. From then on, the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes is being celebrated during the first week of March every year Pilgrims numbering more than 40,000 flock to the Shrine of Our Lady from all parts of South India. It was in 1948 the then Parish Priest and later the Bishop of North Arcot, Rt. Rev. 5. David Marianayagam, S.D.B., built the present Hill Chapel to replace the old one. Chethupatit has a population of 4,000 Catholics with 21 mission station. It can boast of two High Schools one for hoy and another for girls and five Elementary Schools. The Rev. Sisters of St. Anne’s, Royapuram, manage the High School for Girls. More than 2,000 children receive secular, moral and religious education. Another great blessing of this parish, is the establishment of St. Thomas Hospital and Leprosy Centre. Zeulous missionaries have enriched the mission by their multi-pronged activities. Rev. Frs. A. Fernandes, F. Capiaghi, M. Arockiasamy. F. Schloo, Maria Azul Peter Mathew S. Susai and the present Fr. Thomas George all have contributed their mite in the religious social and economic uplift of this Parish. The centenary of the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes was celebrated with the customary pomp and solemnity in March 1978.
  • Parish Details
  • Parish Name : Chetpet Parish
  • Church Name : Our Lady of Lourdes Church
  • Post : Rev Fr. Parish Priest, Our Lady of Lourdes Shrine, Chetpet, Tiruvannamalai Dt - 606 801,
  • Contact :
  • Run By : Diocesan
  • Vicariate : Chetpet Vicariate
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Our Lady of Lourdes Church
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Fr. Victor Inbaraj N

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