Sampaloor Church History

                             Sampaloor, the Goa of Kerala, is the major pilgrim centre of Kerala, India, Being the cradle of indian Mission, it booms the message and the spiritual presence of St. Francis Xavier, St. John Britto, Fr. Joseph Constantine Beschi, Fr. Arnos Pathirl and other great missionaries of the Catholic Church. Tracing the historical background, It dates back to the reign of Portuguese. In every age since Christ charged the Apostles to go and preach to all nations, there have been saintly and heroic men who have journeyed far away lands in order to bring people into the Christian fold. Among those who laboured most zealously was the Jesuit, Francis Xavier, now named by Pius as the official patron of foreign missions for spreading the faith. In 1542, 1544 and 1548 St. Francis Xavier visited Sampaloor on his missionary journey to the southern end of India. Since Muzris (Crangannoor) was the renowned port of that time, St. Francis Xavier took the backwater route to Chalakudy which ended in Maramguzhy, the present location of St. Francis Xavier Church. Establishing the first Christian community here at Sampaloor, St. Francis Xavier became the pioneer of the mission for the whole of South India. Sampaloor was at the focus of Jesuit mission. Obviously, it paved way for the prominent place of Sampaloor Church, in the Church History of Kerala.

After the exemplary and missionary zeal of St. Francis Xavier, St. John Britto, the Martyr Saint of Christ blessed. Sampaloor with his presence to continue the mission with much eagerness and enthusiasm. He spent his initial period of one year (1673-74) here in this blessed soil of Sampaloor. After the initial training St. John Britto set out for Madurai mission and was beheaded for the great cause of faith in Christ. After the discovery of the new sea route to India, until the invasion of Dutch, the Portuguese missionaries were based at Cochin. As a consequence the Dutch invasion, the Portuguese mission had to suffer a lot. To come out of this suffering and misery, the Catholic mission was replanted here at Sampaloor where St. Francis Xavier had laid the foundation of faith. These events made Sampaloor to be an instrument of salvific intervention in the formation of the missionaries for Christ. And thus the first Church, Seminary and Press were founded at Sampaloor. The divine providence prepared this land to be the alma mater of many great missionaries and therefore it deserves the title as the Cradle of Indian Mission.

Fr. Joseph Constantine Bascki, the great missionary of 18th century, arrived in India in 1710. He learned Sanskrit and Tamil from Sampaloor Seminary. In 1711, Fr. Bascki began his missionary work in Madurai. As a missionary Fr. Bascki was known as Veeramamunivar. He has contributed immeasurably to Tamil literature and there are 35 literary works in Tamil language to his credit. His great work 'Thembavani' is considered as the master piece in Tamil literature and obviously was an intellectual giant. As a reward to his committed services and works, there are around 17 books written about him, several documentaries and one movie directed in his honour. After finishing his mission in Tamilnad he come back to Sampaloor seminary and became full time professor. The land of Sampaloor was blessed enough to have the mortal body of Bescki buried here and remains of the tomb is kept as a sacred monument of his immortal life.

Fr. Arnos was the contemporary of Fr. Bascki. Fr. Arnos Pathiri's (Fr. John Earnest Hang Bender) contribution to the Church of Kerala and Malayalam Literature is innumerable and noteworthy. Fr. Arnos was ordained priest in 1704 at Sampaloor. He Spread the Gospel Message through his literary works. He was secretary to the Arch Bishop of Crangannur diocese. He also worked to settle the 'Padruvado Propaganda' disputes. In 1713 he settled in "Veloor' and there he composed 'Puthenpaana'

Sampaloor also had the privilege to be the seat of science and knowledge. As the 1st print machine was established here, all the spiritual and library works were printed and distributed from this cradle of mission and it was dedicated to the great Apostle Paul. In 1782 the dark shadows attacked and demolished the divine interventions in the form of King Hyder Ali and Tippu. But they could only apparently hide the vigor of the Almighty for a few decades. In 1862 with the involvements of the Vicariate the practice of the Christian faith reactived with renewed zeal and energy. The remnants of the 1st Church such as the parts of the sanctuary, side Altar and parts of the foundations is preserved carefully with utmost reverence. The Altar of the second church is retained in the museum along with other valuables of the history. The church is sanctified with relics of St. Francis Xavier's right hand. The parishioners celebrate the feast of St. Francis Xaviers on the following Sunday after Dec. 3rd.