Photo : lawrencenagar.org
The beginning :
Before becoming a parish, Lawrence Nagar was part of Kayyar Christaraja parish. Since Commuting between Kayyar and Lawrence Nagar was an arduous task, the Sunday Masses were discontinued and Masses were held on Alternate Sundays.The then parish priest of Kayyar Fr. L.S. Pais desired to establish a School but due to unfavourable circumstances, his desires could not be fructified and the Small School Building was utilised for Sunday Masses and Catechism in 1972 during the tenure of parish priest Fr Alexander Aranha.This Chapel Building had about 4.80 acres of land abutting the Building. Of these 0.22 acres of land was earmarked for a cemetery which was blessed by the Bishop on 7th June 2012.
Mangalore diocese vicar general Fr Denis Moras laid the foundation stone for the construction of the new church on August 7, 2016.
St Lawrence chapel under the control of Kayyar Christaraja Church became an independent chapel from July 1, 2017. The bishop of Mangalore handed it over to Dominican priests. Fr Melwin Fernandes OP was named director of the chapel.
Parish Formation :
The Faithful belonging to Lawrence Nagar, Permude have since a long time been requesting the Bishop to erect The Chapel as an independent Parish and acceding to their request, The Bishop Rt. Rev. Dr. Aloysius Paul D’Souza through a decree dated 15th March 2018 raised the Lawrence Nagar Permude chapel into an independent Parish and entrusted it to the care of the Dominican Fathers and Fr. Melwyn Fernandes OP was appointed its first Parish Priest.
Thus the 61 Families consisting of 320 faithful belonging to the St. Lawrence Ward, Lourdes ward, St. Antony Ward and Nithyadhar Ward of Kayyar Christaraja parish became the Parishioners of the Newly erected Parish dedicated to St. Lawrence the Martyr.
Parish declaration programme : In a historic day for the Catholic community of Permude, bishop of Mangalore diocese Most Rev Dr Aloysius Paul D'Souza declared Permude St Lawrence Chapel community as a parish on March 19, 2018.
The bishop appointed Fr Melwyn Fernandes OP as the first parish priest of Permude St Lawrence Church. Kayyar Christ King Church parish priest Fr Victor D’Souza gave details of the announcement.
A solemn mass was held in the leadership of the bishop as part of the programme of announcement. Kasargod zonal Vicar vara Fr Valerian Frank , Maniampare church parish priest Fr Paul D’ Souza, Fr Calud Corda, Fr Benjamin D’ Souza, Fr Saju, Fr Xavier and others participated in the mass.
A stage programme held later was chaired by bishop Dr Aloysius Paul D’Souza.
Inauguration of St Lawrence Church Permude priests' dwelling :
The inauguration of the residence of priests at Permude St Lawrence church was held on May 7, 2018.
Kayyar Christ the King Church parish priest, Fr Victor D’Souza inaugurated the residence and blessed it. The solemn mass was later offered by Fr Reginald D’ Mello.
Kasargod deanery vicar vara Fr Valerian Frank, Fr Victor D’Souza, Permude St Lawrence church parish priest Melwyn Fernandes OP, and many other priests were present.
Inauguration of Permude St Lawrence Church, belfry :
The blessing and inauguration of St Lawrence Church, Permude and its belfry was held on May 14, 2019. Mangalore Bishop Dr Peter Paul Saldanha was welcomed at the church entrance by parish pastoral council under the leadership of parish priest Fr Melwin Fernandes OP. Dominican provincial Fr Navin Saldanha and the bishop inaugurated the belfry. The bishop rang the new church bell and blessed it. The bishop later blessed the new church. Kasargod deanery vicar vara Fr John Vas , Kayyar Christ The King Church parish priest Fr Victor D’ Souza were present.
Parish priests of various churches in Kasargod deanery, Mangalore diocese and Dominican congregation offered the first mass led by Bishop Peter Paul Saldanha. Fr Melwin Fernandes read the bible. The bishop delivered homily and blessed the tabernacle of the Holy Communion. Dr Vijay Machado compered the programme.
Fr Pratick Pereira, priests who have served in the Kayyar Christ The King Church, Fr Lawrence Rodrigues, Fr Anil D’ Souza, Dominican congregation’s Dr Sunil Lobo Kollangana, priests from various churches in Kasargod deanery, priests from Mangalore diocese, nuns and catholic community members were present.
A formal function was held at the hall, as part of church inauguration. The Mangalore bishop delivered the presidential address. ‘Permudecho Pormol’ souvenir was released by the bishop. Fr Melwin Fernandes was honored with fruits and flowers on behalf of the parishioners.
Compiled by Catholic Time Staff with inputs from lawrencenagar.org.
Last updated in Dec 2019.
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