St. Antony's Church, Chirakkal

Church History

The thirty-two Christian families living around Chirakkal near Kurumpilavu in Thrissur district built their own prayer house at Chirakkal in 1830. That was the beginning of the Chirakkal parish. The church they built was a temporary shed made of earthen blocks, bamboo and palm leaves. Twelve years later, in 1842,

Feast of St Antony	The feast of St Antony is celebrated every year on the Saturdays and Sundays after Easter. As part of the feast, there is a colourful and prayerful procession and the full mass. In the afternoon, the anniversary of the parish is celebrated. There will also be various cultural events.
Feast of St Sebastian	The feast of St Sebastian is celebrated on the Saturday and Sunday after January 20. It is celebrated in a grand manner every year. The procession with the sacred arrow is held on Saturday. On Sunday, there will be the full mass, a procession and a concert at night
Feast of St Vincent De Paul	On 27 September, the feast of St Vincent De Paul is celebrated as Oottuthirunal. Rice and clothes are given freely to more than 200 poor people on that day. It is the Society of St Vincent De Paul that organizes and monitors the celebrations.
Mother’s Day	December 8th is observed as the Mother’s Day. The mothers of the parish get a full day for their celebrations. Normally, the activities begin at 9.30 in the morning and continue till 5 in the evening. The Legion of Mary manages the organizational matters
Feast of St Dominic Savio	The celebration of the feast of St Dominic Savio is held on 6 May. The activities are organized by the Altharasangham Navanal and a pilgrimage is the specialty of the celebrations.
Three-Day Fast	The three-day fast and the Purification Day are celebrated in the Karoopadam chapel.
Eight-Day Fast	The eight-day fast and the Birth of Virgin Mary are celebrated every year with a sharing of refreshments
Fifteen-Day Fast	The fifteen-day fast and the Ascension of the Virgin Mother are celebrated by the Marian Sainikar.
Navanal	During the Navanal, the parish celebrates the feast of Blessed Chavarayachan, Blessed Alphonsa, Blessed Mariam Thresia, Blessed Kunjachan and Blessed Evuprasiamma

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a	Nine Fridays starting with the first Friday in June are earmarked for the veneration of the Sacred Heart. There will be Holy Mass at 5 in the evening followed by benediction and the distribution of offerings.
b	On the last Saturday in September, five images of the Holy Mother taken on a procession through the five units from the chapel at Chirakkal centre. Each unit takes the image to their units and tells the rosary in one house a day until 1 October. After that rosary is there in the church for ten days. On the last Sunday in October, there is continuous rosary in the church. At 4.30 in the evening there is a procession of the rosary. On the 31st the images are brought back to the church from the units as a procession
c	All the units organize unit anniversaries before December every year
d	After the feast of St Antony and after the parish anniversary celebrations, all the houses are blessed and dedicated to the Sacred Heart.
e	During the fifty-day fast, there is the path of the cross in the church every day. On Fridays, starting from the church, there is a path of the cross through the town, walking for one hour. In the units there is the path of the cross one day every week.
f	At Easter, the blessing of the table and is done every year. The annual sports competitions on unit base are also held. It will be the early hours of the morning by the time the parishioners go back home after everything.
g	Various pilgrimages are also conducted often. On Hosana Sunday there is a penirential journey to Malayattoor. In the second week-end of November there is a pilgrimage to Velankanni. It is a three-day programme. On 27 December there is a pilgrimage to the tombs of saints for children. Children also make a one-day journey carrying the amount saved during the fast period. They often go for visiting hospitals.
h	For children there are various competitions like Christmas tree competition, star fest, flower arrangement, etc.
i	There are two annual retreats, one during the 25-day fast and the other during the 50-day fast. There is also a retreat for children during the Puja holidays
j	The intensive catechism camp is organized for children on 1-3 December every year.