Brief History of Vikarabad Parish, St. Jude’S Shrine

The Catholic Church marked its presence at Vikarabad from the year 1917, when a great missionary Fr. Govbelli, PIME, arrived there and purchased a plot for the missionary work. He built a small Chapel. After his death in 1932, there was nobody to look after the house and the property. So the house and the property was let out for rent to a local businessman and meanwhile, a Priest was appointed from Secunderabad Archbishop’s House to look after the Mission including a Catholic Village called Sherigudem (25 kms away from Vikarabad). The tenant who was using the Mission property was neither prepared to vacate the place nor paying the rent.

A new era began in 1961 when a young Priest Fr. Thumma Rayappa was appointed by Archbishop Mark Gopu to look after the Mission. The new Priest was looking after this mission from St. Patrick’s High School, Secunderabad as his residence. He used to visit regularly once a month and celebrate Holy Mass for the Catholics in Vikarabad and carried out his missionary work. It was in 1964, Vikarabad was erected as an independent Parish and Fr. Thumma Rayappa was appointed Parish Priest and Vikarabad was made Head-Quarters with Sherigudem and Tandur (now a separate Parish) as Sub-stations. Meanwhile, the time had come for the tenant to vacate the place, but it looked impossible to make him vacate. So the community of Christians in Vikarabad were inspired to pray to St. Jude Thaddeus, the Apostle and the Saint of the Impossible to intercede. To get back the premises, novena in honour of St. Jude was made very frequently.

Finally, through the intercession of St. Jude, the Lord answered their prayers and got back the premises. So, the Parish Priest with the small Catholic community decided to have the Church dedicated in honour of St. Jude. It was on 28th October, 1970 foundation stone was laid for the new Church by Archbishop Mark Gopu, who also brought the Holy Relic of St. Jude from Rome. On 28th October, 1973, the new Shrine Church of St. Jude was blessed by Archbishop Samineni Arulappa. Since 1973, devotees of St. Jude have increased immensely. People began to receive innumerable favours through the intercession of St. Jude. Today this is the only Shrine dedicated to St. Jude in Telugu region i.e. both the states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Thousands of pilgrims flock to this Shrine and pray to St. Jude, the hope of the hopeless cases and thus receive many favours through his intercession. The Annual feast of St. Jude is celebrated on the last Sunday of October every year.

Sub-Station In The Parish

1. SHERIGUDEM Sherigudem (Gubbadi-Fatepur) is a Village Sub-station to St. Jude’s Shrine, Vikarabad. All the inhabitants of the Village are farmers. This Village is about 25 Kms away from Vikarabad town. The existence of this Village came about in 1942-1943 with the invitation of the landlord Gopala Rao called Alluru Dora. In a friendly conversation with Golamari Prakash Reddy, Yeruva Marreddy and Basani Chinnnappa Reddy, the landlord Gopala Rao offered them the prime portion of his land (Black soil) for cultivation i.e. about 400 acres for sale at a reasonable price. All the legal process of purchasing and acquiring the land i.e 400 acres from Gopala Rao was done in a peaceful manner.

In the same year i.e about 1943 along with the three families mentioned above another 14 families also joined to make a fresh beginning in this legally possessed land. These families actually migrated from Kotha Brahmanapalli, Errivelu, Siliveru Villages (Mahabhubnagar District), Mogilicherla (Warangal District) and Mattampalli (Nalgonda District). But the tenants who were cultivating that land did not allow them to step in a lot of opposition they had to face from the local people initially. In spite of all these tussles and puzzles, they did not give up their hope of getting the land they had purchased. Placing their entire faith and trust in the Lord Jesus as their saviour and seeking the intercession of Our Lady of Lourdes, they pitched their tents outside of the land and started to fight for the justice in a peaceful manner. Finally in 1946, by the Grace of God and through the intercession of Our Lady of Lourdes, they got back their Land with the help of a Government officer. Immediately they set apart a huge portion of Land for the Church and a Church was built in honour of Our Lady of Lourdes (Lourdhumata Devalayam) making Mother Mary as the Patroness. In 1948, a small Church was built for the spiritual needs of the faithful. In 1964, Church was rebuilt by Fr. T. Rayappa. In 2001, the Present day Church was built by Fr. Y. Thomas. In 2012, Fr. Swarna Bala Prabhakar as Parish Priest built huge Church-Towers and on 03rd May, 2012 Archbishop Most Rev. Thumma Bala blessed & inaugurated it.

Men & Women Religious Congregations

Mill Hill Missionaries (MHM) Fatima Hostel (Jeevanilayam)was established by Fr. Timothy Greenway, MHM, which was used as Boarding Home for boys and later it was used as shelter for widows.

Congregation Of Catechist Sisters Of St. Ann(CSA), St. Jude’S Convent Sisters established St. Jude’s School and St. Jude’s Convent at Vikarabad on 07th July, 1964. Mission of the Congregation is to spread the light of Christ. Ministries in the Parish are helping in the Parish Church (cleaning, decorations, etc...), teaching catechism in School and in the Parish, Sunday classes for the Parish children, Visiting the families and educating the children.

Second Community Of Congregation Of Catechist Sisters Of St. Ann (CSA), St. Jude’S Jyothinilayam Sisters established another community called St. Jude’s Jyothinilayam in 2002. St. Jude’s High School shifted to this premises in 2002. St. Jude’s B.Ed College was established in 2002 and D.Ed. College in 2007. Mission of the Congregation is to spread the light of Christ. Ministries in the parish are teaching catechism in School and in the Parish, visiting the families, educating the children and educating the Women.