OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL SUCCOUR CHURCH, NIRMALAPADAV, PARAPADY
Parapady is a remote area of Nitte Village, situated 10kms away from Karkal and 14 kms far from Moodbidri. This place has its own uniqueness because of the existence of an old church dedicated to Our Lady of Perpetual Succour. The church, the clergy who served here, and the faithful have put a strong impact on the place as well as on the people of other faith. This church has been a pilgrim center since 1968. All those who visited Attur also visit to this church and a lot of favors have been bestowed on the believers as well as people of other faith. Even today it has kept its sanctity and holiness and is now flourishing in faith .
Origin
Initially there were two wards – Sanur and Kemman which were considered to be the farthest wards of Attur parish. Fr Salvadore D’Souza, the then parish priest of Attur built a chapel at Herady in the land of Joseph Mathias. Mass was offered on Sundays. Mr Joseph Mathias then agreed to give 3 acres of land to the church. He was very hospitable to priests. Fr Salvadore used to come by bullock cart on Sundays and used stay in Joseph’s house. But later his son did not follow the footsteps of his father. During his tenure, he ruined the whole property and a part of land dedicated to the church was acquired by a Hindu man. Only 20 cents land was reserved for the church. The chapel was dedicated to Perpetual Succour. After six months, Fr Salvadore fell sick and later he died. He was succeeded by Fr Aloysius D’Silva. People requested him about the chapel but a few people raised a issue that the chapel is still far away for the people. So a new site was proposed at Murathagudde, behind the school and the present place. Fr Aloysius could not fulfill the dream due to his premature transfer. He was succeeded by Fr William Louis. During his tenure Bishop Peris visited Attur. During his visit, Mr Joseph Mathias proposed the plan of establishing a new parish. Fr Louis took initiative to his request with the consent of the bishop, the present land was measured, prepared the boundaries and applied to the government for approval. Meantime a thatched shed was constructed and first mass was offered on 27th June, 1958. Every Sunday the Holy Eucharist was celebrated. When Fr Louis was promoted for the post of Vicar General, Fr Stanley R Pereira, the assistant priest of Attur was celebrating at Parapady. As the years passed, the roof began to ruin. The priest Fr Valerian didn’t show any interest towards Parapady, so the faithful took initiative to repair the chapel under the leadership of Mr Marcel Castelino of Baranga. They changed the roof into a tiled roof. From then assistants priest from Attur were coming on Sundays to offer mass. Some of them were Frs. William Gonsalves, Antony D'Souza, Albert Nazareth, Andrew Rodrigues and J P Tauro. Later due to shortage of priests at Attur, mass was offered once in 15 days by the assistant. When bishop was informed, he expressed his concern for Parapady and making it an independent parish and ordered to build a house. Fr Colaco constructed two rooms without much interest. Msgr William made arrangement of water by digging a new well. At the same time 3 acre of land was measured in the name of Fr Stanely R Pereira and its denotification was done and the payments were made.
Parapady as a Parish
It was Sunday May 12, 1968 Fr Stany Pereira the assistant parish priest of Attur was asked take up the charge of Parapady by late Bishop Basil S D'Souza. When he took up the charge there wasn’t anything except a small house which was ruined. He shares his first day experience like this “I came here empty handed and I saw here everything empty; no bench to sit, no mat to sleep, no vessel to cook and no vestment to offer mass; I spend the night under a tree on a stone as my mat and next day I went Mangalore to buy one vestment” his dedicated and committed life changed the entire picture of Parapady and he took initiative to bring a overall renewal of Parapady.
On 8th December, 1968, Bishop Basil and Msgr William Lewis laid the foundation stone for the new parish. When Msgr William Louis was the Parish Priest of Attur, he had named Parapady as "Nirmalapadav" and it has been continued to today. The new parish work was begun with the contribution of rupee one per day from every family and devotees for three years. The appeal for the new church was published in “Paynari” and “Mithr”. On 12th May, 1979 the new church was blessed by Bishop Basil S D’Souza. 45 priests con-celebrated on the inaugural mass and food was served for 4500 people. When the church was inaugurated there were thousands of devotees and Fr Pereira named this parish as The Shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour. The whole structure of the church was designed by Fr Pereira. Most of the work was done by him along with the people. People worked day and night for its completion. Most of the work was done through “food for work” project.
Nirmalapadav, a place of innovations
Fr Pereira had a long vision of establishing a self sufficient parish. He extended the boundaries of the land and today we have 13 acres of land. The whole land is covered by the compound wall built by the black stones. He gave labour to the people and there used to be 500 workers every day. He cultivated paddy, sugarcane, rice, jaggery cell, jasmine, reshme, piggery, cows and goats. He dug seven wells. Some were dried up, but a few have very good water source. Numberless tanks for preserving the water and cow dung were also established.
Cemetery
Burial place was kept aside from the beginning of the inception as a chapel. But there was objection from non Christians. Tashildar ordered to stop the burials in that place and a new place was given.
Concern for the poor
Fr Pereira wanted his flock to be near the church. So irrespective of caste and creed he took care of the poor and needy. He made arrangements for the poor on the land near the church campus and assisted in constructing 9 houses, wells and compounds. He started a hostel for boys in the old church building.
Nitte - Chilimbi Road
There wasn’t a road access to the church. But a narrow road was there till Baranga. Fr Pereira, with the help of people constructed a new road till the church. Fr Periera went to Bangalore and requested Mr Veerappa Moilly for the bridge. The bridge was sanctioned by Mr Veerappa Moily in 1982. Nitte Panchayath gave its support to this work. There was another road till Barady. Fr Pereira went to Sanoor Panchayath requesting for a road but some people didn’t agree to leave their land for the road. He went to Kanthavara Panchayath and requested and they with the help of Fr Pereira went to meet Mrs Girija Ballal and she agreed on conditions. Some 300 people worked for the road and road access was provided. Mr Belliappa, the Tashildar sent a notice to Fr Pereira questioning how the road was constructed without their permission. Fr went to the collector and explained the situation of Parapady and DC transferred Tashildar from his office. Christian people maintained these roads by repairing every year because panchayath never took initiative.
Electricity
Parapady was a dark village without electricity. Fr Periera worked hard with government officials and in 1983 he succeeded to get the connection to the church. He had spent more than a lakh.
Parish Priests:
1. Fr Stany Pereira
Fr Stany Pereira the founder of Nirmalapadav spent 15 years and one and half month working for the spread of God’s kingdom, finally fulfilled his dream of converting into a beautiful village. He was transferred to Gurpur on 28th June, 1983.
2. Fr Rosario Fernandes
On 28th June, 1983 Fr Rosario took charge of Parapady and continued the work of Fr Stany Periera and tried his best to maintain the agriculture. He started tailoring classes for the people and many utilized its benefits. He took care of the spiritual well being of the people.
3. Fr George D’Souza
He spent 7 years and brought a lot of renewal in the place both inside and outside the church. He developed the roads with the help of people. A lot of spiritual renewal was taken up and people were strengthened by faith.
4. Fr Assissi Rebello
Fr Assissi Rebello gave new shape to the altar and to the floor of the church. A lot of spiritual renewal had been taken place during his tenure.
5. Fr Peter Fernandes
Fr Peter an elderly priest who in spite of his old age worked for the well being of the church. He insisted on spiritual renewal.
6. Fr Pascal Menezes
Fr Pascal spent five years and during his time the church was filled with life. So many associations were reorganized and became active. He improved the agricultural property, built new presbytery.
7. Fr Vijay Lobo
Fr Vijay was here for short duration when Fr Pascal was on leave. He was not residing here rather was coming on Saturdays.
8. Fr Alex Aranha
Fr Alex Aranha served five years and was retired from active ministry.
9. Fr Vincent Lobo
Fr Vincent Lobo has been serving since 2013.