Bishop's Message

Devotion to Rosary was started in the year 1208 in the Church of Prouille. The claim of place and time are most strongly supported by the tradition of the Dominican order. Pope Leo XIII affirmed over and over the Dominican origin of the Rosary and in a letter to the Bishop of Carcassone in 1889, he accepts the tradition of Prouille as the place where the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to St. Dominic revealing this devotion. The tradition that Mary first revealed the Rosary devotion to St. Dominic is supported by 13 Popes.

The battle of Murat was fought in 1213 between the Catholic forces, led by Simon de Montfort and the Albigenses forces, led by Raymond of Toulouse. The Catholic forces were in the habit of praying the Rosary, at the suggestion of St. Dominic. The Catholic force won the battle of Murat, looked upon the victory as miraculous and counted it as a fruit of prayer. The first chapel in honor of the Rosary, was built, out of gratitude, by Simon de Montfort in the town of Murat.

On October 7, 1571, member of the confraternity of the Rosary in Rome processed praying the Rosary for a blessing on the Christian fleet fighting the Turks at Lepanto. Pope St. Pius V, a Dominican, joined them and God revealed to him that Mary had, at that hour, obtained a glorious victory for the Christian fleet. This great victory saved Europe from the Mohammedan Peril. This day is celebrated as the feast of Holy Rosary.

Each time the Blessed Virgin has appeared, whether it is to meet Bernadette Salubrious at Lourdes; to Lucia, Jacinta and to Francisco at Fatima or to Mariette Beco at Benelux, she has asserted the importance, saving grace, and the power of praying the Rosary on a daily basis. Based upon her words the Rosary is used as penance and for conversion of sinners, a pathway for peace, and end to war and a powerful act of faith in Jesus Christ, Pope Paul VI presented the Rosary as a powerful means to reach Christ, "Not merely with Mary, but indeed, in so far as this is possible to us, in the same way as Mary, who is certainly the one who thought about him more than anyone else has ever done."

Cardinal Newman wrote "The great power of rosary consists in the fact that it translates the creed into prayer. Of course, the creed is already in a certain sense, a prayer and a great act of homage towards God, but the rosary brings us to meditate again on the great truth of His life and death and brings this truth close to our hearts."

This great devotion to rosary was brought to our diocese right from 1640 by the missionaries. Jesuits of Madura Mission were the first ones to sow the seed of faith in the region. They were staying in Kanuvakarai , near Sathiamangalam, which is about 35 Kilometers from Karumathampatti. Then MEP missionaries took up the mission of spreading the faith. Quite a number of people embraced Christian faith and as a result in 1640 Karumathampatti already became a pilgrim center for the devotion to rosary. From then on lots of miracles take place here and people bear witness to it. It was the first cathedral of the diocese and the first Bishop of Coimbatore Msgr. Marion de Bresillac was consecrated in this shrine. The second Bishop was also consecrated here. Then cathedral was shifted to Coimbatore after a new Church was built there

The church of Karumathampatti has a big history behind. There were Muslim invasions twice and the church was destroyed. But the people kept up their faith and the church was rebuilt. The statue of Our Lady was preserved (buried under the earth) by the people at the time of wars. That statue is still there in the church. People take this statue in a procession during the feast. So people have great devotion to Our Lady of Rosary. Lots of miracles take place there. People of all religions visit this shrine and pray to Our Lady of Rosary and receive favors. The feast of Our Lady of Rosary is celebrated on the first Sunday of October every year and concourse of people from the diocese, region and nation come to the feast. Novena to Holy Rosary is conducted for 9 weeks and there is grand celebration of 9 days with special preaching, prayers, car procession and there is a grand cultural program on the last day. The Bishop stays in the shrine for the last three days of the feast. The cultural program is arranged precisely to propagate faith. People of all religions attend the program.

The number of pilgrims coming to the church increases day by day. So there was a dire need for a big and spacious church. So a new church was built and consecrated on 27^th September 2017 by 5 Bishops. It is the desire of the Bishop, clergy, religious and the laity that such an old church of 378 years and a popular one in the region and nation should be elevated into a Minor Basilica. Hope this desire and dream will come true soon.

I appreciate the Rector and the parish priest who take lots of efforts to cater to the needs of the pilgrims, to evangelize the people of other faith and to develop the shrine. I am pretty sure that this book let would give a clear picture of the history, development of the shrine and the devotion of the people.

Dr. L. Thomas Aquinas M.A., Ph.D.,
Bishop of Coimbatore