The
Founder - Very Rev. Fr.
Basilius C.S.T. (Fr. Thomas Panat) (1891-1976)
Father (Thomas Panat) (1891-1976) known in religion as Fr. Basilius is the Founder
of our Congregation. He started the Congregation out of his God-experience in
Christ enhanced by his very personal devotion to St.Therese of Child Jesus. Simplicity
and childlike surrender of the Little Flower to the will of God the Father had
struck deep roots in his heart when he tran
 Very
Rev. Fr. Basilius C.S.T.
(Thomas Panat)
(1891-1976)
Founder, Little
Flower Congregation | slated the four chapters
of her autobiography entitled "Navamalika". In his memoirs Fr. Basilius
says "With that (translation) I became enamoured of the life and the spirit
of the Little Flower that erupted within me and overflowed from the interior of
my heart". He intensely desired to share this experience with a few dedicated
young men whom he eventually formed as the Little Flower Brotherhood (Cherupushpa
Sahodara Sangham). Fr. Thomas Panat (Fr. Basilius) started this 'Cherupushpa Sahodara
Sangham' at Mookkannur on March 19, 1931, with the oral permission of Mar Augustine
Kandathil, the then Archbishop of Ernakulam. On 27th December 1945 Archbishop
Mar Augustine Kandathil accepted the formal petition of Fr. Thomas Panat seeking
permission to admit candidates for priesthood into the 'Cherupushpa Sahodara Sangham'
which then became a clerical religious institute known as Little Flower Congregation.
The presence of the destitute and the orphan boys in the Sacred Heart Orphanage,
Mookkannur, of which he was the manager, the backwardness as well as the underdevelopment
of the village of Mookkannur, his closeness to the poor villagers and the contact
he had with Mahatma Gandhi who dominated the national scene at that time were
the other factors which shaped the vision and charism of our Father Founder. His
response to these varied experiences had further been inspired by the words of
our Lord "go and do likewise" (Lk.10:37). The first Constitution
of our Congregation was approved by the Archbishop Mar Augustine Kandathil on
8th October 1947. As a charismatic community of priests, we are called to
be the bearers of a sacred trust and heritage, of a life of prayer and action
in a community of love bequeathed to us by our founder. The opportunities for
evangelisation present to us new challenges to offer the rich spiritual resources
of the Syro-Malabar Church and its noble traditions for the spread and development
of the Kingdom to the farthest boundaries . | 