Joseph Vithayathil

Joseph Vithayathil was a priest from India who has been declared as Venerable by the Catholic Church.[1] He was born in Puthenpally, Varapuzha, Ernakulam District of Kerala State of India to Catholic parents of the Vithayathil family on 23 July 1865.[2] He had two brothers and two sisters.[3]

Venerable
Joseph Vithayathil
Religious; Pithavu
Born23 July 1865
Puthenpally, Ernakulam, Kerala, India
Died8 June 1964(1964-06-08) (aged 98)
Kuzhikattussery, (Aloor, Mala, Kerala)Thrissur District, India
Venerated inSyro-Malabar Catholic Church
Feast8 June
AttributesReligious habit
PatronageCongregation of the Holy Family

At the suggestion of his parish priest Fr. Zecharias, he started priestly studies and joined the seminary[4][5] on 30 May 1881.[3] He was ordained as Priest on 11 March 1894[6] by Bishop Mar Adolph Medlycott of Thrissur Diocese at the St. Antony's Church, Ollur with 11 others.[3]

Priestly life

After being diocesan priest for a few years, in 1902[7] he was sent to perform exorcisms on a young mystic girl called Mariam Thresia.[8] Here he became her Spiritual director until her death in 1926. He asked her to write her life story from early childhood, on the instructions of his Bishop. This resulted in the Autobiographical Notes of Blessed Mariam Thresia dealing with her life experiences and events up to 1905.[9]

He helped her[10] establish the Congregation of the Holy Family on 14 May 1914 blessed by Mar John Menachery.[9] He was appointed as the Chaplain of this convent in 1922.[11] After the death of the Mariam Thresia, he guided the congregation[12][13] until the formation of its General Council in 1942.[3] Under his guidance a school for teaching stitching, tailoring, weaving, knitting etc. was started in 1929 at Kuzhikkattussery.

Tomb of Joseph Vithayathil

Death and Veneration

He died on 8 June 1964 (same date on which Mariam Thresia died) and was buried at Kuzhikkattussery near the tomb of Mariam Thresia. He was declared as Servant of God on 18 May 2004 by Pope John Paul II.[14][15] Mar Paul Alapatt, the current bishop of Ramanathapuram Diocese, was the Promotor of Justice for the Cause of the Servant of God Fr. Joseph Vithayathil.[16] He was elevated to Venerable on 14 December 2015 by Pope Francis[11][17][18] along with 16 others.

Media
  • Dhanyan Joseph Vithayathil is a teleserial on his life, broadcast on Shalom (TV channel).[19]
  • A book titled Karmayogi: Life History of S.D. Fr. Joseph Vithayathil edited by Lucy Arikkatt has been published Holy Family Publications in 2004.[20]
  • Joseph Vithayathil has written a book titled Biography of Rev.Mother Mariam Thresia.[21]

References
  1. "Infos du Vatican - Toutes les infos sur l'Église - Vatican News". www.news.va.
  2. "St. Josephs College, Irinjalakuda". Stjosephs.edu.in/index/jvmessage. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  3. "Fr. Joseph Vithayathil, Co-Founder of Congregation of Holy Family (CHF), Kuzhikkattussery". Mala.co.in. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  4. "St. Joseph's Pontifical Seminary, Mangalapuzha". Mangalapuzha.org. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  5. "FATRI". Chffatri.org. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  6. http://www.syromalabarchurch.in/saint_josephvithayathil.php?keepThis=true&TB_iframe=true&height=400&width=700
  7. "Bl. Mariam Thresia". Mariamthresia.org. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  8. "Mariam Thresia Chiramel Mankidiyan". Vatican.va news. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  9. "Home :: Congregation of the Holy Family". Chfsisters.com. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  10. "Diocese of Irinjalakuda". Irinjalakudadiocese.com. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  11. "Indian among 17 to advance on sainthood track". Mattersindia.com. 17 December 2017. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  12. Podimattam, Felix M. (2005). Global Spirituality: Ecumenical, Inter-religious, and Continental Spirituality. Media House. p. 60. ISBN 978-81-7495-199-1.
  13. "Holy Family School". Holyfamilyschoolfarakka.in. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  14. "Indian Co-Founder a "Servant of God" – ZENIT – English". Zenit.org. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  15. "The Syro Malabar Church: Saints". Syromalabarchurch.in/syro-malabar_saints.php. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  16. "Eparchy of Ramanathapuram". Ramanathapuramdiocese.com. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  17. "Saints from India". Newindianexpress.com. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  18. "Vénérable Joseph Vithayathil". nominis.cef.fr. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  19. "Dhanyan Joseph Vithayathil episode on Vimeo". Shalom TV. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  20. "Karmayogi: Life History of S.D. Fr. Joseph Vithayathil". Holy Family Publications. 2004. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  21. Shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/36450/12/chapter%202.pdf (PDF) http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/36450/12/chapter%202.pdf. Retrieved 3 January 2018. Missing or empty |title= (help)
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