Greetings in the name of our lord Jesus Christ, especially for the wellbeing of 2024. We are going through a mix of sorrows and joy. Our mighty God strengthened us in our tough time, soothen us in our painful moments and also enriched us with happy moments. We should look back to the past and thank God for his manifold blessings. God entrusted humans with the responsibility of enacting and enforcing God’s intentions on earth

St. Francis Xavier Forane Church situated at Velur is more than three hundred year old. Velur had  merited a very important position in the Archdiocese of Thrissur as well as the entire church in Kerala not only because of the historicity of the church but also thanks to the legacy and heritage of Arnose Padiri who was a multifaceted versatile genius of all times.

At present Arnos Church and adjacent buildings are protected monuments under the department of archeology. Accordingly the government has allotted five cores of rupees in the 2018-19 budget for the successful implementation of the ‘Pilgrimage- Tourism Plan’ including the Old church at Velur and Arnos Bhavanam.

The government of Kerala by means of a special gazette notification declared on 23^rd May 1995, that the Church at Velur and Arnos Bhavanam are protected Archeological Monuments memorials.

Arnos Padiri dedicated his newly built church at Velur to St. Francis Xavier who was his teacher and guide. But, curiously enough, he made some changes in the statue of the heavenly patron.

The statue of St. Francis Xavier dedicated by Arnos Padiri at Velur church has in his right hand a cain rod instead of Bible.

What does it mean? 

On April 7, 1541, he embarked in a sailing vessel for India, and after a tedious and dangerous voyage landed at Goa on May 6, 1542.

As Jesus reminds us that he is the vine and we are the branches, and it is the branches through which nourishment enlivens the vine, so it is with parish ministries and organizations.