St. Alphonsa, Austin - History
The Malayalee Catholic Community of Austin (MCC Austin) was formed in 2001 as a result of the initiative taken by Fr. Paul Pudussery. The first mass was celebrated on 28th December 2001 at the residence of Mr. Varghese & Mrs. Lisamma, with Fr. Paul as the main celebrant. The community has since grown from a handful of families in 2001 to over 50 registered families today.
The community celebrates the Syro Malabar mass regularly on the second and the last Sunday of every month as well as on certain special occasions.
Fr. Prince Kuruvila took over the role of the main celebrant in mid 2004 when Fr. Paul moved to Boston to do his Ph.D. Since the end of 2006, Fr. Joseph Suneet and Fr. Jose Varicamakkal has also occasionally celebrated mass with us. The community organizes several events throughout the year. Such events include celebrations for New Year, Easter, Onam, Christmas as well as Christmas carols and an annual picnic.
Fr. John S. Korcsmar and Bro. Thomas G. Krieter of the Holy Cross Congregation have been very supportive in providing us with the facilities of Dolores Catholic Church and other facilities of the Holy Cross to celebrate the mass and continue our prayer services.
In March 2008, Rev. Bishop Mar Jacob Angadiath visited Austin, and encouraged the community to formalize a mission. In joyous celebration of the canonization of St. Alphonsa on Oct 12, 2008 as the first saint from Kerala, the Austin community picked the name of St. Alphonsa Catholic Church as its formal legal name and inaugurated the new mission on Dec 7th, 2008.
