To address the pastoral and spiritual needs of the Syro-Malabar catholic christian community in the vast residential areas in and around Electronic City, the fathers from Missionaries of St. Francis de Sales community, Hebbagudi, volunteered to organize the religious activities. As a prelude, in 2001, Rev. Fr. Mathew Kozhuppakkalam MSFS, began the liturgical services under Syro-Malabar Church rite. The Holy Eucharist in Syro Malabar rite was celebrated on every Thursday at SFS church Hebbagudi, to the great joy of the community in and around Electronic City. It was a dream come true for all the members of the community and was attended and accepted by the all. Later, on 15th September 2002, His Grace, Most. Rev. Ignatius Pinto, the then Archbishop of Bangalore inaugurated Our Lady of Sorrows Parish, which is dedicated to the Our Lady of Sorrows. Rev. Fr. Mathew Kalathinkal took up the the responsibility to guide the parish as the first Vicar of the parish. He started celebrating the Holy Mass on every Sunday in Malayalam in the SFS church for the faithful gathered around. The Christians around the location began to attend the holy mass as the church was located in a central location.
As the members in the parish community began to grow, there was a need for more liturgical services in the parish. In order to fulfill this need, in the year 2007, Rev. Fr. Alosius Kuzhupallil was appointed as the vicar of the parish. He was assisted by and Rev. Fr Vinod Kanatt as the assistant vicar. They introduced the celebration Holy mass on all Saturdays as the people wanted to attend the holy mass.
On July 3rd 2010, on the feast of St. Thomas, we began celebrating Holy Mass at the Boys Home, SFS Enclave under the Vicarship of Rev. Fr. Manu Kumbidiyamakkal. We started the catechism classes after the holy mass for the children who participated in the holy mass. Fr. Jaison and Fr. Jino were appointed as the assistant parish priests to help form a strong community. After Fr. Manu is transferred in 2012, Rev. Fr. Jose Kokkandathil took over the charge as the Vicar of the parish. He started the evening adoration and Holy Mass on first Friday of every month in the parish. During this tenor, the attendance of the holy mass in the parish had increased in a great number and Rev. Fr. Jose and Rev. Fr. Tony decided to have the morning Holy Mass at 9.00 am at the Suvidya College Chapel on Sundays. Another Holy mass was celebrated on Sundays at 10.30 am in the SFS parish as the number of people attending the Malayalam mass grew larger. The congregation felt the need for a spacious place due to the increase in the number of people attending the mass.
In 2015, Rev. Fr. Lalu Thadathilankal was appointed as the vicar of the parish. Rev Fr. Timson (2016) and Fr. Nirmal (2018), served as the assistant vicars of the parish. The efforts for the realization of the goal of construction of the church were enthusiastically taken forward by the parish council and the members of the parish. All the initiatives for the project was carried out by Fr. Lalu and Fr. Tony along with the parish council members. A trust with the name Our Lady of Sorrows Church Trust was formed in this period on 11 Nov, 2016 with the parish priest and the then trustees as the members of the trust. The trust has initiated the process of registering the land designated by MSFS Congregation for the church construction under the name of the trust with full enthusiasm. The parishners have started the prayer for getting a land for the church after the Holy Eucharist.
The present chapel was constructed at Singena Agrahara, Electronic City with the help of MSFS society. On July 25th 2018, the chapel was blessed and the first solemn mass was celebrated by Rev. Fr. Thomas Kalarikkal, Rev. Fr. Jose Kokkandathil, Rev. Fr. Joshy, Rev. Fr. Saju and Rev. Fr. Lalu Thadathilanakal.
The dream of having a parish church constructed in the same location started burning among the parishners. On 22nd September
2018, during the celebration of the parish feast, the foundation stone for the new
church was blessed by His Grace, Most. Rev. Antony Kariyil, the Bishop of Mandya
in the presence of Msgr. Mathew Koikkara and other celebrants. The process of registering the land in the name of the trust continued as per the law of the land.
On July 3rd, 2021 on the Feast of St. Thomas, Rev. Fr. Mathew Elayadathamadam MSFS has started his service as the Vicar of OLS parish.
The land registration from MSFS society to OLSC church trust was completed on 13th July, 2021. Let us thank God for his generous blessings on this occasion. This was the result of years of relentless effort and persistence by the pastors, parishioners, trustees, parish council, ministries, and construction committee. We extend our sincere gratitude to Fr. Lalu and Fr. Tony for the extensive support over the years to make this happen.
