The Little Flower Congregation had its origin on 19th March 1931 at Mookkannur a village seven kilometers north east of Angamaly, Kerala. It was started as a society of Brothers under the name ‘Little Flower Brotherhood’ by Fr. Thomas Panat, later known as Fr. Basilius with the necessary permission from Mar Augustine Kandathil the then Archbishop of Ernakulam. As the originator and director, Fr. Basilius was all in all of this lay Congregation. Inspite of his strenuous efforts and prayers, the community had a poor growth. So in 1945, with the consensus of the members, who were all lay brothers, Fr. Basilius sought the permission of the Archbishop to re-organize the congregation by admitting also candidates for priesthood. On December 27th, 1945 Archbishop Kandathil issued a decree giving permission to admit candidates for priesthood for ‘better realization of the aim of the congregation’. In June 1946, the first batch of aspirants for priesthood was admitted and a new enthusiasm and vigour emerged on the life and activities of the Congregation.
A petit seminary was started at Mookkannur on 1st June 1948. The first ordination to priesthood in our congregation took place in June 1956. Many new houses were established and members embarked on several new projects in accordance with the aim and Spirit of the congregation.
The Constitution of the re-organized religious institute thereafter called Little Flower Congregation written by Fr. Basilius was approved by Archbishop Mar Kandathil on October 8, 1947. Later the Constitution was revised according to the Oriental Code of Canon law and was approved by His Grace Most Rev. Dr. Joseph Parekkattil on April 18, 1963.
Very Rev. Fr. Basilius CST, the Founder of our Congregation was called to his eternal reward on 4th October 1976 and his mortal remains are buried in the Ashram Cemetery at Mookannur.
On the basis of the desire expressed by the Brothers for greater autonomy, the Oriental Congregation directed His Eminence Joseph Cardinal Parekkattil to appoint a special commission to study the question and report to Rome its findings. In the light of the findings of this commission and the information he gathered from the two sections viz. Priests and Brothers by holding discussion with them, His Eminence the Cardinal sent a report to the Congregation for the Oriental Churches on Sept. 15, 1977 recommending the division of the Congregation into two autonomous bodies-Clerical and Lay. Accepting this recommendation the Oriental Congregation appointed Very Rev. Fr. Cyril OIC the then Superior General of the Order of the Imitation of Christ (later Archbishop of Thiruvananthapuram) its delegate to pave the way for the smooth division of the Congregation. On the basis of the report submitted by him to the Congregation for the Oriental Churches, His Eminence was directed by the Congregation by the decree Prot. N. 51268 dated Nov.9, 1978 to issue two decrees for the erection of two Congregations iuris eparchialis. Hence by virtue of this decree, His Eminence the Cardinal officially and canonically erected the community of the Fathers as a clerical Congregation iuris eparchialis on 8th December 1978 and named it the Little Flower Congregation (CST Fathers)..
As per instruction issued by His Eminence the Cardinal along with the decree of erection, a General Chapter was convoked in 1979 for revising the Constitution. The Constitution and statutes revised and finalized were approved by His Eminence the Cardinal on April 1, 1981. These legislative texts were translated into English and submitted to the Congregation for the Orientel Churches together with an appplication to grant Pontifical status to our Congregation. The Congregation for the Oriental Churches after careful study and thorough examination of the texts made certain observations and asked the Superior General to revise the Rules in accordance with the guidelines given. Thus revised Constitution and Directory was approved by His Grace Mar Antony Padiyara, Archbishop of Ernakulam on February 14, 1986.
On August 11 , 1984, the Holy see erected the new diocese of Gorakhpur bifurcating, the diocese of Varanasi and Fr. Dominic Kokkat, who headed the Congregation’s missionary activities in the diocese of Jalandhar, Punjab was nominated its first bishop. His Eminence Joseph Cardinal Parekkattil together with other bishops Ordained him on October 4, 1984. The installation ceremony took place on the 14th of October at St. Joseph’s Cathedral Church, Gorakhpur.
Considering the further growth and development of our Congregation and taking into account the increase of the number of members and ashrams and the wide expansion of the area of our apostolic activities, the IX Ordinary General synaxis 1991 of our Congregation, has reorganized the administration of our Congregation into two Regions with delegated powers to the Regional Superiors. Thus two Regions were erected - St. Joseph and St. Thomas in our Congregation on February 15, 1992.
The same General Synaxis of 1991 in its fourth session, in accordance with Codex Canonum Ecclesiarum Orientalium No. 508 : 2 and our Constitution No. 194, unanimously decided on November 29, 1991, to erect these two Regions into Provinces with effect from March 19, 1994. And heralding further growth of the Congregation Gorakhpur - Nepal Region under St. Thomas Province and Punjab - Rajasthan Region under St. Joseph’s Province were erected on June 10, 1994.
Marking another milestone in the history of the CST Congregation His Holiness Pope John Paul II raised our Congregation to the status of a Religious Institute of Pontifical Right on December 21, 1995. The official declaration of the Decree and the celebration connected with it took place on March 19, 1996 in the presence of Mar Antony Cardinal Padiyara the Major Archbishop at our Generalate.
As per the decision of the X th ordinary general synaxis of the Little Flower Congregation held at Little Flower Generalate, Thrikkakara, Krist Jyoti Vice Province and Little Flower Vice Province were erected on 2nd January 2000.
St.Joseph's Province - C S T Fathers - Little Flower Congregation
