1872 — Parish history (English)

The two days in June

On the 27th of June the bishop arrived, and the village received him at the little church of St Aloysius. Br Bergenthal was there too: the man who had drawn the plan and stood over the work came to see it blessed. The blessing was at five that evening. Then they kept the bishop's own silver jubilee, for it was twenty-five years since his consecration. And on the 29th, the feast of the Holy Apostles, Canoz sang the Pontifical Mass in the new church and declared it dedicated to the Holy Family.

DocumentedThis moment rests on 2 sources.

Parish history (English)

On 27th June 1872 A.D. His Lordship arrived in Vadakkankulam… received at the church of Saint Aloysius by a warm ceremonial… the benediction of the church took place on the 27th of June 1872 A.D. at 5 p.m.… Brother Bergental, the chief architect of the church, participated in it… On the 29th of June 1872 A.D. … His Lordship said the Pontifical mass in the new Church and declared it dedicated to the Holy Family.

What this source establishes

⭐ FR GRÉGOIRE'S OWN PRIVATE NOTEBOOK, quoted in the parish English history p.43 — the only account of the opening that exists, and it is the building priest's own. It gives the two days, the arrival with Fr Verdier and Fr Boyer, the reception at the chapel of St Aloysius, Frs Poughet, Guchen, Fernandez and Victor, the five o'clock benediction, Br Bergenthal present at the blessing of the church he had drawn, the bishop's silver jubilee kept here, and the Pontifical Mass of 29 June at which the church was DECLARED DEDICATED TO THE HOLY FAMILY — the dating of the titular this church still carries. Transmitted through the parish's own book, so parish-side, but a contemporary first-person document behind it.

This is as much of the book as this site prints. It is named in full in the bibliography below.