03. Joseph Thamby in Manathidal, Tamil Nadu

CHAPTER: 03
Joseph Thamby in Manathidal, Tamil Nadu (1933-1935)

In 1933, Joseph Thamby left Pondicherry and came to Manathidal village in the diocese of Kumbakonam. It was a sub-station to Michaelpatty parish. Msgr. A. Gnanadickam (+ 1953) was the parish priest. He was also the Vicar General of Kumbakonam.

Joseph Thamby with Msgr. A. Gnanadickam, parish priest of Michaelpatty

Joseph Thamby faced lot of challenges as he arrived in Manathidal. Some people at Manathidal suspected him and thought that he was from a low caste and planned to beat him up and send him away, but gradually they realized that he was a ‘Brother’ and a sannyasin and they had tolerated with him.

Joseph Thamby told them that he comes from Pondicherry and belongs to Vellala caste and requested them to give him shelter. They offered him a tin shed near the church. He used to conduct prayer services in the church. He used to treat sick people with country medicine using some kind of leaves. He used to pray over them, make the Sign of the Cross and used to cure the illness. Soon he became friendly with the people. People also were taken up with his simple life style, way of talking and prayer life.

He was teaching catechism to children whom he loved so dearly. When they were disobedient, he used to kneel down before them and plead them. He was establishing peace among the people. He was gathering people to Michaelpatty parish to attend Mass on Sundays and on first Fridays. He also was preparing them for the celebrations of the locality.

Joseph Thamby built an altar in the village church dedicated to St. Stephen. He knew the art of making statues. While he was there, he made the statues of St. Francis of Assisi, St. Antony of Padua and Sacred Heart of Jesus and placed them in the church. When people asked him to paint those statutes, he destroyed them saying that he would be remembered afterwards, which he did not want to.

Joseph Thamby also established the Franciscan Third Order (also known as Secular Franciscan Order) there in 1934. The first members to join the unit were the mother of Mr. S. Hanaswamy and another woman. Later many joined as members. Even today people in Manathidal remember Joseph Thamby as the founder of the Franciscan Third Order there.

Completing the 50 years of the foundation of SFO in Manathidal, Fr. S. Soosai, the parish priest of Manathidal organized the Jubilee celebration in the parish on 26 January 1984. On this occasion, the SFO members from many parishes of Trichy [Tiruchirapalli], Thanjavur and Kumbakonam dioceses were invited for a day’s seminar. The three main topics chosen for the seminar were: evangelical life of St. Francis of Assisi, evangelical life of Brother Joseph Thamby and evangelical life of the members of the Third Order.

While Thamby was in Manathidal from 1933-1935, Mr. A. Arogyaswamy a teacher cum catechist rendering his services in Manathidal was a great support to Joseph Thamby helping in his ministry there. Mr. A. Arogyaswamy visited the tomb of Joseph Thamby at Avutapally in 1985.

Joseph Thamby played a great role in making Manathidal a parish. He took great efforts to go to Most Rev. Peter Francis (+ 1973) the then bishop of the diocese of Kumbakonam and requested for a priest to stay in Manathidal to cater to the spiritual needs of the people. As a result, Fr. P. S. Ignatius (+ 1944) arrived there. The effort of Joseph Thamby towards getting the priest for Manathidal is recorded by Fr. P. S. Ignatius on 1 September 1935.

Joseph Thamby (Right) with Fr. P. S. Ignatius (Left) and Msgr. A. Gnanadickam (Middle)

When the people of Manathidal had their own priest to take care of them, Joseph Thamby left the village saying, “There is a priest now to take care of you. So I go away now to some other place.” The whole village requested him to stay back with them but Joseph Thamby went away from there.

Manathidal was formally established parish on 26 January 1942 when separated from Michaelpatty parish. Fr. P. M. Stephen (+ 1953) was the first parish priest of Manathidal on the records.