The Inauguration of the Renovated church, Belfrey, Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes and the Golden Jubilee Celebration of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour Church, Nirmalapadau, Parapady will be held on May 9th 2018

Our Lady of Perpetual Succour church is located at Nirmalapadav, which was known as Parapady in olden days. It is at a distance of 13 kms from Karkala.Parapady is a remote area of Nitte Village This place has its own uniqueness because of the existence of an old church dedicated to Our Lady of Perpetual Succour. The church, the clergy who served here, and the faithful have put a strong impact on the place as well as on the people of other faith. This church has been a pilgrim center since 1968. All those who visited Attur also visit to this church and a lot of favors have been bestowed on the believers as well as people of other faith. Even today it has kept its sanctity and holiness and is now flourishing in faith .

Two wards of Attur parish- Sanoor and Kemman were the farthest wards of Attur. Fr Salvadore D'Souza, the parish priest of Attur who saw the need for a church to the people of these two wards and built a chapel at Herady, which is at a distance of 4 kms from the present church with a thatched roof in 1948. But the place didn’t serve the purpose as it was inconvenient for the faithful. Therefore , Fr William Lewis, then parish priest of Attur built a chapel and offered the first mass on June 27, 1958. Masses were offered on every Sunday.

The chapel was declared parish on 12th May, 1968 and Fr Stany J Pereira, the assistant parish priest of Attur became the first parish priest of the new parish.

Fr Stany John Pereira (1968-1983) was an ardent devotee of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour and he felt that he has to build a church in her name. Accordingly, the Most Rev Dr Basil D'Souza, Bishop of Mangaluru diocese laid the foundation stone for the new church on 8th December, 1968. Due to financial constraints, the work prolonged for 10years and inaugurated on 12th May, 1979. soon after the inauguration the foundation stone for the belfry was laid on 25th December, 1981 and it was blessed on 19th May 1982.

A building comprising of a shop and post office was built and same was blessed by Bishop on May 19, 1982. During this period there were only two wards in the church. Along with the spiritual ministry, he focused on the socio-economic development of the people of all caste and creed. Many locals benefitted from tailoring, sericulture, rice mill, cultivation of sugar cane, cattle rearing, goat farming, cattle rearing etc. After 15 years of selfless service to the people, Fr Stany Pereira got transferred to Gurpur church on June 28, 1983. He died on January 7, 1997.

He was succeeded by Fr Rosario Fernandes (1983-1987) . He continued the work of Fr Stany. He divided the two wards into four wards for the smooth running of the spiritual needs of the faithful. He was succeeded by Fr George Dsouza. He gave more importance to the development of agriculture. He was responsible for the establishment of Catholic Sabha in the church in 1994. He helped a number of poor children to get the education. With the help of people, repaired the nitte -parappady road .FrAssissi Rebello (1994-2001) continued the good work of the previous parish priests and gave importance to the development of agriculture. He had a great affection for young children. He renovated the flooring and altar of the church. He started the ICYM for youth in 1998. He further divided the four wards into five.

Fr Peter Nazareth (2001-2003), an elderly priest succeeded Fr Assissi served best of his capacity. As he was nearing his retirement age, he served the parish for only two years and then retired from active ministry.

In 2003, Fr Pascal Menezes (2003-2007) was appointed as the sixth parish priest of the church. He was a musician and he trained a lot of young people to sing devotional songs in choir. He also installed the Statue of Our Lady Perpetual Succour in the front side of the road of the church. He also built a new parochial house. Fr Vijay Lobo (2007-2008) He served for the six months in this church and motive people for the spiritual growth. Fr Alex Aranha (2008-2013) served for five years in this parish. Inspite of his ill health, he instilled the importance of spiritual life in the people.. He took volunteer retirement in 2013.

Fr Vincent Lobo (2013-Present) took charge of the parish on June 5, 2013. He was a man of deep thinker and far sighted person, changed the entire face of the church. In addition to being a good musician, he is kind, philanthropist and loves one and all. He has trained the young, children of this church to play the keyboard. His discourses on Holy Bible get embedded in the mind of the parishioners.

Because of the hard work of Fr Vincent, groups like ICYM, YCS, Sthree Sanghatan, St Vincent De Paul Society, Catholic Sabha, Secular Franciscan Order, Holy Childhood Society are giving excellent service to the parish. The Pastoral Plan 2025 was implemented successfully in our church. Besides the spiritual and social ministry, he is a lover of agriculture and farming.

In the month of June 2017, the front compound wall of the church and the grotto of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour collapsed due to the heavy rain and storm. It was rebuilt with the help of generous people and the grotto was rebuilt with the help of James D'Silva family and was inaugurated on September 8, 2017.

The building of the church and its roof was in bad condition. So the renovation was a felt need . the renovation of the church was started on 1st January, 2018.A grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes is also was built with the help of a donor.The renovation of the church is completed and its ready for inauguration on 9th May,2018