Contact names and meeting times are yet to be added. The groups described below are those found in most Tamil Catholic parishes; the parish office will confirm which are active here, when they meet, and whom to approach.
The heart of the parish
Anbiyam means “community of love.” The parish is divided into small neighbourhood groups, each covering a few streets or a block of flats, and each gathering regularly in one of its members’ homes.
A typical meeting is simple: a hymn, a passage of Scripture read and talked over together, the rosary, prayers for the sick and the troubled of that street, and afterwards a little something to eat. Practical needs surface here first — a family in difficulty, a child struggling at school, an elderly neighbour living alone — and are often quietly met by the group itself.
During the ten days feast, each anbiyam traditionally takes responsibility for one of the days.
To find out which anbiyam covers your street, ask at the parish office or check the notice board.
Ways to serve
If any of these draws you, say so — every one of them needs more hands than it has.
Children and young people are taught the faith and prepared for First Holy Communion and Confirmation. Classes are run by volunteer catechists drawn from our own families.
Who it’s for: children from about six upward.
Enrolment: at the start of the catechism year, at the parish
office. Bring the child’s baptism certificate.
Catechists are always needed.
The choir leads the singing at Sunday and festal Masses, and carries the music of the novena and the Christmas carol round.
Who it’s for: anyone who can hold a tune, and
musicians of any instrument.
Practice: weekly — day to be confirmed.
Boys and girls who serve at the altar, carry the cross and candles, and learn the liturgy from the inside. Many vocations begin here.
Who it’s for: children who have made their First
Communion.
Training: given in the parish.
A lay Marian apostolate: weekly prayer together, and visits to the sick, the housebound and the lonely. Its members bring Our Lady’s care to those who cannot come to church.
Who it’s for: adults and young adults.
Meets: weekly — to be confirmed.
Young parishioners meeting for formation, retreats, service and friendship — and taking a leading hand in the feast, the carol round and the parish’s social work.
Who it’s for: roughly ages 15–30.
Meets: monthly — to be confirmed.
The women of the parish, who between them hold up much of its practical life — the altar linen and flowers, the feast cooking, and a great deal of quiet care for families in trouble.
Meets: monthly — to be confirmed.
In the spirit of St Vincent de Paul: practical, discreet help for families in difficulty in our own neighbourhood — school fees, medicines, provisions, a hand at a funeral.
How to help: through the parish office. Requests for assistance are treated in confidence.
Those who proclaim the Scriptures at Mass and lead the responses. Reading well in public is a real service to the whole congregation.
Who it’s for: confirmed parishioners willing to prepare in advance.
Cleaning, flowers, the crib at Christmas, the lights and pandal at the feast. Unseen work that makes everything else possible.
Busiest: the weeks before the feast and before Christmas.
There is no form to fill in and no committee to satisfy. Speak to the parish priest after Mass, or telephone the office, and say which group interests you. Someone will put you in touch with the people who run it.
If you have a skill the parish could use — you keep accounts, you can wire a sound system, you teach, you drive, you cook for a hundred without panicking — say so. It will be wanted.
And if you have very little time, that is fine too. Praying for the parish is itself a ministry, and the one nobody can do on your behalf.
