The late nineteen sixties and early seventies witnessed a large flow of Catholic professionals to the North America. Among them, nurses outnumbered the rest. They brought their families with them and most of them belonged to the Syro-Malabar Community from Kerala. Among them there was a desire for the vernacular celebration of the Syro-Malabar liturgy in the Hamilton-Wentworth area.

Fr. Thomas Manninezhath CMI, who came to Hamilton in 1981 for his Doctoral studies at McMaster, was at St. Patrick Church and happened to meet a few Malayalee families during the celebration of the Holy Mass. One day he invited those whom he met in the Church to the Rectory. They included Chacko Manayathu, George Joseph, George Mathew, AP Cyriac, John Scaria and Xavier Joseph. Those informal meetings kick started the formation of the first Malayalee Community in the Hamilton-Wentworth area. The members came to know each other, and it was spread to Burlington and Brantford and eventually there emerged the idea of celebrating the ‘Malayalam Mass’.

December 1981 must be a date written in golden letters in the history of the Syro-Malabar Community in Hamilton-Wentworth area. It was on this day that Fr. Thomas Manninezhath celebrated the first Syro-Malabar Mass at St. Patrick Church attended by sixteen families from the area. Thereafter, Mass was celebrated on important occasions like Good Friday, Easter, All Souls Day, Christmas and special occasions such as the death of a family member of the Malayalee Community. Some of the early Malayalam Masses were also celebrated at school halls and at Infant Jesus Kindergarten Auditorium of the Sisters of St. John the Baptist. Malayalee Sisters Marykutty Kunnath and Lucina Thanathuparempil and later Sr. Christena and Sr. Lissy, members of this congregation provided much required support for the community. Mr. George Joseph was the coordinator for all the catholic events during this time.

When Fr. Thomas Manninezhath was appointed as the Associate Pastor of Sacred Heart Parish, 19 Viewpoint, Hamilton in 1985, the venue of celebration of Mass was shifted to Sacred Heart Church until he left for India in 1989. After his departure, the Hamilton laity sought the support of different priests who came to Canada either for higher studies or for pastoral duties. Mr. George Mathew took the initiative to coordinate Prayers, Retreats, and the Masses on important occasions. Rev. Fr. Joseph Sebastian Pariath who came to Canada in 1997 to pursue his doctoral studies helped the community by offering Malayalam Mass at Infant Jesus Kindergarten Auditorium and at Hamilton Malayalee Samajam until 2006.

The Malayalee community was fortunate to have had the service of Fr. Issac Chakkalaparambil CMI as the Parish Priest of St. Patrick’s Church, and Fr. Augustine Mampilly CMI as the Associate Pastor. In 2005 Fr. George Palamattam replaced Fr. Chakkalaparambil at St. Patrick’s as the Parish Priest. The availability of more Malayalee priests like Fr. Biju Kannampuzha CMI, Fr. Vincent Panikulam CMI, Fr. Jerry Punnassery CMI and Fr. Joseph Pezhathumkal ensured full support and leadership, and the celebration of Malayalam Mass on special occasions continued uninterrupted. The year 2009 was a major milestone in the history of the Malayalee Catholic Community in Hamilton. The community members approached Fr. Palamattam and requested to have celebration of Mass on a regular basis. Fr. George approached Most Reverend Anthony Tonnos, Bishop of the Diocese of Hamilton, for discussing this matter. Permission was granted and the first regular Sunday Holy Mass was celebrated by Fr. George Palamattam on the 1st of February 2009 in the presence of 32 families. This was made possible by the hard work and commitment of late Mr. Thomas Sebastian and some of the other community leaders such as Johny Thomas, Chacko Manayathu, Sony Poulose, George Umman and Matt Mathew among others.

With Fr. George Palamattam as the Pastor and Fr. Biju Kannampuzha, as the Associate Pastor of St. Patrick’s and St. Lawrence Churches in Hamilton, celebration of Holy Mass became a regular event in the community. It was at this juncture the plan to begin catechism classes for the children of Syro-Malabar community was taken up. Under the leadership of Fr. Biju and Mr. Thomas Sebastian, a well-organized catechism program became part of the faith formation of this community. Children from kindergarten to grade twelve could enjoy the benefits of this new venture. The venue was the church basement itself and time was after the monthly Sunday Mass. Fr. George Palamattam’s and Fr. Biju Kannampuzha’s interest and dedication encouraged the community so much that people from not just Hamilton but from Niagara and other nearby regions started attending the Sunday Mass and the catechism class that followed it. Special Occasions, such as Palm Sunday processions, Holy week services and Christmas celebrations were organized with full gear. The number of families almost doubled to sixty! The Malayalam Mass has continued uninterrupted since then.

Various elected committees helped organize faith activities and the church activities started to flourish. Church Co-coordinators were appointed to ensure the smooth operation of the church activities. The term of service was for two years. After Thomas Sebastian, Biju Devassy and then George Vadakken served the community as Coordinators. Fr. George Palamattam was transferred to Sacred Heart Church, in 2012 and he offered to continue the monthly Malayalam Mass at Sacred Heart Church. So the community came back to the very church they were celebrating mass 27 years ago! When Fr. Palamattam left the Parish in June 2015, Fr. Saju Oreethaparambil was appointed as the new Pastor of Sacred Heart Church and with the permission of the Hamilton Bishop Most Rev. Douglas Crosby, Fr. Saju agreed to continue monthly Malayalam Mass at Sacred Heart Parish. A Church Committee was formed with George Vadakken as the General Coordinator Chacko Manayathu and Johny Thomas as the accountant, Fiji Biju as the Alter server coordinator, George Umman as the food Coordinator, Sojan Mathew as the Choir Coordinator and Sibi Vadakken as the Catechism Coordinator.

The Malayalam mass was celebrated on every third Sunday of the month. There was a strong desire from the laity to have more frequent Mass. The request was granted and now started Malayalam Mass on the first and third Sundays of every month. A very energetic and faithful group of about 150 people regularly attended the services.

On September 19th, 2015, Rev. Dr. Jose Kalluvellil was consecrated and made the Exarch of the newly erected Syro-Malabar Apostolic Exarchate, Canada. This was an auspicious moment for all the Syro Malabar faithful of Canada. Fr. Saju continued to offer leadership for the Hamilton Syro-Malabar Catholics, and it was during this time the Bishop Jose asked Fr. Saju and the parish to recommend a name for the Hamilton Parish. Fr. Saju suggested St. Joseph to be the patron saint, and everyone agreed. The Hamilton Malayalee Catholic Parish was named St. Joseph Syro Malabar Catholic Parish. Fr. Saju served as the Parish Priest until 3rd of June 2016 when he was transferred to St. Charles Garnier Church in Hamilton. Most. Rev. Bishop Mar Jose Kalluvellil discussed the future of Hamilton Syro-Malabar Community with Most. Rev. Douglas Crosby, the Bishop of Hamilton Diocese and came to an agreement to continue the use of Sacred Heart Church and appointed Rev. Fr. John Mylamvellil as the new Vicar of the newly erected St. Joseph Parish of the Hamilton Syro-Malabar community.

On Sunday, June 5th, 2016, after the Mass and in the presence of Bishop Kalluvellil and Fr. John, the Syro-Malabar community gave a farewell party to Fr. Saju for his leadership and the phenomenal service he has rendered to the Hamilton Community. Bishop Jose Kalluvellil sincerely thanked Fr. Saju for all his support and hard work in bringing the Hamilton community together. The community welcomed Rev. Fr. John Mylamvellil with open arms. Fr. John offered his first Mass at Sacred Heart Church on 12 June 2017. Since then, we have mass every Sunday. The catechism classes for children were reorganized with classes on every Sunday, separate for each grade and with dedicated teachers for every grade. A new Parish Council was elected for a two-year term in November 2016, with George Vadakken and Joseph Thomas as the Trustees. Justin George was selected as the accountant and Jomy Vallippalam as the Catechism School Principal. At the end of their term, a new Parish Council was elected on Jan 2019, with Sojan Mathew and Biju Payyapilly as the new Trustees and Gikson Jose as the new accountant. Rev. Fr. John Mylamvellil continued to serve as the Vicar of the St. Joseph Parish of Hamilton.

After 3 years of dedicated service, when Fr. John Mylamvellil moved from the parish, Fr. Thomas Venmanthara was appointed on December 1, 2019, as the new Vicar of St. Joseph Syro-Malabar Parish, Hamilton. We acquired our very first Mission House and it was blessed by Rev. Bishop Mar Jose Kulluvellil on January 30, 2020. In June 2020, Bineesh Kalayil and Raju Thomas were appointed as the new Trustees, Boby Jacob was appointed as the accountant, and Gikson Jose as the catechism school principal. During the pandemic situation, when church gathering was not possible, we continued to have regular mass and catechism thorough the effective use of virtual platforms.

Sojan Mathew and Jomy Vallippalam were elected as the new Trustees on May 2021. Fiji Biju was appointed as the new Catechsim School Principal on September 2021. Many virtual programs were conducted for our community during the time of pandemic. Church gatherings and programs were carried out effectively following the guidelines. A long cherished dream of having a website for our parish was fulfilled. On October 2021, a new website was created and launched for our parish. Fr. Thomas Venmanthara continues to serve our parish as the Vicar, with utmost diligence.May our good Lord continue to shower his blessings on this Parish. May the gifts of the Holy Spirit come upon every member of the Community. May St. Joseph, the Patron Saint of the Parish, intercede for us so that our community remain always faithful and committed to the Church and the people.