Imparting deeper knowledge and the value of truth became the inspirational motivation for our MSFS missionaries in starting the SFS School at Pudukkottai. The story of its establishment begins with the pioneering works of our earliest missionaries like Fr. Jose Puthiaparambil, MSFS and Fr. Peter Chakkulickal, MSFS who were the founding fathers of our mission in Pudukkottai. After their service in the diocese of Ooty, they were assigned with the task of finding a suitable place to start a formation house in Tamilnadu. So, they came to Pudukkottai and with the help of Fr. Alphonse who was the parish priest of Sacred Heart parish, they bought 3 acres of land from an Anglo–Indian Mr. Robert in 1982 and established a simple formation house to train seminarians. However, due to inconvenience and lack of adequate facilities, they bought a few acres of land in Kovilpatty village near Thirugokarnam and shifted the formation house to the new land. Then the land at Kalifnagar remained unused for some time and later, Fr. Mani Panthalany, MSFS the provincial of Visakhapatnam province, was interested in using this land to start an English medium school. Fr. C. Sebastian Raj, MSFS was appointed to initiate the preliminary works. He was munificent in his commitment and worked with alacrity in preparing the ground. He first demolished the old house on the property, built a thatched shed and started nursery school. Thus, the peregrination of SFS school began with just 16 children under the guidance of Fr. C. Sebastin Raj, MSFS in the thatched shed on 7 June 1995. The first grade was introduced in the following year, and the total number of students increased to 44, and the formation of Desalites started to take shape in this atmosphere. This was the second SFS school started in Tamilnadu and so our MSFS confreres celebrated the event with great joy, gratefully acknowledging the initiative of our provincial Fr. Mani Panthalani, MSFS.
Developments undertaken at various times
As the province initiated taking up Kalladithidal parish in the diocese of Sivagangai, Fr. Mani Panthalani, MSFS the provincial appointed Fr. C. Sebastian Raj, MSFS as the parish priest and Headmaster of St. Antony’s High School at the new mission and so, Fr. R. Mathias, MSFS was appointed as the principal, succeeding Fr. C. Sebastian Raj, MSFS in 1996. In the beginning, Fr. Mathias took residence in SFS Seminary and came from there to take care of school. school since it was the initial stage, he was the only priest serving at the school, and he meticulously planned out and worked very hard to develop the school. Later, he prepared the groundwork and started to construct the ground floor of the school building on Sept 30, 1996, with the help of the province. The new school building consisting of 16 rooms was inaugurated and blessed by Fr. Mani Panthalani, MSFS the provincial on Oct 1, 1997, and then Fr. R. Mathias, MSFS began to reside in one of the classrooms and continued his ministry for six years. During this time, Fr. Johnson Jeyabal, MSFS served as the procurator and both priests worked with dedication and vivacious spirit. The development of the school under their leadership was steady and fruitful. Consequently, the school had grown to have the strength of 1850 students by 2004 with 60 teachers. The first batch of 23 students appeared for the class 10 public board examination in 2004, and achieved 100% result with first class, marking a significant milestone in the history of the school.
Fr. A. Lawrence MSFS was appointed as the principal and superior of the school community in 2004, succeeding Fr. R. Mathias, MSFS and spearheaded further the various developments in the school. He took the initiative and constructed the priest’s residence, and it was inaugurated and blessed by Fr. Thomas Perumalil, MSFS the provincial. He served the school for one year and after that he was appointed as the Regional Superior of Chenai Region under Visakhapatnam province. Fr. Johnson Jayapal, MSFS continued to serve as the procurator and Fr. John Thadeus, MSFS was appointed as the vice-principal during this time.
Fr. S. Arockiyasamy, MSFS was appointed as the principal, succeeding Fr. A. Lawrence, MSFS. He had taken many initiatives like upgrading the SFS School to higher secondary in 2005 with the permission from the bishop and the provincial administration. As the school strength was increasing, the school administration realized the need for more rooms to accommodate the increasing number of students, and so he made efforts and constructed the second phase of the school building with the help of the province. The new block named “Mermier Block” was inaugurated by Fr. A. Lawrence, MSFS the Regional Superior and blessed by Fr. Agnelo Fernandez, MSFS our Superior General in 2006. During this period, Fr. George Kootinal, MSFS, the Rector of SFS Seminary, and Fr. Wilson Fernando, MSFS, the Regional Bursar served as the correspondents respectively. The fathers worked hard with dedication and as a result significant infrastructural developments like establishing Chemistry, Physics, Computer, and audio-visual labs were added with the support of the province, which provided better learning opportunities for the students. In this period, Fr. A. Michael, MSFS was the procurator succeeding Fr. P. Johnson, MSFS and later Fr. S. Arockia Britto, MSFS served as the procurator after Fr. A. Michael, MSFS. The principal and the procurators played instrumental roles during this period in the development of the school. Fr. Patrick Jayaraj, MSFS who was the procurator of the new Region, also served as the correspondent. The school was recognized for its academic excellence during the time of Fr. S. Arockiasamy, MSFS and he also received the Best Teacher Award in 2008 from the Tamil Nadu Government. Furthermore, Fr. S. Arockiyasamy, MSFS made efforts and built with the support of the province a new extension of the school building named Fr. Britto Block in memory of Fr. Joseph Britto Francis, MSFS. The new block was inaugurated on 5 October 2008. The school created history by securing district first in the SSLC public exam in 2010. Unfortunately, the province at its beginning stage suffered greatly at the loss of Fr. S. Arockiyasamy, MSFS as he was affected with jaundice and unexpectedly died on April 25, 2011. He was laid to rest at SFS Minor Seminary.
Fr. A. Arul Francis took charge of the school as principal in 2011 and superior of the community, succeeding Fr. S. Arockiyasamy, MSFS, and Fr. V. Vedaraj, MSFS was the procurator with Fr. Y. Arulandam, MSFS as a community member. They worked together and made a significant contribution in leading the school to academic excellence by securing second place at the district level in the higher secondary examination. During his time, the arch at the entrance of the school was constructed which added beauty and safety to the school campus. The new gate was inaugurated by Fr. A. Lawrence, MSFS the provincial at that time. Fr. S. Jerald Abin, MSFS served on the staff, and Fr. X. Vincent, MSFS was appointed as procurator, succeeding Fr. V. Vedaraj, MSFS who was transferred to take charge of Ravusapatty parish as a pioneer.
Fr. A. Lawrence MSFS returned as principal in 2017, succeeding Fr. A. Arul Francis, MSFS, and along with him Fr. Charles Michael, MSFS was appointed as the procurator, and Fr. Soosairaj, MSFS was appointed as the superior and correspondent. Later, Fr. Geroge Kuttinal, MSFS joined the community, serving as the correspondent after Fr. Soosiaraj, MSFS, and Fr. M. Sagayaraj succeeded Fr. Charles as procurator in 2020. When Fr. George Kootinal, MSFS was transferred to Vadakkancherry to join the formation team, Fr. A. Edward, MSFS served as the correspondent, who was followed by Fr. Maria Pushpam, MSFS. Then, Fr. A. John Peter, MSFS served the school as correspondent for one year and then he was sent to the US for pastoral ministry. During this time, the school faced the challenges of Covid – 19 pandemic and yet, Fr. A. Lawrence, MSFS and the staff successfully managed the situation, offering online classes, and retained its student strength. Then, there was the natural calamity after the Gaja cyclone which uprooted many of the trees on the campus. So, Fr. A. Lawrence, MSFS spearheaded the initiative of planting new trees, restoring the natural environment to enhance the school campus. This period also marked the Silver Jubilee of our second SFS School and the community and the staff under the leadership of Fr. A. Lawrence, MSFS organized the Jubilee celebration in a grand manner. It was indeed a joy-filled moment of recognizing and celebrating God’s blessings and acknowledging with gratitude the dedication of our missionaries and the selfless service of all the people who served the school. After six years of service at the SFS school, Fr. A. Lawrence, MSFS was transferred to Pondiyan Nagar as the parish priest.
Fr. John Thadeus, MSFS followed him as the principal and superior of the community in 2023 along with Fr. Maria Pushpam, MSFS served as the correspondent, and Fr. Nayaga Seelan, MSFS served as the procurator. In the following year, Fr. Antony Tharcius, MSFS served the school as the correspondent after Fr. Maria Pushpam, MSFS, and Fr. Antony Raj, MSFS succeeded Fr. Nayaga Seelan, MSFS as the procurator. Together, they continued with dedication, carrying forward the school’s mission of academic excellence and value-based education. As a result of the sagacious commitment and dauntless efforts of our MSFS missionaries and the staff, the students at SFS School had been excelling in diverse fields like medicine, law enforcement, entrepreneurship, law, engineering, and arts. The spacious playground offers good opportunity for the students to excel in sports and physical activities. Their achievements reflect the school’s commitment to nurturing talents, fostering discipline and character of the students. Our SFS school campus, surrounded by lush greenery offers an inspiring environment for learning. Through dynamic leadership and unwavering commitment of our fathers, the SFS school continues to stand as a beacon of excellence in education, preparing the students for a bright future.
Succession of Principals
1. Fr. C. Sebastian Raj, MSFS 1995 – 1996
2. Fr. R. Mathias, MSFS 1996 – 2004
3. Fr. A. Lawrence, MSFS 2004 – 2005
4. Fr. S. Arockia Samy, MSFS 2005 – 2011
5. Fr. A. Arul Francis, MSFS 2011 – 2017
6. Fr. A. Lawrence, MSFS 2017 – 2023
7. Fr. John Thadeus, MSFS 2023 –
Succession of Procurators and Priests in Residence
Fr. J B. John Thadeus, MSFS (Vice-principal), Fr. P. Johnson Jeyabal, MSFS (procurator) 2000 – 2007; Fr. S. Arockia Britto, MSFS 2007 – 2009; Fr. A. Michael, MSFS (procurator) 2009 – 2011; Fr. V. Vedaraj, MSFS (procurator) 2011 – 2012; Fr. Y. Arulanandam, MSFS (on the staff), Fr. X. Vincent, MSFS (procurator) 2012 – 2017; Fr. S. Jerald Abin, MSFS (on the staff), Fr. Charles Michael, MSFS (procurator) 2017 – 2020, Fr. M. Sagayaraj, MSFS 2020 – 2023, Fr. Nayaga Seelan, MSFS 2023, Fr. Antony Raj, MSFS 2023 –
Succession of Correspondents
The Rectors of the Minor Seminary Fr. Raphael Karekat, MSFS, Fr. Mani Malana, MSFS, Fr. Joseph Henry, MSFS, and Fr. George Kootinal, MSFS. Fr. S. Wilson Fernando, Regional Bursar 2008 (correspondent); Fr. A. Patrick, MSFS, Regional procurator (correspondent); Fr. Soosairaj, MSFS; Fr. George Kootinal, MSFS; Fr. A. Edward, MSFS; Fr. M. Maria Pushpam, MSFS; Fr. A. John Peter, MSFS; Fr. A. Sahya Tharcius, MSFS; Fr. M. Simon Prabu, MSFS;