St. Kuriakose Elias Chavarathe founder of Carmelites of Mary Immaculate (CMI) Religious Congregation, is our prime source of inspiration. St. Chavara was a great educationalist and a social reformer of the 19th century. He was a great visionary who walked ahead of his time and became instrumental for educational revolution through farsighted vision coupled with creativity and integrity. The seminal influence of his vision and dreams permeates our activities. Christ International School was born out of the educational vision of St. Kuriakose Elias Chavara. His life was dedicated to the service of humanity
Saint Kuriakose Chavara was born on 10 February 1805 at Kainakary, Kerala. At the age of five he began his studies in a village school, called Kalari. When he was 13, he joined the seminary at Pallipuram for his priestly training. While he was in the seminary, his parents and his eldest brother died of an epidemic. On 29 November 1829, he became a priest. St. Chavara was instrumental in founding two Catholic Religious Congregations - one for men, Carmelites of Mary Immaculate (CMI), and the other for women, Congregation of Mother of Carmel (CMC), for the spiritual renewal and all round development of the society. Starting seven ashrams and a convent in different parts of Kerala, St. Chavara initiated a spiritual movement among the people of Kerala. He established the first Catholic Sanskrit school, a major seminary and a printing & publishing house at Mannanam. He directed that every church should start a school attached to it and encouraged children to attend the schools by supplying midday meal and dresses for them. He founded a "Home of Charity" to take care of the destitute, the beggars, the uncared, sick and the old. He also organized the first voluntary charitable association in Kerala for self-help among the needy. Even in the midst of such manifold activities, he found time to write several literary and spiritual books in prose as well as verse. Among them was `Anastasyayude Rakthasakshyam' the first chronicle of history in Malayalam. He knew seven languages - Malayalam, Tamil, Sanskrit, Syrian, Latin, Italian and Portuguese. Essentially, Saint Chavara was a man of prayer and great charity. He lived for 65 years and died on 3rd January 1871. His sanctity was officially recognized by the Church, when Pope John Paul II beatified him on 08 February 1986. Saint Chavara is the heavenly patron of all CMI and CMC institutions. Blessed Kuriakose Elias Chavara was officially declared Saint by Pope Francis on 23rd November 2014.
Let us pray to him to intercede before God for all our needs, especially for successin our studies.