St. Joseph's Church - Kanuwana, Ja Ela

St. Joseph's Church - Kanuwana, Ja Ela Welcome to the official page of St Joseph's Church, Kanuwana, Ja-Ela. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND FOR A CHURCH IN KANUWANA. REV.FR. Fr. He entered St. Rev. H.

The territory known as Kanuwana was a wider area than the present one and it was beyond the Jaela canal covering the present Jaela city. That is why reports of the Oblate (O.M.I.) missions in the Aluthkuruwa Korale and also the biography of Rev.Fr.Sylvester Maria Papili (O.S.B.) record about a church in Kanuwana which dates back to 1852. It is clear that they speak probably about the church at p

resent Jaela as the Kanuwana church which is infact older than 200 years. When that region became famous as Jaela due to the construction of the railway station and also the popular Passion Play the name Kanuwana was limited to the area bordered with the canal, Tudella and Ekala areas.This area was not so populous as it was covered with cinnamon cultivation but later settlements took place due to migrations. The Catholics of the area had to seek the support of the Tudella church which played a major role as the mother church for a long period until 1987. A house of worship for Kanuwana became a reality during the tenure of Rev.Fr.Fabian Fernando (O.M.I.) (1949-1952) when he established a school here which was also used to celebrate the Holy Mass. Indeed here it's contrary to the tradition as mostly the schools have come up owing to the churches. In Kanuwana the church is a result of the school. It's the simple first step of a long pilgrimage. THE PIONEER OF ST.JOSEPH’S CHURCH - KANUWANA. FABIAN FERNANDO (OMI)

The parishioners of Kanuwana are ever grateful to Rev. Fabian Fernando who initiated the construction of the church at Kanuwana in 1950. He being the Parish Priest of St. Mary’s Church Tudella from 1949 to 1952 paid a special attention to Kanuwana village which led him to begin the school there. Fabian was born on 30th December 1898 at Katuneriya in Chilaw as a son of Anthony Fernando and Maria Angelina Nonis. Aloysius Seminary in 1912 and completed his schooling at St. Joseph’s College, Colombo. After his novitiate period he made his religious vows as an Oblate of Mary Immaculate in 1923 and followed his priestly studies at St. Bernard’s Seminary Borella. He was ordained a priest on the 24th of June 1926 by the Archbishop Anthony Coudert OMI at St. Lucia’s Cathedral Kotahena and began his ministry in the Cathedral parish itself and later at Sea Street Negombo until 1931. He accepted the parish of Payagala as its Parish Priest in 1931. His tenure as the parish priest of Tudella brought a massive difference to Kanuwana village as he could gather all those who expected a bright future for the area around him. He supported the Village Development Society and bought a land and humbly agreed with the people to build a school there for the children. It was declared open on the 1st of December 1950 and that building was used to celebrate the Holy Mass monthly. It is the simple beginning of our church. The first page of the story of our parish. Fabian passed away on the 4th March 1986 in Colombo and was buried at Nagoda where he later served as the Parish Priest. We the faithful of Kanuawana are much grateful to the yeoman service he rendered to our village. In fact it was he who lit the first candle which has brought light to all of us. May he rest in peace. THE GOOD SHEPHERDS WHO TENDED OUR FLOCK OF KANUWANA BEING THE PARISH PRIESTS OF TUDELLA.

1. Fabian Fernando 1949 - 1952
2. Manuel Alphonse 1952 - 1955
3. Alfred J.M. Lambert 1956 - 1967
4. Don Anselm 1967
5. Raymond Peiris 1968
6. Lanfranc Fernando 1969 - 1973
7. Pius Karunaratne 1973 -1976
8. Anselm Croose 1976 - 1977
9. Hubert Peiris 1977
10. D.S.Joseph Perera 1977 - 1987

සියලුම තරුණ දූදරුවන් සඳහා පවත්වනු ලබන ගීත භාවනාව.පෙබරවාරි 22 වන ඉරුදින උදෑසන 9:00 සිට.තුඩැල්ල ශ්‍රී හෘදයේ කුඩා සොහොයුරිය...
21/02/2026

සියලුම තරුණ දූදරුවන් සඳහා පවත්වනු ලබන ගීත භාවනාව.

පෙබරවාරි 22 වන ඉරුදින උදෑසන 9:00 සිට.
තුඩැල්ල ශ්‍රී හෘදයේ කුඩා සොහොයුරියන්ගේ කන්‍යාරාමයේ දී

පෙබරවාරි 22 වන උදෑසන 9 ට අප කන්‍යා සොහොයුරියන් ගේ කන්‍යාරාමයේ පැවැත්වෙන චතාරික වැඩසටහනට ඔබ සැමට ආරාධනා කරමු.
19/02/2026

පෙබරවාරි 22 වන උදෑසන 9 ට අප කන්‍යා සොහොයුරියන් ගේ කන්‍යාරාමයේ පැවැත්වෙන චතාරික වැඩසටහනට ඔබ සැමට ආරාධනා කරමු.

| Wednesday 18th February 2026
17/02/2026

| Wednesday 18th February 2026

11/02/2026

💐ලුර්දු මාතාවන් ප්‍රශංසාවට බිහිවූ Ferrero Rocher Chocolate 🍫

Ferrero Rocher කියන්නේ අපි හැමෝම කන්න කැමති හේසල් නට් දාපු චොකලට් එකක්. නමුත් අපි කව්රුවත් හිතුවද මේ චොකලට් එකයි මරිය තුමියයි අතර තියෙන සම්බන්දය .❤
මේ කර්මාන්ත ශාලාවේ නිර්මාතෘ මයිකල් ෆෙර්රෙරෝ ඉතා හොඳ කතෝලිකයෙක් ඒ වගේම ඔහු තුල දේව මාතාවට ඉතා දැඩි ලෙන්ගතු කමක් තිබුන. ඉතින් ඔහුට ඕනි උනා ඔහුගේ නිපැයුම් තුලින් මරිය මතාවන්ව ප්‍රශාන්සවට ලක් කරන්න.

එම නිසා මරිය මාතාවන් බ්නදෙත් තුමියට දර්ශනය වුන තැන එනම් රෝචේර් දී මසාබිඑල් යන නාමය පාදක කරගෙන ඔහු ඔහුගේ කර්මාන්තය රෝචේර් ලෙස නම් කළා. ප්‍රංස බසාවෙන් රෝචේර් යන්නෙහි තේරුම ගල. මෙයත් සමගම බොහෝ දෙනෙක් කිව්වා චොක්ලට් එකේ රළු මතුපිටත් රැලි සහිත රං දවටනයත් ෆෙර්රෙරෝ ලුර්දු පර්වතය සමාන කරන්න ගත්තු උත්සහයක් කියලා . ඔහුගේ කර්මාන්තයේ 50 වෙනි සංවසරයේදී ඔහු කියා සිටියේ ෆෙර්රෙරෝ හි සාර්ථකත්වය පිටුපස සිටින්නේ අති උතුම් ලුර්දු මාතාව බවත් එතුමිය නැතිව අපට කල හැකි දේ ඉතා සුළු බවයි.. 🌍❤

Catholic news Agency

11/02/2026
--->Scripture Text“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? I...
07/02/2026

--->Scripture Text

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:13-16, NIV).

===>Meaning of Salt---
In the first-century Middle East, salt had two main purposes: preserving food and enhancing flavor. Jesus uses this metaphor to illustrate the role of His followers:

-->Preservation: Christians are called to preserve goodness and righteousness in a world corrupted by sin, acting as moral and spiritual preservatives in society.
-->Flavor: Believers are to enhance life by demonstrating love, mercy, and justice, making the world “taste” of God’s goodness through their actions.
Losing “saltiness” symbolizes a failure to live faithfully, compromise with worldly values, or neglect obedience to Christ, which diminishes a believer’s influence.

===>Meaning of Light---
Light represents visibility and guidance. Just as a lamp illuminates a house, Christians are to shine through good deeds, making God’s love and truth evident to others. A city on a hill cannot be hidden, emphasizing that genuine faith naturally impacts the surrounding community.

==>Practical application: Acts of kindness, justice, and mercy should be visible, not hidden, so that others may see and glorify God.

===Key Lessons===

1) Influence: Believers are called to actively influence the world for good, preserving moral integrity and promoting God’s values.

2) Visibility: Faith should be evident in actions, not just words, serving as a witness to God’s glory.

3) Obedience: Remaining “salt and light” requires daily commitment to Christ, avoiding compromise with worldly pressures.

In summary, Matthew 5:13-16 encourages Christians to live faithfully and visibly, impacting the world positively while pointing others to God through their conduct and good works

03/02/2026

Address

Kanuwana
Ja-Ela
11350

Opening Hours

Monday 06:00 - 12:00
15:30 - 20:00
Tuesday 06:00 - 12:00
15:30 - 20:00
Wednesday 06:00 - 13:15
15:30 - 20:00
Thursday 06:00 - 12:00
15:30 - 20:00
Friday 06:00 - 12:00
15:30 - 20:00
Saturday 06:30 - 12:00
15:30 - 20:00
Sunday 06:00 - 12:30
15:30 - 20:00

Telephone

+94112232622

Website

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